Month: April 2020

Jesus must have radiated joy during His public ministry. This may be one reason why, when trying to comfort his disciples, in the upper room, He made such pointed references to his joy remaining with them, and their joy being full. We read in John’s Gospel, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (15:11); again, “your heart  shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (16:22); and later, when praying to the Father on their behalf: He said, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name· … And now come I to thee; and these I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (17:12-13).

To His disciples, His presence meant joy and His absence meant sadness. After His resurrection, when Jesus appeared to His disciples again, their joy knew no bounds. On the occasion of one of these appearances, we are told, ” … they yet believed not for joy … ” (Luke 24:41). From Pentecost onward, throughout the early history of the church, it is evident that the joy of the Lord was one of its most prominent and attractive characteristics, and probably contributed greatly to her rapid increase in influence and growth.

In those early days, the church had to pass through times of trial and persecution, and yet the glad note of joy was ever present with them. The secret of this experience of joy was not dependent on circumstances, but on a life lived in fellowship with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. This holy fellowship and joy is the birthright of every truly born again child of God, it is not only for the select few.

The radiant joy of many Christians is frequently used by the Holy Spirit to reveal the poverty and miserable plight of one living the self-centered life, and to bring conviction of sin. Often has the admission been made that the first seeds of discontent and conviction of sin have been sown at the sight of the manifest joy in the lives of others.

Unhappily, the church which Christ commissioned to be His witness and to proclaim His Gospel has lost, to a large extent, its winsome and attractive note of joy. A Christian worker without the joy of the Lord in his heart makes a poor appeal to the sinner he is seeking to win, equally so will the church of Christ, without the joy of her Lord radiating through her members, fail to make an attractive appeal to this generation.

The condition of the church of Christ surely is a challenge to examine our hearts to find whether there is any evil way in us. We may seek the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ and our restoration to His fellowship and His joy, that our witness may be more attractive and our influence more effective in all our contacts with men and women, if perchance the Lord will graciously use us as channels of His joy and blessing to sad and troubled hearts in these days; which may, in the mercy of God, be heralding the Lord’s glorious return.

“Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day” (Acts 27:29).

After you have found your place in the church, which is the body of Christ, you will need four anchors to keep you as you journey on awaiting His return.

1. The Anchor of Faith ” … for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1: 12).

a. The need of a strong faith-Luke 22:32.

b. Why should we let our faith fail?- Hebrews 4:2.

c. Can you say, “In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds”?

2. The Anchor of Prayer “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6: 18).

a. Instruction is given- 1 Thessalonians 5: 17; 1 Timothy 2:8; Matthew 26:41.

b. “Prayer is appointed to convey the blessings God designs to give: long as they live should Christians pray; they learn to pray when first alive in Christ.”

3. The Anchor of Divine Worship “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

a. Exhortation-Hebrews 10:25; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30.

b. In Revelation 1:10, John was in the Spirit in the Lord’s Day morning, and we have as a result the book of Revelation. Had John been away visiting, he would have missed the visit of the Lord.

4. The Anchor of Christian Service “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses to these things” (Luke 24:4 7 -48).

a. Our commission-Mark 16: 15.

b. We are labourers-2 Corinthians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 3:9-15.

c. We are at war with evil- Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Timothy 6:12.

d. Our exhortation-1 Corinthians 15:58.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter4: 12).

The idea is prevalent that God should protect a Christian from all the ordinary vicissitudes of life and its severe trials. But the fact is that conversation is but the beginning of conflict with the tempter and sets a man against the ways of the world and the pull of the self-life. Failure to recognize and expect this continual struggle may account for the discouragement of many.

One would have thought that, as the missionary of the Christian Gospel en route to Rome, the Apostle Paul would have been free from perils on land and sea. Instead, it was one long hard fight with persecuting Jews, awesome tempests, venomous vipers, and all the powers of earth and hell. He was rescued from a watery grave only by the narrowest margin.

“Was that like a God of infinite power?” we may ask. Yes, that is His way of developing reliance upon Himself in the darkest hour, and of showing others that a Christian has what it takes. Saved from sin’s dominion, the Christian is to expect severe conflict. But while there is no discharge from this conflict, he may go on from triumph to triumph.

“Beloved, think it not strange … “! But that is just what we do think. For nowadays we have become accustomed to a distorted gospel, with such catchphrases as “Come to Jesus and be happy,” or “Jesus can satisfy the heart.” To be sure, the Gospel does bring happiness. Happiness, however, is not the goal of the Gospel, but merely a byproduct, and that frequently experienced in times of trial. For when we are truly saved by grace, something much bigger and grander than personal happiness becomes our goal – the glory of God. In other words, self with its selfish desires is dethroned, and God is given His rightful place in the center of our lives.

For Christ, the will of God meant a cross and a grave! And when we die to self and sin, and rise in newness of life in Christ, we find that we are in this world, not as pleasure seekers, but as men and women who have been called to sanctified living; not as those on a picnic, but as warriors engaged in battle.

Accordingly, we shall receive the same hostile treatment which Christ received. There is not the one way of the cross for Christ, with immunity for His disciples. Hence we are to expect suffering and sorrow; but this provides the proof that we are shouldering the cross and following Him, who sees of the travail of His soul in us and is satisfied.

“Beloved, think it not strange … “! But that is just what we do think. We think is so strange, that we are ill with the strain of puzzling it out. “Why should this injustice have befallen us?” we ask ourselves- a question which reveals that the trouble is not the actual suffering but our rebellion against it.

Better far to recall the Lord’s words to His anxious disciples, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). No Christian who has faced the implications of the lonely cross in his own life will cave in before the world’s opposition or allow his peace in Christ to be disturbed. Trouble by itself does not cause nervous breakdowns. It is the satanic suggestion that we are suffering more than we deserve or are able to stand which does that.

But why should we give entrance to Satan’s insinuations, and permit them to fester in our thoughts and to dissipate our energies? The accuser of the brethren has been overcome by Christ. The war of nerves has been won for us. Hence, though we are to expect tribulation, as beloved of the Father we can prove the “good cheer” of Christ in His overcoming power. Consequently, for those of faith, mountains of anxiety may be removed, and they left in a calm frame of mind to face their affliction and to win through in it.

Is there a heart o’er-bound by sorrow?

Is there a life weigh ‘d down by care?

Come to the cross, each burden bearing,

All your anxiety, leave it there.

“Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial … “! Whatever the form of the fiery trial, Christians need not to be despondent, since the Spirit of the Christ of glory of the Father strengthens their spirits for the conflict (1 Peter 4: 14). Think of the graphic way in which the Apostle Paul describes his experiences of divine strength given in trial. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-1 0).

Here, in quick succession, are five pictures of Paul’s struggle and affliction. In the first, the idea is that of crowds pressing in from all sides, and yet not crushing him because the Chief Constable of Heaven, the Spirit of glory, has cleared the way just wide enough for him to pass. The literal translation would be, “We are crowed on every side, but not crushed.” The second picture is that of one whose way seems completely closed, and yet he is enabled to press through: there is a darkness, but there is sufficient light to show him the next step. Rotherham translates it, “without a way, but not without a by-way.” The third picture is that of the enemy in hot pursuit, while the divine Defender stands by to protect him. A Rotherham renders it, “pursued, but not abandoned.” The fourth figure is still more vivid. The enemy has overtaken him; has struck him; has knocked him down. But it is not the fatal blow. He is able to rise again. “Overthrown, but not overcome.”

Once more the trial is renewed, and now it seems to be death itself- “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus … ” (2 Corinthians 4:1 0). But while he dies to sin, he does not die to God, for ” … the life also of Jesus … ” comes to his aid, and he lives in the life of another, until his task on earth is completed. What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle with evil was Paul’s missionary pilgrimage. But through it all, he was ” … strengthened with might… in the inner man” (Ephesians 3: 16), by the Spirit of glory who prepared him for the fray.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you … ” The indwelling Spirit of glory who burns up the dross of sin, can use the outward trial of the enemy to drive the believer into closer union with Christ. Both the chastening of the Lord and the fiery trials of Satan can be used by the Strengthener to purge us from every appearance of sin, and to make us strong in holy living and divine service.

There are two scriptural pictures that bear on this subject. Isaiah 40:31 says that, ” … they that wait upon the LORD … shall mount up with wings as eagles … ” The picture conveyed is that of a young eagle who is pushed out of the aerie to test its powers of flight, and when it begins to tire the wings of its parents are beneath to bear it upward. The other picture is our Lord’s comparison of His love for His people with a hen fussing over her chicks. Both exposure to life’s trials, in the case of the eagle and the protective care of the hen over her chicks, are applicable to the Spirit indwelling the Christian. He uses the trial to knock off the rough edges, to expose the weaknesses, to produce humility, to forge a closer love bond with Christ.

“Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” The fact that the Spirit is none other than the Spirit of glory suggests another reason why suffering could not be considered as strange. As there is no suffering in Heaven, the Spirit, through the refining of suffering, prepares believers now for the burning bliss of Christ’s holy presence. Under the Spirit’s supervision, all the hammering and welding in life’s factory are helping to forge the finished showroom product for the time when the saints will be perfected in Christ, and Christ will be admired in His saints.

Called to glory via suffering, believers participate in Christ’s travails, and Christ through the Spirit shares in theirs, that they might be worthy joint heirs of God with Him. And that day of glory, when they shall be like and with Him, shall far eclipse the memory of finite trials. Hence the way of the cross leads Home. It is the way the Master went your way and mine.

“The cross of Christ condemns me to become a saint!” So exclaimed a Bechuana Christian in the enthusiasm of his newly found faith.

The words are emphatic and contain a truth all-important to the spiritual life. They take us straight to the real purpose of the Saviour’s death; they put before us the true object of the Christian’s life. Not the forgiveness of sins, not a title to Heaven, but a holy life- a walk that pleases God.

True, forgiveness of sins must come first; the blessing of free pardon lies at the threshold of the Christian life. We cannot do acceptable service, we cannot yield the first-fruits of the Spirit, the love, joy, peace, which are the unfailing marks of the spiritual nature, unless all servile fear of God, all unworthy desires to propitiate our Heavenly Father and to merit His favour, have been removed by a belief in our full acceptance through the blood of the cross.

We must first learn what the Apostle John taught as an infant lesson to his little children, ” … your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake” (1 John 2: 12). But, after all, this forgiveness of sins is only the means and not the end. A holy life is the only end.

The cross of Christ, while it secures my pardon, condemns me to become a saint. How? Partly out of gratitude. They who have been forgiven much must needs love much (Luke 7:4 7). Christ’s love to us cannot fail to constrain us to live not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again (2 Corinthians 5: 15).

IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST

Is this all? What did the Apostle Paul mean when he said, “I am crucified with Christ … ” (Galatians 2:20)? Is not this identification something more than substitution?

Does not this again imply union? Can we accept Christ as our substitute merely, and claim the freedom from sin’s punishment which His death secured? Must we not at the same time become one with Him in a living spiritual union; one with Him in His attitude toward sin; one with Him in His attitude toward God?

The very essence of the atonement lies in the fact, not that so much suffering was borne, so much pain inflicted, but that the only begotten Son, who all through His life had done the Father’s will and had passed through the sinful world unspotted and unstained, took the place of the sinful and rebellious, and ” … put away sin … “, both bearing its curse and manifesting its exceeding sinfulness ” … by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

GOD’S ESTIMATE OF SIN

The cross of Christ shows us God’s estimate of sin. To accept the atonement there wrought out by Christ, we must accept God’s view of sin. The cross of Christ preaches with awful eloquence, “No quarter to sin, but war to the very death.” It condemns sin utterly and entirely, and thus condemns us to be holy.”

It is a base slander against the doctrines of free grace to say that assurance of acceptance must lead to carelessness of living. Shame to any whose lives have made this lie to be believed. They cannot surely accept Christ as the propitiation for their sins who do not honestly accept God’s sentence there passed upon sin, who do not view all that is evil in their past mode of living- yes, and every sinful affection and desire of the natural heart sentenced to death. They must learn that” … our old man is crucified with him … ” (Romans 6:6).

The very sacrifice by which alone pardon is secured to us most unmistakably fixes the character of the life that is to follow; it pledges us to holiness and self-sacrifice. The life of holiness, then, is not some high pathway reserved for a few who are peculiarly devoted, for the specialist in religion; there is to be no division made between the secular and the sacred life; all who believe in the old story of the cross, all who hope to be saved thereby, are bound by it to a holy life.

HOLINESS POSSIBLE

But we must go a step further. The cross of Christ not only enforces holiness, but makes holiness possible. The Saviour’s death was not only an atonement for sin, but a triumph over sin. By faith we can view our sins not only on His sacred head for our pardon, but under His pierced feet for our deliverance. To Christ and all who are in Him, the devil is a conquered foe.

The life of the com of wheat which falls into the ground and dies is reproduced in the well-filled ear (John 12:24). The life which was laid down for our ransom is imparted to us for our life and strength. Strange that this blessed truth, to which the Lord’s Supper was meant to be a standing witness, should have been so forgotten; stranger still that so many have been contented with a connection which is only outward and formal, instead of going on to the real living union through faith and the Holy Spirit.

We need to learn the full force of the comparison in Romans 5:10, that compound-proportion sum, so full of meaning: if when enemies, through the imputed death, we are reconciled, how much more as friends, in the imparted life, we shall be saved- delivered, that is, from the bondage and practice and love of sin. Just as the healthy flow of life in the body enables it to resist disease, so the life of Christ, imparted through His death and resurrection, enables the Christian to throw off the pollution of the world, and escape from corruption and sin. The cross of Christ condemns us and empowers us to be holy.

This, then, is the great lesson for us, that goodness has been put within the reach of the vilest sinner through the finished work of Christ. May God teach us the meaning of the cross, and so make us Calvary Christians.

The events in the life of Jesus, God’s Son, were not mere happenings but the unfolding of God’s great plan for the eternal welfare of mankind. The state of the natural man is sinful which unfits him for an entrance into Heaven. However, God does not wish to see anyone die in his sins and perish. It is His desire that all men tum from their sin and be saved.

For this cause God ” … gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16). Jesus gladly paid the price of the sinner’s redemption on the cross of Calvary. Therefore, having met the righteous demands of the law, God raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. How beautiful the co-operation of the Father and Son! All this to win a lost race back to God. Yes, eternal life awaits all those who put their trust in Jesus Christ, the One who was dead, but now lives forevermore; and, because He lives, we shall live also.

But God had another purpose in raising His Son from the dead. Here it is: “Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). How wonderful! Not only saved from sin but delivered from the condemnation and penalty of sin. On Jesus was laid the iniquity of us all. Therefore, death and the grave were His portion for you and for me. But God, being satisfied with the full payment His Son made for sin, raised Him up from the dead and set Him free. Now our God is a just God, and by His grace freely justifies all those who believe in Jesus. He cannot requite those for whom a ransom has already been paid. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5: 1). O rest, sweet rest! This is the believer’s portion in this life, free from all condemnation!

But let us consider the blessedness of the life to come when we stand before the just Judge. Were we to stand before God alone, there would be no hope for anyone, but Jesus will be there, the One who paid the price of our redemption and is now at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints. At that day, He will plead our cause, and no charges will be able to stand against us. For while the saints walk the dusty highways of this earth by faith, He will keep them from falling, and at that great day will present them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. What a wonderful hope! Are you looking for that blessed hope?

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” ( 1 Peter 1 :3-4).

The hour in which we live is fraught with spiritual dangers. The Bible tells us that there will be seducing spirits in these last days (1 Timothy 4:1). They will deceive the very elect if they can (Mark 13 :22). Seducing spirits find entrance where there is sin in the life.

Scripture says, “Let no man deceive you … ” (Ephesians 5:6). (See Matthew 24:4; Mark 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 John 3:7.) We are also cautioned not to deceive ourselves (l Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 1:8).

It often happens that when God uses a man greatly, Christians begin to admire the individual and to exalt him. This can easily lead to pride in that leader, and “Pride goeth before destruction … ” (Proverbs 16: 18). These proud leaders may be led into deception, and the devoted followers fall into the same deception.

Leaders who have large followings but do not live righteous lives are not from God. There must be holy living, and holiness must be preached to the people. God will have a church ” … not having spot, or wrinkle … ” (Ephesians 5:27); ” … judgment must begin at the house of God … ” (1 Peter 4: 17). The way is narrow (Matthew 7: 14). Beware of those who preach an easy, compromising Gospel.

There will be deceivers who will come preaching truth. Then after a following is gained, they will begin to teach doctrines that arc not Scriptural. Christians would not follow one who comes ministering error, but those who are not watchful can be led gradually off into error by one whom they have come to admire. They remember the truths he first taught, and though they do not find what he later teaches in the Scriptures, admiring his person, they accept his teachings regardless.

WE MUST BE WATCHFUL

The life of the minister of righteousness must agree with what he speaks, and what he speaks must agree wholly with Scripture. When there is a mixture, we must beware. If we live righteously and hold the Word of God in our hearts and minds, we need not fear, for God will give us of His Spirit to keep us in the truth. We must judge our own lives and purge out any sin lest it become a snare to us. “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11 :31).

These are days of intensifying temptation. As God moves in His people to prepare them for the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan will intensify his efforts to lead God’s people into deception. Satan will seek to lead God’s people away from holiness and into the flesh-pleasing life.

Temptation need not overcome us. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4: 15-16).

We must live in the spirit of watchfulness. Christian, watch over your heart. “Keep thy heart with all diligence … “(Proverbs 4:23).

Watch over your lips and be jealous of your tongue. Guard against a light and trifling spirit, by which multitudes have fallen into darkness and ruin.

Watch for seasons of prayer and special communion with God. Watch for opportunities of doing and receiving good.

Watch against the allurements of the world and against everything that is sensual and has a tendency to lull the soul to sleep.

Watch against temptations, and resist them in a moment, keep steadfast in the faith. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

We need not be those who fall into darkness. We can be among those who finish the course with victory. We must be strong in purpose. Dangers will beset on every hand, but God has promised that His grace is sufficient for those who will seek Him for it (2 Corinthians 12:9).