Quicken Us

 

"Thou, who hast showed us many and sore troubles, wilt quicken us again" (Ps. 71:20, RV).

 

God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into "the lower parts of the earth," pass through subterranean passages, lie buried among the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.

 

Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.

***

 

Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist: "I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud." --Selected

***

 

"Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,

And old and chill is the wintry blast;

Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,

And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;

My face I hold to the stormy heaven,

My heart is as calm as the summer sea,

Glad to receive what my God has given,

Whate'er it be.

When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,'

And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;

For I've never a want but that He attends it;

And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow."

~L. B. Cowman~

The Gospel of God's Grace # 24

A Study of the Epistle to the Romans

The Jew Under the Sentence of Condemnation (Romans 2:17; 3:8)

What class of people is the Holy Spirit dealing with in this section? Look at verse 17: "Behold, thou art called a Jew" (2:17). In the ASV: "But if thou bearest the name of a Jew." Look at verse 28: "For he is not a Jew" (3:1). Four times the word Jew appears. Certainly that should identify the group to whom he is addressing this argument.

When Paul started to condemn the world, the Jew claimed to be exempt from condemnation on three grounds. Paul knew this, for he himself was Jew. These were the three grounds:

1. Because he was a son of Abraham. When Christ was condemning those Jews, they replied, "We are Abraham's seed" (John 8:33).

2. Because he had the law. The Jew rested his hope on possession of the law.

3. Because he was circumcised. The old rabbinical writings of the Jews contain such statements as this: "No circumcised man will be lost." In the days of Paul there was a saying that Abraham stood at the gates of Hades or Hell, seeing that no circumcised man was ever lost into Hell.

Since these three claims had a basis of truth, the apostle Paul needed to deal with each one in showing that the Jew is condemned with the rest of the world.

Three words are the key words. In the first section the emphasis is on the law: "resteth in the law" (v. 17); "instructed out of the law" (v. 18); "the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law" (v. 20); and "Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God?" (v. 23).

In the second section the emphasis is on circumcision: "circumcision verily profiteth ... thy circumcision is made uncircumcision" (v. 25). Paul uses this word in 26 and 27, too.

The third section emphasizes lineage: "He is not a Jew ..." (v. 28), "but he is a Jew ..." (v. 29).

Now then, take those three ideas, and with them let us make our outline for the section. It would be something like this:

1. The law cannot save the Jew (vv. 17-24).
2. Circumcision cannot save the Jew (vv. 25-27).
3. Birth cannot save the Jew (vv. 28-29).

Paul deals with exactly the three things that the Jew would rest his hopes upon.

The Law Cannot Save the Jew

The apostle Paul first states the position of the Jew (2:17-24). There were five advantages upon which the Jew based his hope.

His Name

The name "Jew" is from "Judah" and means "one who is praised." The Jew was proud of that name, believing anyone who bore that name was praised of God. "Whose praise is not of men, but of God" (2:29). Paul was thinking of the meaning of that name when dealing with the Jew.

His Trust

He trusted in the law. He trusted that the law would save him.

His Boast

The Jew boasted that the God of the Jew was the true God. Certainly He was. That is an Old Testament doctrine. From the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, last verse, can be seen that the Jew was commanded to glory in God, and that is the word here. But there is a boasting in God which is good, and there is a boasting in God which is nothing less than blasphemy! And the latter is what the Jew and the Pharisee had done. But Paul is not discussing that here.

His Knowledge

"And knowest His will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law" (2:18). The word "His" is in italics. We can drop it out then. The real word that is in the Greek is he article "the". It reads, "And knowest the will." There is only one will - the divine will.

His Confidence

His confidence involves four roles he believed were his: "a guide for the blind," "A light of them which are in darkness," "An instructor of the foolish," and "A teacher of babes" (2:19-20).

Paul's words carry just a touch of sarcasm. "Thou art confident," he says to this Jew. Paul knew the religious Jew and that is exactly what that Jew thought in those days. He thought that the Gentile was blind in darkness, and that he was a fool and did not know anything. The Gentile was considered immature, only a babe. The Pharisee believed he had to get the blind Gentile, and guide him, enlighten him, and instruct him.

Every one of these five aspects of the Jew's role revolves about the law. The Jews name came from the law. His trust was in the law. He boasted in the true God, who was revealed in the law. He knew the will of God; it was shown in the law. The Jew was confident that he was a teacher of the law.

When Paul reaches verse 21, he begins to ask some searching questions. First of all, Paul affirms the Jewish role: "Thou therefore which teachest ... thou that preachest ... thou that sayest ... thou that abhorest ... thou that makest thy boast." On the basis of these attitudes and actions, Paul is going to ask questions. He says, "Do you teach yourself? Do you steal? Do you commit adultery? Do you desecrate temples?" (For that is what "commit sacrilege" means.) "Do you break the law?" Paul does not accuse him of these things; he merely inquires about them. Paul did not say, "You are a thief"; Paul says, "Are you a thief?" He arouses the conscience by searching questions.

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 25)

In The Hands of the Potter

---

O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are the potter. We all are formed by Your hand. (Isaiah 64:8 NLT)

We are in the Lord’s hands, and being in His hands we are in the hands of a Potter Who knows what He is after... first of all, the vessel is in the potter, and then eventually the potter is in the vessel. What we mean is this, that before ever the potter starts, the vessel is in his mind, in his heart very clearly. The pattern is not something objective, the vessel is already a complete thing in him; and then he gets to work upon it and when he is finished, he is in the vessel he has wrought. What was in Him has come out in it. We say of people’s work: “I can see who made that, it is just like them.” “That is just like So-and-so to make a thing like that.” Yes, He is in His work, He is in the vessel that He makes, and that is just what He is doing. Sometimes that clay has to be pressed down to a shapeless mass, broken. It is not showing all that He intended it to show, there are defects and flaws, and so He crushes it down to shapelessness. A mass without shape. But it is to start again to get something more perfect than has been before, in which He Himself is.

May He give us grace to endure whatever the trial may be, along whatever line of metaphor, the wind, the blaze, supreme heat, or pressure of His hand, all of which is to get us into a place where we cannot be moved, where hell cannot shake us, where His power is made manifest as triumphant over all the power of the enemy.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

The Gospel of God's Grace #23

A Study of the Epistle to the Romans

The Moral World Under Sentence of Condemnation

Consider the fourth principle of judgment: "God will judge the secrets of men." Notice how strange that last phrase in verse 16 is: "According to my gospel, by Jesus Christ." Some of the commentators have tried to tie in that phrase with nearly every verse in this passage. Grammatically, it is difficult to know  where it belongs. It is the conclusion of the whole passage. Read it with verse 2, with 6, with 11, with 12.

Some commentators have said that God is going to judge the secrets of men according to the gospel; but that is impossible, because there are millions of men who have never heard of the gospel. What is said here is that God is going to judge men according to Jesus Christ. Paul preached that Jesus Christ is to be the Judge. At Athens Paul said that God has appointed a day when He shall judge the world by Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31).

The principle stated here is that God is going to judge the secrets of men. This means not only the secrets that are hidden from others but those also hidden from each men himself (Psalm 19:12). These secrets will be measured by the pattern of that pure gospel which is centered in Christ and was exhibited at the Cross for sinners (1 Col. 15:3-4).

Now a final summary of the ground just covered: 1. Man is condemned by his own self-judgment, as a moralist; 2. he will be condemned by the judgment of God because of four principles: a. God will judge according to the truth; b. God will judge according to works; c. God will judge with impartiality; d. God will judge the secrets of men.

The best man in the world cannot stand before such principles of judgment.

At this point Paul does not tell us what the gospel is, but how I thank God for the gospel! There is refuge in the gospel. Today that gospel is a message of deliverance; at the great white throne it will be a message of destruction. Let me bring to your mind one verse: "He that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).

The one who is in Christ cannot come into judgment! I praise God, for if God applied those principles to my life, I could not stand before Him.

However, Paul is not talking about the gospel here but is trying to bring these men to their knees in order that when he does bring the gospel to them in the next chapter, they will be ready for it.

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 24 - "The Jews Under the Sentence of Condemnation")

[this is a short article today because I didn't want to start the next article here but keep it to itself beginning with the next post]

Unanswered?

 

"Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:6, 7).

 

God's seasons are not at your beck. If the first stroke of the flint doth not bring forth the fire, you must strike again. God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our minds have appointed; He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, but not just when and where we have settled in our own expectations. Hence the need of perseverance and importunity in supplication.

 

In the days of flint and steel and brimstone matches we had to strike and strike again, dozens of times, before we could get a spark to live in the tinder; and we were thankful enough if we succeeded at last.

 

Shall we not be as persevering and hopeful as to heavenly things? We have more certainty of success in this business than we had with our flint and steel, for we have God's promises at our back.

 

Never let us despair. God's time for mercy will come; yea, it has come, if our time for believing has arrived. Ask infaith nothing wavering; but never cease from petitioning because the King delays to reply. Strike the steel again. Make the sparks fly and have your tinder ready; you will get a light before long. --C. H. Spurgeon

 

I do not believe that there is such a thing in the history of God's kingdom as a right prayer offered in a right spirit that is forever left unanswered. --Theodore L. Cuyler

~L. B. Cowman~

The Gospel of God's Grace # 22

"No Respect of Persons"

God is absolutely and always impartial, and this is spectifically true in judgment.

Verses 12-15 have been found very difficult. But there is a method of explaining these verses that simplified their meaning. Look at the first word in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth verses. It is the word "for", which is the key word explaining the principle that is stated in verse 11. First, we read the principle: "For there is no respect of persons with God." Why? "For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law." Paul is saying that ignorance of the law will not save the Gentile. He will not be judged by the law, but  he will perish! When a man sins, id does not matter if he knows nothing about the law, he is going to perish. But when one is inside the law, he will be judged by the law. Possession of the law will not save the Jew. Therefore, both are condemned alike.

There are two parts to the twelfth verse. The first deals with the Gentiles; the last with the Jew. Verses 13-15 explain those two halves. Let us take the latter part of verse 12: "As many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law." That explains why the Jew will be judged - because a man must do the things, not simply hear them (v. 13, see Lev. 18:5). He thought the mere possession of the law would save him, whereas the possession of the law constitutes the context within which he will be judged.

Verse 14 should be read with the first part of verse 12: "For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law ... for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves."

Paul states the principle in verse 11; in verse 12 he speaks of the two classes and applies the principle: in verses 14 and 15, he deals with the first half of verse 12 - all connected by the word "for", and in verse 13 he deals with the last half of verse 12, also connected by the word "for."

The first thing affirmed in verse 14 is this: The Gentiles do not have the law. That means the written law. But they sometimes "do by nature the things that are contained in the law." For example, consider the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." You may go into any primitive culture and find men there who never heard of that law, but who keep it. Their conduct proves that they have a standard of righteousness. Therefore, they "are the law unto themselves." (The article "the" ought to be there.) God has only one standard of righteousness - not two. The Jew does not have one while the Gentile figures out another by himself. Paul is saying that these Gentile nations sometimes did these very things that are in the law, and because of that, they "are the law unto themselves."

In verse 15 he gives a most searching analysis. The standard of righteousness, is written in the very inner conscience of every moralist, no matter how far from the law of God he is. He shows this by his conduct. "They show the work of the law written in the hearts." The word "hearts" is the first word for you to notice. The passage continues, "Their conscience bearing witness therewith." That is not all: "Their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them." "Hearts", "conscience", "thoughts": they all bore witness to the existence of this standard which shows itself in the man's conduct. In other words, just as the Jew had a court where he was tried (there was the law, a judge, and witnesses - a regular court), this was also true for the Gentile. This man had a court within himself comprised of the same three things: the law was written on his heart; his conscience sat as a judge; and the thoughts of the man accused or excused him.

Every man has gone through the same experience. His desires lead him to do something. Then his conscience sits in judgment on him, weighing the testimony of the witnesses as to whether it is right or wrong. His thought acts as the witnesses, either accusing him or excusing him. Every Gentile moralist had been through that experience, and therefore he knew the basis for moral judgment, the very seat of his morality.

Here is the conclusion: God will judge every man by the standard that man actually has, not by the standard he does not have. He will judge the Jew by the written law, the Gentile by the law in his heart. If God does that, what will happen to man? He will perish! Any moralist can be judged by his own standards, and he will be a lost man! What a searching thing Paul has done; he has gone right into the heart of a man and shown him his sin and his own condemnation!

Ignorance of the law then, will not save the Gentile, because he has a standard that agrees with God's standard, even though only partially. Possession of the law by the Jew will not save the Jew, because he does not keep his own law.

This answers the question: "Will the heathen be saved if he follows the light he has? No one has ever lived up to the light he has.

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 23)

Prophecy Is Both Practical and Positive

Amos 3:1-7

(1) Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
(2) " You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."
(3) Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
(4) Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
(5) Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
(6) If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
(7) Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Prophecy is both practical and positive, not all gloom and doom. Most of prophecy begins negatively but ends positively because God is confident that what He prophesied will accomplish His end, which is always good! Much of the thrust of Amos is an education for catastrophe. Amos followed Elijah about 90-100 years later. During that period, Israel's sins continued to mount horribly. Despite this, they became very wealthy and self-indulgent, even oppressively so.

Religiously, they were trying to walk a tightrope between God and Baal. They were behaving and worshipping like Baal worshipers but doing it in the name of the Lord. Does that not sound familiar to an informed observer of our modern, American scene? People in high places are claiming we all worship the same God; they say the God of Islam and the God of Christianity are the same!

Amos, a Jew from the southern kingdom, was sent by God to preach against the sins of the northern ten tribes. In those from the north, there would be a natural resistance to such an arrangement. The first thing Amos needed to do, then, was establish his authority to preach against them.

The prophet begins in the first two verses with a "thus saith the LORD," providing the foundation for all that follows. He sets out two things that construct a basis for what he says. First, God and Israel have a special relationship: "You only have I known." This phrase indicates a very close bond, as in a marriage, from which ensues the sharing of life's experiences. This ties what Amos would say to correct them to their responsibilities within that close relationship.

Second, he makes a veiled warning, contained within the next five verses: Amos' words carry authority. Israel had better heed because his words are not idle. He establishes this through a series of illustrations posed as challenging questions that can logically be answered only one way. His aim is to awaken them from their spiritual lethargy. It is as if he is saying, "Think about the practical ramifications of this." What follows is a general pattern of God's operation in His people's behalf.

First: People traveling in the same direction toward exactly the same destination would hardly meet except by appointment. It is no accident that God and Israel have this relationship. This also applies on a smaller but more immediate scale: Amos has been sent by appointment, and he does not speak promiscuously. He is there by no accident. His utterances are not his own words; they began with God, who sent them because the close relationship is seriously threatened.

Second: Lions do not roar unless they have taken their prey because they do not want to scare their intended prey away. Israel is God's prey, as it were, and He is not roaring yet. This means, "Take heed! He is stalking you, and you are in mortal danger. Punishment is imminent, at the very door. Beware, for the margin of safety is very slim."

Third: One cannot snare a bird unless a trap is set, and then something—in this case a bird—has to cause the trap to spring shut. This illustration is declaring a cause-and-effect relationship, meaning, "Israel, you are already in the trap, and you, through your conduct, are just about to spring it shut on yourself. Your sins brought this warning, and punishment will follow if you continue sinning."

Fourth: All too often, the alarms go off, and then people take notice. "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Amos is declaring that God is involved in His creation; He has not gone way off. The Israelites must not allow themselves to be self-deceived. God is managing it, governing it. His warning of impending calamity would not come if they were not deserving of it. They have been flippantly careless and have no one to blame but themselves.

Fifth: It is illogical to think that God would punish without first warning His people. It is an aspect of His mercy. We can infer that Amos did not choose to be there before them. God appointed him to this task and "caused" him to speak. It is from God that the authority for the prophet's message emanates.

An important overall warning from Amos for those of us who have made the New Covenant with God is that great privileges must not be abused, or they will bring great penalties. To whom much is given much is required (Luke12:48). Our great privilege is to have access to Him and His Spirit, and therefore have a far closer relationship with Him than Israel ever had under the Old Covenant. Israel's sin was first neglecting and then departing from God and the relationship. This in turn produced great moral corruption through self-serving idolatry, illustrated as and called "fornication" in other books.

The overall effect of these sins produced a careless disregard for the simple duties people owe their neighbors, as well as oppression of the weak. Amos speaks strongly against public and private indifference toward the keeping of the second of the two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40). When these are considered, we see that he is truly a prophet for our time, when public morality has fallen so low. We need to heed His words seriously because our cultural circumstances parallel what Amos confronted in his day.

— John W. Ritenbaugh