What Really Is Sin?
Sin includes all the lies that the human race has been telling about God the Creator down through the centuries.
Sin is universal and represents the margin of difference between all that God is (in whose image we are made) and what we are on our own.
Sin is anything that falls short of God's glory (Romans 3:23), so that God will evaluate sin as any behavior that falls short of what He does, what He says, and what He is.
Sin therefore is exposed simply by relating our behavior to God's behavior. God is perfect, and by that perfection you and I can recognize sin, because sin is anything which falls short of His perfection.
God Himself is therefore the only standard by which sin is recognizable.
Sin also is defined in the Bible as faithless independence: "Whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). It is an attitude of "lawlessness" (1 John 3:4).
In light of this understanding of sin, what then does repentance involve?
Repentance means stepping out of independence back into dependence, and the measure of your repentance will be the measure of your dependence. Every area of your life in which you have not learned to be truly dependent on God is an area of your life in which you have not as yet repented.
Christ died for us so that He, risen and alive, might now come and dwell within us, so that we might no longer be egocentric, self-oriented, living only for our own interests. "He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Never be sorry for your self. Just be sorry for your sin!
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
1. Is there any area of your life in which you have not learned to be truly dependent on God? If so, what repentance is necessary and appropriate at this time?
2. In your own behavior at this time, how are you falling short of all that God does, all that He says, and all that He is?
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Saturday, May 19, 2018
From Ignorance To Righteousness
From Ignorance To Righteousness
There is a lie that satan continues to propagate today with signal success in the hearts of countless people. It is the notion that by giving themselves back to the God who made them, and by submitting themselves to His sovereignty, they will be robbed of that liberty which makes life really worth living. Such people are not necessarily insincere in this conviction, but are the victims of their own ignorance, which makes them dupes of the devil, whose greatest delight is exploiting that ignorance.
God's Word describes in detail the ignorance and the devil's part in it:
For the god of this world has blinded the unbeliever's minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and likeness of God.
Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the wilful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart {to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. (Ephesians 4:18).
This hardened heart is the essence of the "old man" within us (Ephesians 4:22), our flesh. The soul of the unregenerate is sold out to the flesh, and that persons behavior is subject to the demands of a rebel regime that denies to God His right to be God.
The human soul, dominated by the flesh, becomes party, however unwittingly, to every carnal ambition that would silence the voice of God and resist the claims of His Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants so very much to replace by His presence within you, all your inherent potential for evil under the influence of the flesh. He offers you instead all His limitless potential for good through the energy and power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.
Spiritual new birth involves the principle of divine substitution, and though you are to be persuaded of your inherent wickedness, you are to be equally persuaded of Christ's inherent righteousness and all that it means for you.
If that which is both of the flesh is flesh, you can be equally certain that that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit - that God is God!
What is so completely amazing is that God is prepared to be God in you not figuratively but FACTUALLY. You can actually share His Life and be transformed into His likeness.
"For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:3-4).
1. In what ways have you been tempted to think that by giving yourself to God, you would be missing out on certain freedoms and pleasures?
2. What does it mean practically to you that by your spiritual new birth, Christ's inherent righteousness is now yours?
3. At this time, how do you recognize that you are sharing the life of Christ in actuality?
~W. Ian Thomas~
There is a lie that satan continues to propagate today with signal success in the hearts of countless people. It is the notion that by giving themselves back to the God who made them, and by submitting themselves to His sovereignty, they will be robbed of that liberty which makes life really worth living. Such people are not necessarily insincere in this conviction, but are the victims of their own ignorance, which makes them dupes of the devil, whose greatest delight is exploiting that ignorance.
God's Word describes in detail the ignorance and the devil's part in it:
For the god of this world has blinded the unbeliever's minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and likeness of God.
Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the wilful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart {to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. (Ephesians 4:18).
This hardened heart is the essence of the "old man" within us (Ephesians 4:22), our flesh. The soul of the unregenerate is sold out to the flesh, and that persons behavior is subject to the demands of a rebel regime that denies to God His right to be God.
The human soul, dominated by the flesh, becomes party, however unwittingly, to every carnal ambition that would silence the voice of God and resist the claims of His Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Christ wants so very much to replace by His presence within you, all your inherent potential for evil under the influence of the flesh. He offers you instead all His limitless potential for good through the energy and power of His indwelling Holy Spirit.
Spiritual new birth involves the principle of divine substitution, and though you are to be persuaded of your inherent wickedness, you are to be equally persuaded of Christ's inherent righteousness and all that it means for you.
If that which is both of the flesh is flesh, you can be equally certain that that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit - that God is God!
What is so completely amazing is that God is prepared to be God in you not figuratively but FACTUALLY. You can actually share His Life and be transformed into His likeness.
"For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:3-4).
1. In what ways have you been tempted to think that by giving yourself to God, you would be missing out on certain freedoms and pleasures?
2. What does it mean practically to you that by your spiritual new birth, Christ's inherent righteousness is now yours?
3. At this time, how do you recognize that you are sharing the life of Christ in actuality?
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Where My Blogs Will Now Be Seen
Where My Blogs Will Now Be Seen
Alert!
All of my blogs (all seven of them) will now be posted on the following sites:
Facebook.com-www.facebook.com/katherinesewell775562
MeWe.com
mewe.com/join/in-depth_christian_teaching
MyPraize.com - www.mypraize.com/kathy7
GooglePlus.com - https://plus.google.com/+KatherineSewell
I have the desire, and need, to get true Christian teaching out to as many as I can - world wide!
I would be happy to see you on all of the above sites!! Come join me!!
I am also looking for a good social site that is more European, more attined to the non-Christian folks. If anyone knows of a good site, please let me know! I truly appreciate your help!
God bless you all and may He send His precious grace and generous mercy to all!
Alert!
All of my blogs (all seven of them) will now be posted on the following sites:
Facebook.com-www.facebook.com/katherinesewell775562
MeWe.com
mewe.com/join/in-depth_christian_teaching
MyPraize.com - www.mypraize.com/kathy7
GooglePlus.com - https://plus.google.com/+KatherineSewell
I have the desire, and need, to get true Christian teaching out to as many as I can - world wide!
I would be happy to see you on all of the above sites!! Come join me!!
I am also looking for a good social site that is more European, more attined to the non-Christian folks. If anyone knows of a good site, please let me know! I truly appreciate your help!
God bless you all and may He send His precious grace and generous mercy to all!
The Ways of the Flesh
The Ways of the Flesh
You may have harnessed the energy of the flesh in an otherwise quite genuine desire to honor the Lord Jesus in your life. The flesh, which has its origin in satan, will go along with you; to survive, it is quite prepared to engage in every form of Christian activity, even though this may seem to honor Christ.
The flesh will sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, preside at a deacons' meeting, preach from the pulpit, organize an evangelistic crusade, go to Bible college, volunteer for the mission field, and a thousand other things, all of which may in themselves be otherwise legitimate, if only it can keep its neck out of the noose. The flesh will threaten, shout, strut, domineer, sulk, plot, creep, beg, plead, or sob, whenever the situation may demand in the interests of its own survival. By any and all means it will seek to cause every Christian to live by his own strength instead of by the power and grace of the Lord Jesus, and to conclude that doing so is actually a good thing!
The characteristic of the spiritually immature is that they are unable to discern between good and evil (Hebrews 5:13-14), and the baby Christian, like the foolish Galatians, "having begun in the Spirit" still tries to be "made perfect by the flesh" (Galatians 3:3).
We must be particularly patient with those whose lack of understanding allows a genuine love for the Lord Jesus to be satisfied with, and sometimes to be quite enthusiastic about, Christian activities involving means and methods which are heavily contaminated by the flesh. These are more deserving of instruction then rebuke, for they are still in their spiritual babyhood.
The spiritual conviction is an activity of the Holy Spirit within the human spirit, and when the Holy Spirit begins to convict you of your immaturity, bearing witness to your conscience that the Lord Jesus Christ is being denied His rightful place in your life, the old Adam-nature within you becomes irritable and edgy. At the same time it will seek to produce the most plausible arguments in justification of its own illegitimate activities, even though these activities are only what the Bible calls "dead works" (Hebrews 6:1; 9:14) and not the "good works" which are truly the work of God.
The Lord Jesus said, "This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29). The work of God is your living faith in the adequacy of the One who is in you, which releases His divine action through man. This is the kind of activity that the Bible calls "good works" (Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10), as opposed to "dead works".
"Good works" are those that have their origin in Jesus Christ, as Christ's activity is released through your body because you present it to Him as a living sacrifice. You do this only by a faith that expresses total dependence, as opposed to the Adamic independence (Romans 12:1-2).
God does not honor men and women and their deeds or their books or their organizations. The Father in heaven delights to honor His Son. It is only the Life of the Lord Jesus - His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you - that ultimately will find the approval of God.
"Whatever you do (no matter what it is) in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in dependence upon His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).
1. What Christian activities have you pursued more out of the energy of the flesh than in true dependence on the activity of Christ?
2. For any activity in your life, how can you go about assessing whether you are pursuing it in dependence on Christ instead of in the energy of the flesh?
3. In what way does your flesh try to justify its own illegitimate activities in your life?
~W. Ian Thomas~
You may have harnessed the energy of the flesh in an otherwise quite genuine desire to honor the Lord Jesus in your life. The flesh, which has its origin in satan, will go along with you; to survive, it is quite prepared to engage in every form of Christian activity, even though this may seem to honor Christ.
The flesh will sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, preside at a deacons' meeting, preach from the pulpit, organize an evangelistic crusade, go to Bible college, volunteer for the mission field, and a thousand other things, all of which may in themselves be otherwise legitimate, if only it can keep its neck out of the noose. The flesh will threaten, shout, strut, domineer, sulk, plot, creep, beg, plead, or sob, whenever the situation may demand in the interests of its own survival. By any and all means it will seek to cause every Christian to live by his own strength instead of by the power and grace of the Lord Jesus, and to conclude that doing so is actually a good thing!
The characteristic of the spiritually immature is that they are unable to discern between good and evil (Hebrews 5:13-14), and the baby Christian, like the foolish Galatians, "having begun in the Spirit" still tries to be "made perfect by the flesh" (Galatians 3:3).
We must be particularly patient with those whose lack of understanding allows a genuine love for the Lord Jesus to be satisfied with, and sometimes to be quite enthusiastic about, Christian activities involving means and methods which are heavily contaminated by the flesh. These are more deserving of instruction then rebuke, for they are still in their spiritual babyhood.
The spiritual conviction is an activity of the Holy Spirit within the human spirit, and when the Holy Spirit begins to convict you of your immaturity, bearing witness to your conscience that the Lord Jesus Christ is being denied His rightful place in your life, the old Adam-nature within you becomes irritable and edgy. At the same time it will seek to produce the most plausible arguments in justification of its own illegitimate activities, even though these activities are only what the Bible calls "dead works" (Hebrews 6:1; 9:14) and not the "good works" which are truly the work of God.
The Lord Jesus said, "This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29). The work of God is your living faith in the adequacy of the One who is in you, which releases His divine action through man. This is the kind of activity that the Bible calls "good works" (Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 2:10), as opposed to "dead works".
"Good works" are those that have their origin in Jesus Christ, as Christ's activity is released through your body because you present it to Him as a living sacrifice. You do this only by a faith that expresses total dependence, as opposed to the Adamic independence (Romans 12:1-2).
God does not honor men and women and their deeds or their books or their organizations. The Father in heaven delights to honor His Son. It is only the Life of the Lord Jesus - His activity, clothed with you and displayed through you - that ultimately will find the approval of God.
"Whatever you do (no matter what it is) in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in dependence upon His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).
1. What Christian activities have you pursued more out of the energy of the flesh than in true dependence on the activity of Christ?
2. For any activity in your life, how can you go about assessing whether you are pursuing it in dependence on Christ instead of in the energy of the flesh?
3. In what way does your flesh try to justify its own illegitimate activities in your life?
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, May 5, 2018
A Question of Parentage
A Question of Parentage
Every act of sin has its origin in satan; it is his character incarnate. "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning" (1 John 3:8).
Likewise, every act of righteousness has its origin in God; it is His character incarnate.
In everything you do, the true character of a particular act can always be discerned in the authorship of that act. It is not a question of pattern, but of parentage.
That which is born of God in you is Jesus Christ, and it is He who who does not commit sin, nor can He, for He is God! This is what the apostle John means when he writes, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9). The divine seed within us is the very nature of God Himself, and the nature that He wants to share with you through His Son.
Share the nature of Christ and you share His victory. You do not achieve it; you receive it, for Christ Himself "became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).
To be dominated by the "flesh" is to be dominated by the devil; and to be dominated by the Holy Spirit is to be dominated by God.
What really is this "flesh" of which the Bible speaks? The fle4sh is that perverted principle in human beings which perpetuates satan's proud hostility and enmity against God. In our fallen condition every person's soul is dominated by the flesh and destitute of the Holy Spirit. You and I were born in this unregenerate condition.
The Holy Spirit and the flesh are inveterate foes: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these ar4e contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:17). That is why any steps God takes to reestablish His law in our hearts are resisted tooth and nail. Being already entrenched within the human soul by nature, the flesh is in a commanding position to incite the mind, the emotions, and the will of unregenerate persons (and of carnal Christians) to defy God and resist His grace.
The Holy Spirit always exposes the flesh for what it is and there is nothing more infuriating to the carnally minded Christian than when those who are spiritually discerning remain unimpressed with him in spite of so much self-advertisement.
The crucified, risen, and living Lord Jesus alone can put the noose around the neck of your flesh and keep your flesh where it belongs, and this He does by His Holy Spirit. You cannot carry out the execution, but to you and to your alone belong the moral responsibility of confirming the sentence of death.
This the decision God is waiting for you to make, for in His sovereignty God limits Himself that simple law of faith which gives to you the moral capacity to know Him and to love Him for yourself.
Consent, therefore, to die to all that you are which does not derive from all that Christ is, and thank Him for His willingness to make it real in your experience.
To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6).
1. What step of faith is God waiting for you to take in dying to your flesh?
2. Have you adequately expressed your thankfulness to God for the Holy Spirit's work in exposing the sinfulness of your flesh? Do this now.
~W. Ian Thomas~
Every act of sin has its origin in satan; it is his character incarnate. "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning" (1 John 3:8).
Likewise, every act of righteousness has its origin in God; it is His character incarnate.
In everything you do, the true character of a particular act can always be discerned in the authorship of that act. It is not a question of pattern, but of parentage.
That which is born of God in you is Jesus Christ, and it is He who who does not commit sin, nor can He, for He is God! This is what the apostle John means when he writes, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9). The divine seed within us is the very nature of God Himself, and the nature that He wants to share with you through His Son.
Share the nature of Christ and you share His victory. You do not achieve it; you receive it, for Christ Himself "became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).
To be dominated by the "flesh" is to be dominated by the devil; and to be dominated by the Holy Spirit is to be dominated by God.
What really is this "flesh" of which the Bible speaks? The fle4sh is that perverted principle in human beings which perpetuates satan's proud hostility and enmity against God. In our fallen condition every person's soul is dominated by the flesh and destitute of the Holy Spirit. You and I were born in this unregenerate condition.
The Holy Spirit and the flesh are inveterate foes: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these ar4e contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:17). That is why any steps God takes to reestablish His law in our hearts are resisted tooth and nail. Being already entrenched within the human soul by nature, the flesh is in a commanding position to incite the mind, the emotions, and the will of unregenerate persons (and of carnal Christians) to defy God and resist His grace.
The Holy Spirit always exposes the flesh for what it is and there is nothing more infuriating to the carnally minded Christian than when those who are spiritually discerning remain unimpressed with him in spite of so much self-advertisement.
The crucified, risen, and living Lord Jesus alone can put the noose around the neck of your flesh and keep your flesh where it belongs, and this He does by His Holy Spirit. You cannot carry out the execution, but to you and to your alone belong the moral responsibility of confirming the sentence of death.
This the decision God is waiting for you to make, for in His sovereignty God limits Himself that simple law of faith which gives to you the moral capacity to know Him and to love Him for yourself.
Consent, therefore, to die to all that you are which does not derive from all that Christ is, and thank Him for His willingness to make it real in your experience.
To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6).
1. What step of faith is God waiting for you to take in dying to your flesh?
2. Have you adequately expressed your thankfulness to God for the Holy Spirit's work in exposing the sinfulness of your flesh? Do this now.
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, April 28, 2018
The Shattered Interlock
The Shattered Interlock
God warned Adam: "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17).
Did Adam die physically on the day when he fell to satan's temptation and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? No, Adam did not die physically until he was more than nine hundred years of age. But when he defied and disobeyed God that day in the Garden of Eden, Adam did indeed die. What kind of death was it?
Death in the absence of life. What life did Adam lose that day? The Life of God! God withdrew His Holy Spirit from Adam's spirit. This was spiritual death.
As we have seen, God intended that a threefold moral interlock should govern our relationship to God and God's relationship to us.
1. Our love for God, reciprocating His love for us. The love is evidenced exclusively by -
2. Our dependence on God, because He created us in such a way that His presence is indispensable to our humanity and true function. This dependence can be expressed only by -
3. Our obedience to God.
This threefold moral interlock on that day in the Garden of Eden when man believed the devil's lie, the lie that man can somehow be man without God; that the Creator is not indispensable to the creature, that we can carve our own destiny, be kind in our own kingdom, be our own god.
At this point of moral option, Adam fell, and at once things went wrong and have been going wrong ever since.
Picture in your mind a beehive (to take one example in the amazing vastness of the animal kingdom) when tens of thousands of bees all operate by instinct in performing their particular jobs - the queen bee who lays eggs, plus the scout bees, the worker bees, the nurse bees, the guard bees, and others. They all carry out their individual tasks by God's design for the continuing health and propagation of the hive.
Now imagine that one day the rigid interlock between the instinctive thrust and each bee's soul suddenly snapped. All at once it was every bee for himself. What would happen?
The result, of course, would be anarchy, chaos, and self-destruction, which is precisely what has been evidenced in the history of mankind all down through the centuries. Through satan's lying subdery, mankind embarked upon the mad experiment of disobedience and human self-sufficiency, in which we are still today so heavily and tragically involved, with all its terrible consequences.
Without God, we are like an animal, only worse. God did not create man to be an animal, governed only by instinct. Our "natural" man, who we are in our flesh, is void of true spirituality.
As heirs to a fallen Adam, we are born without any conscious sense either of a relationship with God or a capacity to have that relationship, even though this lack leaves instinctively a religious longing within us. Inherently we know there is a sort of vacuum inside which we try to fill with anything and everything apart from God Himself (Ephesians 4:17-18), with full cooperation from satan.
It is amazing with what enthusiasm human beings are prepared to allow their humanity to be prostituted by the devil! Nevertheless, though they seek to justify themselves and be persuaded of the virtue of their actions, there is still an intangible restlessness within that leaves them baffled and perplexed.
Are there such moments of perplexity in your life - a restless soul whispering that all is not well with you?
"You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindn4ess of their hearts" (Ephesians 4:17-18).
~W. Ian Thomas~
God warned Adam: "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17).
Did Adam die physically on the day when he fell to satan's temptation and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? No, Adam did not die physically until he was more than nine hundred years of age. But when he defied and disobeyed God that day in the Garden of Eden, Adam did indeed die. What kind of death was it?
Death in the absence of life. What life did Adam lose that day? The Life of God! God withdrew His Holy Spirit from Adam's spirit. This was spiritual death.
As we have seen, God intended that a threefold moral interlock should govern our relationship to God and God's relationship to us.
1. Our love for God, reciprocating His love for us. The love is evidenced exclusively by -
2. Our dependence on God, because He created us in such a way that His presence is indispensable to our humanity and true function. This dependence can be expressed only by -
3. Our obedience to God.
This threefold moral interlock on that day in the Garden of Eden when man believed the devil's lie, the lie that man can somehow be man without God; that the Creator is not indispensable to the creature, that we can carve our own destiny, be kind in our own kingdom, be our own god.
At this point of moral option, Adam fell, and at once things went wrong and have been going wrong ever since.
Picture in your mind a beehive (to take one example in the amazing vastness of the animal kingdom) when tens of thousands of bees all operate by instinct in performing their particular jobs - the queen bee who lays eggs, plus the scout bees, the worker bees, the nurse bees, the guard bees, and others. They all carry out their individual tasks by God's design for the continuing health and propagation of the hive.
Now imagine that one day the rigid interlock between the instinctive thrust and each bee's soul suddenly snapped. All at once it was every bee for himself. What would happen?
The result, of course, would be anarchy, chaos, and self-destruction, which is precisely what has been evidenced in the history of mankind all down through the centuries. Through satan's lying subdery, mankind embarked upon the mad experiment of disobedience and human self-sufficiency, in which we are still today so heavily and tragically involved, with all its terrible consequences.
Without God, we are like an animal, only worse. God did not create man to be an animal, governed only by instinct. Our "natural" man, who we are in our flesh, is void of true spirituality.
As heirs to a fallen Adam, we are born without any conscious sense either of a relationship with God or a capacity to have that relationship, even though this lack leaves instinctively a religious longing within us. Inherently we know there is a sort of vacuum inside which we try to fill with anything and everything apart from God Himself (Ephesians 4:17-18), with full cooperation from satan.
It is amazing with what enthusiasm human beings are prepared to allow their humanity to be prostituted by the devil! Nevertheless, though they seek to justify themselves and be persuaded of the virtue of their actions, there is still an intangible restlessness within that leaves them baffled and perplexed.
Are there such moments of perplexity in your life - a restless soul whispering that all is not well with you?
"You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindn4ess of their hearts" (Ephesians 4:17-18).
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Classic Christian Authors # 1
Classic Christian Authors # 1
Hellish sin! Stupendous wickedness! Monstrous impiety!
(Thomas Doolittle, "Love to Christ Necessary to Escape the Curse at His Coming!")
"If any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ--he shall be accursed!" 1 Corinthians 16:22
What! not love the Lord! Hellish sin!
What! not love Jesus! Stupendous wickedness!
What! not love Christ! Monstrous impiety!
Not love Him who is both Lord, and Jesus, and Christ! What name might we call him by?
Is he a man--or a beast?
Is he a man--or a devil?
Do you love the world--and not Him? Do you love sin--and not him? This may be . . .
the astonishment of the heavens,
the amazement of the earth,
the wonder of angels,
the joy of devils,
the burden of the creation of God.
The earth groans to bear them;
the sun is grieved to give light unto them;
the air laments to be sucked into sin-filthy bodies, wherein are more filthy souls--because they are void of the love of Christ! Yes, all this world looks more like Hell than Heaven, because of the swarms of men therein who have no sincere love to Jesus Christ.
Let all who are not sensual beasts, or incarnate devils--who have the understanding and hearts of men--stand and wonder--that a man should deny Christ his love. Good Lord! What a thing is this! What cursed wickedness is this! What wonder that you behold such a sight as this--a man without love unto your Son--and allow him to continue to be a man; or do not make him . . .
a sick man,
a poor man,
a tormented pained man on earth,
or a damned man in Hell!
When once I had got a view of Christ's transcendent loveliness!
(Thomas Doolittle, "Love to Christ Necessary to Escape the Curse at His Coming!")
The prophet Isaiah, speaking of graceless men as disliking, not desiring, nor loving Christ--brings them in as saying, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him!" Isaiah 53:2
What! No loveliness in Him who is "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person!" Yes! there was, there is--but they had no eyes to see it! It is as if a blind man should say that the sun is dark, because he has no eyes to behold it's light. It was, because in seeing--they did not see. How could they look upon Him with an eye of love--when they did not discern Him with an eye of faith?
But a holy soul, whose eyes are divinely opened, so sees that superlative goodness, beauty, and excellency in Christ--that all other things, which are good with an inferior goodness, seem to him as dross and dung! "But whatever was to my profit, I now consider lossfor the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things! I consider them rubbish," things cast to dogs, or dog's-food, "that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:7-8
The holy man, whose mind is savingly enlightened, can say: I see that goodness in the Savior, which far surpasses all the goodness of the creature! Though the stars in the coldest night might be seen--yet when the sun arises, they all disappear. Just so, in the night of ignorance, when my mind was blind, my heart hard, and my affections frozen--I was bewitched with the goodness of riches, of honors, and of worldly pleasures. Yet when the Sun of righteousness with His radiant rays shined into my soul, and with His warming influences thawed my benumbed frozen heart--when Christ the day-star arose in my soul--then, O then, the glory of these things which once dazzled my eyes, presently vanished and withered away! When once I had got a view of Christ's transcendent loveliness--then in comparison to Christ, I saw . . .
an emptiness and vanity--in all the creature's fullness;
beggary--in all the world's nobility;
shame--in all the world's glory;
poverty--in all the world's riches;
the world's greatest resplendent luster--to be darkness;
the world's wisdom--to be folly;
the world's beauty--appeared to me no better than deformity!
Yes, the soul whose love is fixed upon Christ, sees the superlative goodness, beauty, and excellency in Christ.
"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16
_______________________________
Moral and spiritual parasites!
(Frederick Marsh)
There are moral and spiritual parasites which throttle, kill, injure, or retard the growth of the spiritual life!
1. The parasite of sloth will hinder the grace of watchfulness, as it did the five virgins. Matthew 25:5
2. The parasite of worldliness will kill the grace of devotion, as it did in Demas. 2 Timothy 4:10
3. The parasite of pride will devastate the grace of humility, as it did with the Devil. 1 Timothy 3:6
4. The parasite of unbelief will keep down the grace of faith, as is seen in the children of Israel. Hebrews 3:17-19
5. The parasite of prestige will kill the grace of self-denial, as is stated of Diotrephes. 3 John 9
6. The parasite of covetousness will strangle the grace of generosity, as is evidenced in Achan. Joshua 7:21
________________________________
Hellish sin! Stupendous wickedness! Monstrous impiety!
(Thomas Doolittle, "Love to Christ Necessary to Escape the Curse at His Coming!")
"If any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ--he shall be accursed!" 1 Corinthians 16:22
What! not love the Lord! Hellish sin!
What! not love Jesus! Stupendous wickedness!
What! not love Christ! Monstrous impiety!
Not love Him who is both Lord, and Jesus, and Christ! What name might we call him by?
Is he a man--or a beast?
Is he a man--or a devil?
Do you love the world--and not Him? Do you love sin--and not him? This may be . . .
the astonishment of the heavens,
the amazement of the earth,
the wonder of angels,
the joy of devils,
the burden of the creation of God.
The earth groans to bear them;
the sun is grieved to give light unto them;
the air laments to be sucked into sin-filthy bodies, wherein are more filthy souls--because they are void of the love of Christ! Yes, all this world looks more like Hell than Heaven, because of the swarms of men therein who have no sincere love to Jesus Christ.
Let all who are not sensual beasts, or incarnate devils--who have the understanding and hearts of men--stand and wonder--that a man should deny Christ his love. Good Lord! What a thing is this! What cursed wickedness is this! What wonder that you behold such a sight as this--a man without love unto your Son--and allow him to continue to be a man; or do not make him . . .
a sick man,
a poor man,
a tormented pained man on earth,
or a damned man in Hell!
Oh what punishment waits for him! How do devils hope for his death, that they might drag him down to that hellish crew, where there is not one lover of Christ among them all!
"If any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ--he shall be accursed!" 1 Corinthians 16:22
"If any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ--he shall be accursed!" 1 Corinthians 16:22
____________________________
When once I had got a view of Christ's transcendent loveliness!
(Thomas Doolittle, "Love to Christ Necessary to Escape the Curse at His Coming!")
The prophet Isaiah, speaking of graceless men as disliking, not desiring, nor loving Christ--brings them in as saying, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him!" Isaiah 53:2
What! No loveliness in Him who is "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person!" Yes! there was, there is--but they had no eyes to see it! It is as if a blind man should say that the sun is dark, because he has no eyes to behold it's light. It was, because in seeing--they did not see. How could they look upon Him with an eye of love--when they did not discern Him with an eye of faith?
But a holy soul, whose eyes are divinely opened, so sees that superlative goodness, beauty, and excellency in Christ--that all other things, which are good with an inferior goodness, seem to him as dross and dung! "But whatever was to my profit, I now consider lossfor the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things! I consider them rubbish," things cast to dogs, or dog's-food, "that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:7-8
The holy man, whose mind is savingly enlightened, can say: I see that goodness in the Savior, which far surpasses all the goodness of the creature! Though the stars in the coldest night might be seen--yet when the sun arises, they all disappear. Just so, in the night of ignorance, when my mind was blind, my heart hard, and my affections frozen--I was bewitched with the goodness of riches, of honors, and of worldly pleasures. Yet when the Sun of righteousness with His radiant rays shined into my soul, and with His warming influences thawed my benumbed frozen heart--when Christ the day-star arose in my soul--then, O then, the glory of these things which once dazzled my eyes, presently vanished and withered away! When once I had got a view of Christ's transcendent loveliness--then in comparison to Christ, I saw . . .
an emptiness and vanity--in all the creature's fullness;
beggary--in all the world's nobility;
shame--in all the world's glory;
poverty--in all the world's riches;
the world's greatest resplendent luster--to be darkness;
the world's wisdom--to be folly;
the world's beauty--appeared to me no better than deformity!
Yes, the soul whose love is fixed upon Christ, sees the superlative goodness, beauty, and excellency in Christ.
"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16
_______________________________
Moral and spiritual parasites!
(Frederick Marsh)
There are moral and spiritual parasites which throttle, kill, injure, or retard the growth of the spiritual life!
1. The parasite of sloth will hinder the grace of watchfulness, as it did the five virgins. Matthew 25:5
2. The parasite of worldliness will kill the grace of devotion, as it did in Demas. 2 Timothy 4:10
3. The parasite of pride will devastate the grace of humility, as it did with the Devil. 1 Timothy 3:6
4. The parasite of unbelief will keep down the grace of faith, as is seen in the children of Israel. Hebrews 3:17-19
5. The parasite of prestige will kill the grace of self-denial, as is stated of Diotrephes. 3 John 9
6. The parasite of covetousness will strangle the grace of generosity, as is evidenced in Achan. Joshua 7:21
________________________________
Worldliness!
(Frederick Marsh)
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17
1. Worldliness is evil in its nature. Galatians 1:4
2. Worldliness is downward in its tendency. Ephesians 2:1-4
3. Worldliness is contaminating in its influence. James 1:27
4. Worldliness is antagonistic to God. James 4:4
5. Worldliness is corrupting in its association. 2 Peter 4:1; 2 Peter 2:20
6. Worldliness is unsatisfying in its pleasures. 1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 John 2:17
7. Worldliness is hateful in its opposition. 1 John 3:13
Separation from the world is the Lord's clear and definite direction. To be specific in our desires and efforts to be separate from the world--the following rules should be followed:
(Frederick Marsh)
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17
1. Worldliness is evil in its nature. Galatians 1:4
2. Worldliness is downward in its tendency. Ephesians 2:1-4
3. Worldliness is contaminating in its influence. James 1:27
4. Worldliness is antagonistic to God. James 4:4
5. Worldliness is corrupting in its association. 2 Peter 4:1; 2 Peter 2:20
6. Worldliness is unsatisfying in its pleasures. 1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 John 2:17
7. Worldliness is hateful in its opposition. 1 John 3:13
Separation from the world is the Lord's clear and definite direction. To be specific in our desires and efforts to be separate from the world--the following rules should be followed:
1. Go to no place where the Lord would not take you.
2. Be found in no company that is not helpful to your Christian life.
3. Be no party to any transaction upon which you cannot seek your Lord's approval.
4. Listen to no voice which would lead you away from the truth of God's Word.
5. Allow no pleasure to interfere with your attendance at the means of Grace.
6. Whatever you do--do all to the glory of God!
Strive to do the will of God, as found in His Word--nothing less, nothing more, nothing else!
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