The Ministry of Song

The Ministry of Song

 

By Sara Stoner

God’s people have always been a singing people.  Song is a God-given release of what is in the soul and heart of the believer.  When the eyes of the heart can see what God has done, song is a natural response.  Singing can be an elixir to our own souls that lifts our spirits when we are down and raises them higher when we are up.  Words of the hymn writer can express our thoughts to God and about God more precisely than we would ever be able to think or express them, yet they become our words and our expressions when we sing with the spirit and the understanding.

      

Songs originated in the heavenly places.  God asked Job, “where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth … when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:6-7). This may be poetic language, but it speaks of all created beings bursting forth into praise to God for His marvelous works. As God unfolded His redemptive work in Israel and later to all mankind, the heavens were commanded to sing, and not only them, but also the mountains, the forest and every tree therein. The reason? “I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud, thy sins…Sing, o ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it” (Isa. 44:22).

      

Songs in the scriptures run the gamut of our earthly experience. Moses and the children of Israel sang to the LORD from the safe side of the Red Sea, “I will sing unto the LORD for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.”  But at the end of their wilderness journey, God taught Moses the words of a song He was to teach to Israel for them to teach to their children perpetually; “Of the Rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee’’ (Deut. 32: 18).  It was a sad song of God forsaking His people, turning them over to their enemies, then recovering and avenging them.  God gave them this song so that they might not forget His loving kindness and their rebellion, His discipline and their restoration.  Many years later, when Israel had yet again forsaken Him, God spoke through the prophet Amos saying “I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentations” (Amos 8:3,10). Lamentations are song of deep grieving and bitterness of heart.  God would not and will not accept songs of those with wicked hands and deceitful hearts. He will turn them into lamentations.

      

David who composed many Psalms was committed to singing praise to God because of His familiarity with God. He knew what pleased the Lord and he was in accord with Him.  “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.  This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs” (Ps.69: 30-31).  Songs are most beneficial to us and are pleasing to God when we participate in them with understanding.  The praises we bring must flow out of a heart that has seen God and agrees with His ways.

      

Songs are a way of communicating with the Lord, and He with us.  Elihu reminded Job that it is God that gives songs in the night (Job 35:10). David in Psalm 42:8 said, “Yet the LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” These are deep calling unto deep songs.  Many thoughts may come to you in the night, but God can speak to you the, by giving you a song of comfort and assurance.  He can even cause you to sing in a prison cell at midnight.

      

Believers in the new covenant have been given a new song to sing, new because of the redemptive work of Christ Jesus, and new because we have been made new creatures in Him with new hearts, new understanding and therefore, new expressions.  As the hymn writer said, “We love to sing of Christ our King and hail Him blessed Jesus”. Some current songs, which primarily focus on what we were in the flesh instead of who He is, what He has done for us, and what we are now in Him, actually rob God of His glory.  Neither do they stir up the soul with a longing for glory and the world to come.  John the beloved, who walked with Jesus in the flesh, wasn’t singing about his experiences when he beheld the Lamb seated on the throne.  He heard himself saying, “Blessing, and honor, and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever” (Rev. 5:13).

      

Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are for the Church.  We teach one another and admonish one another by them. Singing with grace in our hearts, making melody in our hearts is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.  This is an evidence of being filled with the Spirit. “Love loves to sing.  It is with the heart that melody is made.  For this inward music the Lord listens”. 

 

 

           

           

Resignation

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1807–1882

67. Resignation

THERE is no flock, however watched and tended,
But one dead lamb is there!
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,
But has one vacant chair!
The air is full of farewells to the dying,	5
And mournings for the dead;
The heart of Rachel, for her children crying,
Will not be comforted!
Let us be patient! These severe afflictions
Not from the ground arise,	10
But oftentimes celestial benedictions
Assume this dark disguise.
We see but dimly through the mists and vapors;
Amid these earthly damps
What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers	15
May be heaven's distant lamps.
There is no Death! What seems so is transition;
This life of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life elysian,
Whose portal we call Death.	20
She is not dead,—the child of our affection,—
But gone unto that school
Where she no longer needs our poor protection,
And Christ himself doth rule.
In that great cloister's stillness and seclusion,	25
By guardian angels led,
Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution,
She lives, whom we call dead,
Day after day we think what she is doing
In those bright realms of air;	30
Year after year, her tender steps pursuing,
Behold her grown more fair.
Thus do we walk with her, and keep unbroken
The bond which nature gives,
Thinking that our remembrance, though unspoken,	35
May reach her where she lives.
Not as a child shall we again behold her;
For when with raptures wild
In our embraces we again enfold her,
She will not be a child;	40
But a fair maiden, in her Father's mansion,
Clothed with celestial grace;
And beautiful with all the soul's expansion
Shall we behold her face.
And though at times impetuous with emotion	45
And anguish long suppressed,
The swelling heart heaves moaning like the ocean,
That cannot be at rest,—
We will be patient, and assuage the feeling
We may not wholly stay;	50
By silence sanctifying, not concealing,
The grief that must have way.

THOU HIDDEN SOURCE OF CALM REPOSE, by Charles Wesley

THOU HIDDEN SOURCE OF CALM REPOSE

Charles Wesley 1707-1788

Thou hidden source of calm repose,

Thou all sufficient love divine,

My help and refuge from my foes,

Secure I am if Thou art mine;

And lo! from sin and grief and shame

I hide me, Jesus, in Thy Name.

 

Thy mighty Name salvation is,

And keeps my happy soul above;

Comfort it brings, and power and peace,

And joy and everlasting love;

To me with Thy dear Name are given

Pardon and holiness and Heaven.

 

Jesus, my all in all Thou art,

My rest in toil, my ease in pain,

The healing of my broken heart,

In war my peace, in loss my gain,

My smile beneath the tyrant’s frown,

In shame my glory and my crown.

 

In want my plentiful supply,

In weakness my almighty power,

In bonds my perfect liberty,

My light in Satan’s darkest hour,

In grief my joy unspeakable,

                             My life in death, my Heaven in hell.

The Glorious Destiny unto which Men Have Been Created

 

The Glorious Destiny unto which Men Have Been Created

By Al Stoner

“For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak” (Heb. 2:5).

“One in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus” (Heb. 2:6-9).

The son of man that Thou visitest him. In this particular visitation, spoken of by David in Psalm 8, God is not merely “stopping by” to pay men a visit, as the word is commonly used among men.  When God visits men, especially in the context of Psalm 8, He is bringing and bestowing unspeakably good things: things pertaining to eternal salvation and to the obtainment of eternal life. The things that God is bringing to men have become the substance of the glad tidings of the gospel.  But woe be unto men who despise and reject that which God is bringing! 

What is man? This is a question that is asked a number of times in Scripture from different perspectives (cf. Job 7:17; 15:14; Ps. 8:4; 144:3). In Job’s day thinkers, such as Job and his three “comforters” (Job 16:2), marveled that God would take any note of men at all because of man’s sinfulness and uncleanness (see Job 15:14-16). David, in Psalm 8, was given to see much more than this as he called to remembrance the reason for man’s creation as it was declared “in the beginning” in Genesis 1:26-28.

The specific reason, of course, was that men were created to exercise dominion over God’s creation. By creating man in His own image God had purposed to reveal more of His own Person and Character to the heavenly onlookers: the principalities and powers in heavenly places.   

In Psalm 144:3-4, however, David seems to have retrogressed in his reasoning more to the level of Job and his friends. We certainly do not fault him or those of Job’s day for this, for that former time was a time of lesser revelation. But we do fault current-day “theologies” which have adopted a lower view, in ignorement of the Apostolic perspective.  That is inexcusable!  In the earth-centered, earthbound church of our day there is very little, if any, talk of an eternal inheritance and dominion as a living incentive for living godly in Christ Jesus. That which calls itself “the church” in our day, for the most part, has a form of godliness, but denies the power given of God to live godly in this wicked and perverse generation.

The Times of Ignorance.  The former age (prior to the entrance of the Christ into the world) was a time of general ignorance of God with occasional glimmers of hope being given with regard to the purpose for existence and the glorious prospect awaiting those created in the image of God. The former ignorance is due to the fact that death had not yet been abolished by the Lord Jesus Christ, and life and immortality had not yet been brought to light by the gospel (cf. II Tim. 1:9-10). “And the times of” that “ignorance God winked at; but now” He commands “all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

With regard to the purpose of man’s creation, Paul in Hebrews 2, takes up the same consideration, expressed aforetime by David regarding man, and announces an exceedingly bright and gloriously optimistic destiny for the race of men! It is that redeemed personalities have been created, and are now being prepared of God, to take possession of a rule and dominion, not in this present evil world, but in the world which is to come. It shall not be a rule over birds and fishes and cattle in this world, as was at the first indicated in the Genesis account, but over “cities” (Lk. 19:17-19) and over “many things” (Mt. 25:21-23) in the world to come. (We heartily commend to our readers this optimistic view afforded us in the Apostolic writings!)

This bright outlook is a case-in-point example of that word of the Apostle where he said, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20). Sin abounded greatly, temporarily aborting the purpose of God for man’s dominion in this world, but this was all part of the Divine purpose wrapped up in a mystery until the fullness of the time should come (cf. Gal. 4:4). “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).  And if we may so speak, the grace of God has now much more abounded, reinstating that purpose so that it is once again on track with redeemed men being presently groomed to be made heirs of a much greater rulership in the world to come.  From the perspective of Hebrews 2, what a privileged class of personalities we are to be part of the race of men (particularly those of us that are in Christ)! All of Scripture attests to the very special regard that God has for man who is created in His image, but how much moreso now for those who are being “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29)?

However, if some members of our race choose to continue in sin and to spurn “the salvation” which God has “prepared before the face of all people” (Lk. 2:30-31), they shall certainly be rejected of Him and they shall forfeit their own participation in the glorious purpose for which God made man. Such ones shall be cast into outer darkness and into everlasting torments. (The salvation of God in Christ Jesus is for the purpose of readying men for an eternal inheritance and dominion).

And as we presently consider those around us who have rejected the gospel and who yet are engaged in sinful involvements, it ought to grieve us at our very hearts that such ones, if they do not recover themselves from the snare of the Devil, shall not be partakers of the glorious destiny for which they were made!

But We See Jesus. The exalted Savior (Acts 2:33; 5:31; Phil. 2:9), “the Man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5), is our guarantee that we shall also be invested with this promised dominion. By God’s grace we shall assuredly enter into that fullness of dominion for which man was created, as Christ is both the “Firstfruits” of the wheat harvest (I Cor. 15:23) and our “Forerunner” (Heb. 6:20).  In the present time we have been made “kings and priests unto God” (Rev. 1:6) to be sure, but our reign is not now evident to all (nor is it fully evident to ourselves), for we yet have the heavenly treasure in an earthen vessel (II Cor. 4:7), and we have presently been commissioned of God to not let sin reign in it (cf. Rom. 6:12).

In Conclusion. As we consider the glorious prospect which God has laid up for man, created in His likeness and now conformed to the image of His Son, let us saturate our minds and hearts with the words of the Scripture. Let us purge our minds of such scientifically-derogatory terms as “human,” “humanoid,” “humanistic,” and the like.  They are all of the earth, earthy.  They are words that are from beneath, and are calculated to eradicate from men’s thinking any and every vestige of consideration for “the Creator of the ends of the earth,” “Who is blessed for ever” (Isa. 40:28; Rom. 1:25). Let us be spiritually minded, having our minds and hearts filled, not with “the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (I Cor. 2:13).

 

 

On Satan’s Binding and Loosing

On Satan’s Binding and Loosing

By Dean E. Boelt 

There are at least two different senses in which the terms, binding and loosing are used in Scripture with regard to satanic activity. In Revelation 20:2-3 we read of Satan being bound for a thousand years, but afterwards he is loosed for a little season. 

There the Devil is restrained by the Lord God for an extended period of time so that he should no longer deceive the nations. But after this time period has passed the Divine restraints are lifted and the serpent is free, for a little season, to express himself more fully. 

In this apocalyptic language we have an interpretation of the restraint or outbreak, as the case may be, of wickedness and deception in the earth. In other words the principle to be seen here is this; wherever wickedness is gaining ground and increasing in popularity among men, there the Devil has been loosed. 

In this sense there are times and places where the Devil is evidently bound and his influence greatly restrained, but there are also occasions and localities where he has been obviously loosed.  And so long as we remain in this present evil world, we are still in the domain where this kind of binding and loosing occurs intermittently and repeatedly. 

The other sense in which the term, binding, at least, is used is found in such places as Matthew 12:29 and Mark 3:27. “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” And as Christ did with this one who was “possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb” (Mt. 12:22), so He does with all today who believe and obey the gospel. He binds the strong man, 

Satan, so that the wicked one touches them not (cf. I Jn. 5:18).  That is to say, the old serpent does not have the power to effectively turn believing men and women away from the living God, to make them quit relying on Christ and cleaving to the Lord by overpowering them. Christ has bound the strong man! Praise be to His Name! 

The Devil can still tempt, seduce, and beguile, to be sure, but this will only prove to be effective where men and women have quit believing the record that God gave of His Son. [Such unbelieving ones are open season for Satan’s devices and delusions (cf. II Tim. 2:25-26)]. 

In conclusion then, let us “keep” ourselves “in the love of God” (Jude 21; cf. I Jn. 5:18), and give thanks that, in such keeping of ourselves, this “strong man,” who would turn us away from the God of our salvation, isbound and there is no intermittent or extended loosing of him in this sense.

 

Messiah, Christ, the Christ of God (Mt. 22:42; Lk. 9:20).

Messiah, Christ, the Christ of God (Mt. 22:42; Lk. 9:20). 

 Messiah, Christ, the Anointed of God.  In this blessed name given to the Lord Jesus we see that the carrying out of God's eternal purpose has been given entirely into Christ's hands.  The government is on Christ's shoulders.  Christ came into the world that He might lay down His life a ransom for many.  (This was the commandment He received of the Father, and He kept it without spot.)  By Himself Christ purged our sins (made purification for sins). He has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  Through death, Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil.  In His death Christ spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly.  In His resurrection, He Himself was the resurrection and the life (Jn. 11:25).  Christ would be the firstfruits of them that would rise from the dead.  In Christ's death He was, and is, the Last Adam.  In His resurrection He is the Second Man (see I Cor. 15:45, 47).  In His ascension to the right hand of God, Christ has become our great High Priest in things pertaining to God. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him.  In His coming again in glory, Christ has made watchfulness to be the watchword for the time of our sojourn here in the flesh.  The prospect of His coming again in glory has become the blessed hope of the church.

Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls (I Pet. 2:25).

Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls (I Pet. 2:25). 

He nurtures and cares for the souls of those who have believed upon His Name, strengthening them unto the warfare of faith. 

Psalm 23 and Psalm 80 are both “Shepherd Psalms”.  Psalm 23 reflects upon a lifetime of the Shepherd’s tender care.  Psalm 80 is a plea to the Shepherd of Israel to return, and “turn us again, and cause Thy face to shine”, evidencing, among other things, that the fulness of the time had not yet come (cf. Gal. 4:4). 

But now that sin has been put away by the Lord Jesus Christ, “going astray” is no longer the norm for the people of God and it is spoken of as something associated with our past. We WERE as sheep going astray and we have now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop (Overseer) of our souls.  This is the language of the work of salvation being brought to its consummation. 

In view of this, let us have done with doctrines that gloss the sin issue, as the times of ignorance has long passed, and the Day of salvation is now upon us. Believing men and women have been invested with new creatureship in Christ, enabling them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The God Who Has Spoken By His Son

The God Who Has Spoken By His Son

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past  . . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son . . . (Heb. 1:1-2).

God did speak in times past by the Prophets. This same God has spoken unto us by His Son.  The God who spoke is the same One who now speaks. But now He has spoken, and yet speaks, unto us by His Son.

God, the All-powerful Creator  “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).  The name Elohim occurs over 2000 times in Moses and the Prophets.

The Most High God (Gen. 14:18-20, 22; Ps. 57:2; Ps. 78:35). 

The Everlasting God (Gen. 21:33; Jer. 10:10; Isa. 26:4).

The Almighty God, Lord God Almighty (Gen. 17:1; Gen. 28:3; Gen. 35:11; Gen. 43:14; Gen. 48:3).

Lord, Master  (Gen. 15:2). Used at least 434 times in Moses and the Prophets, 200 of those in Ezekiel, and 11 times in Daniel 9.

Lord, Jehovah (Gen. 2:4). Occurs 6519 times in Moses and the Prophets.

The Lord Will Provide (Gen. 22:14).

Dwelling Place (Ps. 90:1).

The Fountain of Living Waters (Jer. 2:13).

Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9).

King, Worker of Salvation (Ps. 74:12).

The God of Israel (Gen. 33:20; Exod. 5:1).

The Lord Who Sanctifies You, who sets you apart. (Exod. 31:13; Lev. 20:8).

The Lord My Banner  (Exod. 17:10-16).

The Lord That Heals (Exod. 15:22-27; Jer. 30:17; Jer. 3:22; Isa. 30:26; Isa. 61:1; Ps. 103:3).

The Lord of Hosts (I Sam. 1:3; I Sam. 1:11; I Sam. 17:45; II Sam. 6:18; II Sam. 7:27; I Kgs. 19:14; II Kgs. 3:14; I Chron. 11:9; Ps. 24:10; Ps. 48:8; Ps. 80:4; Ps. 80:19; Ps. 84:3; Isa. 1:24; Isa. 3:15; Isa. 5:16; Isa. 6:5; Isa. 9:19; Isa. 10:26; Isa. 14:22; Jer. 9:15; Jer. 48:1; Hos. 12:5; Amos 3:13; Mic. 4:4; Nah. 3:5; Hag. 2:6; Zech. 1:3; Mal. 1:6; Hab. 2:13; Zeph. 2:9)

The Lord Is Peace (Jdgs. 6:22-23).

The Lord Is There (Ezek. 48:35).

God with Us (Isa. 7:14).

The God who Sees (Gen. 16:13).

The Lord Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6; Jer. 33:14-16).

The Lord My Shepherd (Ps. 23:1-6; Gen. 48:15; Gen. 49:24; Ps. 23:1; Ps. 80:1).

Jealous (Exod. 20:5; Deut. 4:24; Exod. 34:14; Deut. 5:9; Deut. 6:15; Heb. 12:29).

The Lord God of Recompenses (Jer. 51:6, 56).

Our Father, the Potter (Isa. 64:8).

And They Shall Be All Taught Of God

And They Shall Be All Taught Of God

By Al Stoner

“It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (Jn. 6:45; see Isa. 54:13).

Does God have specific matters that He teaches about?  Are the things which He teaches of a critical nature?  Is it possible for men to come to Jesus apart from receiving Divine tutelage?  The Father addressing the Son in Isaiah's prophecy declared: "And all Thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of Thy children" (Isa. 54:13).  Again, the Lord Jesus Christ, citing that Scripture in His great Galilean discourse, declared: "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me" (Jn. 6:45).  From these and other examples, it at once becomes evident that the manner in which God teaches is of an entirely different order than the teaching of men, even the best of men.  If men are going to be taught of God, there must be a willingness to forsake the old values, and to embrace entirely new ones.  "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein" (Lk. 18:17).

"In Jeremiah's landmark prophecy of the new covenant it is declared by the Lord God that "they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them" (Jer. 31:34). And also as Isaiah prophesied, "they shall be all taught by God" (Jn. 6:45, RSV, cf. Isa. 54:13). The nature and content of what God is teaching are not academic, that is, not merely factual, but rather He is teaching men to properly esteem His Christ, in order that they might come to, and whole-heartedly receive the Savior. He is teaching men to take hold of "the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (II Tim. 2:10). Consider some of the involvements of this Divine teaching.

Taught by God to Come to the Savior. As the Lord Jesus declared, "Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me" (Jn. 6:45). Why is Christ "precious" (cf. I Pet. 2:7) to some, but to others, despised and rejected? Yes, to be sure, it is because such ones have believed, and we would not want to obscure that matter for a moment. However, it is also because the believing ones have "learned of the Father."  They have been taught by the Father to value Jesus for who He is in truth. Yes, the preaching of the gospel was, and is involved.  And yes, men and women, who are ministers of the reconciliation were employed by God.  But the essential teaching of the heart was done by God Himself. This teaching and learning is indispensable for coming to Jesus. He is not welcomed, to say the least, by "the natural man" (I Cor. 2:14) nor by "the carnal mind" (cf. Rom. 8:7-8), which all men have inherited from Adam. 

Those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who believe that He is precious, must reason that they have been "taught of God" and that they have "learned of the Father" the great value in coming to Jesus. They now perceive the value within themselves. It is like "treasure hid in a field" (Mt. 13:44). It amounts to "riches" that are "unsearchable" (cf. Eph. 3:8). The riches are boundless and unfathomable. But the value of these riches cannot be taught or learned academically. 

Taught by Him to Put Off the Old Man and Put On the New Man. "But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:20-24).

Putting off the old man "with his deeds" (Col. 3:9), as well as putting on the new man, are both absolutely essential to new creatureship in Christ. This labor of putting off, and putting on must be taking place in men, or else they are simply not reckoned to be among God's sons and daughters. Such ones are still in the flesh. 

Both the old man and the new man are unidentifiable and undiscernable to men apart from the revelation of God's Word. Men have neither the ability nor the wisdom to do this without Divine assistance and counsel. Thus, they must be effectually taught and enabled by God to do this.

Taught by Him to Love One Another. "But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another" (I Th. 4:9). Concerning the love of Christ's brethren, God teaches believing men and women of the preciousness of other redeemed personalities, who share a common bond of love in the Savior Himself, and a common eternal destiny in the world to come. Those who are begotten of God have a natural inclination toward all others who are begotten of Him (cf. I Jn. 5:1), to frequently associate with them, to do them good as they have opportunity, and to speak with them often concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (cf. Mal. 3:16).

 

Taught by Him to Overcome Religious Seducers. "And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the Anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in Him" (I Jn. 2:25-27). "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (I Jn. 4:4).

The Anointing spoken of here is the Holy Spirit, the "Comforter" (cf. Jn. 14:16-17), sent by the Savior to abide with us forever, as He said. "The Spirit of truth" comforts redeemed personalities by counseling them in the truth. He gives inward instruction and counsel to men by the Scriptures. He shows to believing men and women that the things which are troubling them are "common to man" (I Cor. 10:13), and that their troubles are in order that "may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God" (II Th. 1:5), for which they are suffering. This higher perspective of trouble sweetens the cup of affliction, making it easier to endure. 

The Scriptures are, as it were, the raw materials, which the Holy Spirit refines, processes, and personalizes in men's understanding as they earnestly consider them. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16, NASB). God has "sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (II Cor. 1:22; cf. Eph. 1:13; 4:30). "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit" (I Jn. 4:13). The Anointing teaches men and enables them, not to be snared by false prophets and false teachers, thus overcoming them (cf. I Jn. 4:1-4), by bringing to their remembrance the preciousness of the Savior and of the salvation which Christ has accomplished in their behalf. --Al Stoner

 

God's Imposition of Personal Responsibility

God's Imposition of Personal Responsibility

By Fred O. Blakely

The consistent line taken by Scripture regarding believers' infirmities and sins contrasts sharply with that promulgated in some church circles. The exponents of the doctrine that God-does-it-all, so-only-trust-in-Him continually proclaim to those who are "out of the way" (Heb. 5:2), Just rely on the Lord; He will bring everything out all right. Conversely, the Spirit speaketh on this wise: Gird up the loins of your mind, your heart, your will, and your determination, and correct the deviant situation in your life, lest God summarily come and smite you for it (I Pet. 1:13-17). Thus, does God impose individual responsibility upon His people for the recovery of themselves from the snare of Satan when they are taken captive by the evil one.

Salvation in all of its aspects, it is gloriously true, is ultimately "of the Lord" (Jon. 2:9), being, in the last analysis, all of grace (Acts 15:11; Eph. 2:8). Notwithstanding, Scripture nowhere invokes this blessed circumstance either to excuse brethren in their sins or to encourage them to expect that God will deliver them therefrom independently of their firm resolves and diligent efforts to that end. Instead, it calls upon them to assiduously employ these elements of personal application. The stark fact of the matter is, There is no moral improvement in an individual without conscious and vigorous effort on his part. It is well, indeed, for us to face squarely up to this kingdom principle, so that we may effectually get on with the divine purpose of "perfecting holiness in the fear of God?? (II Cor 7:1). This is especially so, since all of us are constantly beset by sin and are always falling short of God's glory.

As specimens of the living oracles' treatment of sin in believers, we cite the following. Their number could, of course, be greatly multiplied by anything approaching a comprehensive survey of the case. These, however, will suffice to demonstrate the point at hand.

"Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Col. 3:5, ASV; cf. Eph. 4:22). "Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof" (Rom. 6:12; cf. vv. 11, 13). "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isa. 55:6-7; cf. Acts 8:22). "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us" (Heb. 12:1-4). "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come upon thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev. 2:5; cf. vv. 16, 21-23; 3:3, 18-19).

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness m the fear of God" (II Cor. 7:1; cf. ch. 6:17-18; I Jn. 3:2-3). "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Cor. 10:5; cf. Gen. 6:5; Col. 1:21; 3:7). "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 20-21). "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (Jas. 1:27; cf. Rom. 12:1-2). "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:11-13). "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Lu. 9:23).  "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple" (ch. 14:27).

A Friendship to be Avoided

A Friendship to be Avoided

By Al Stoner

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (Jas. 4:4).

Some Alternate Translations of this Admonition.  ". . . the friendship of the world is hatred of God" (ACV).  " Don't you know that if you love the world, you are God's enemies?" (CEV).  "If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy" (GNB).  "friendship with the world is hostility toward God" (NASB).  "Friendship of the world" (WNT).  "Friendship with the world" (YLT). 

James is addressing this word to those who, at least by their profession of faith, had "begun in the Spirit" (Gal. 3:3), but afterwards had prostituted their heart's affection and devotion to the domain where Satan is prince (cf. Jn. 12:31).   It is as though he is reasoning with his hearers in the following manner.  Have you failed to come to this obvious conclusion from the consistent representations of Scripture?  After all that the Lord, and His Apostles, and Prophets have said about God being a jealous God, about faithfulness, unfaithfulness, sin, chasteness, holiness, and sinful defilements, ought not this to have been the resounding conclusion that would be arrived at? 

In consideration of the great cost of our redemption to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the great lengths to which all three Members of the Godhead have gone to save us, is it possible not to arrive at this conclusion?  Having believed the record that God has condemned sin in the flesh in the death of His only begotten Son, and that the world is now passing away, along with its base lusts, one could not reason otherwise, unless, perhaps, the person has been ensnared by the Devil and deceived.  And that is a veritable possibility.  As it is written, "the deceived and the deceiver are His [and in His power]" (Job 12:16, AMP).  And "Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand" (Jer. 51:7).

An Adultery Far Worse than the Violation of the Marriage Bed.  The Devil has sold the masses of religious people today a lie of unfathomable proportions.  In one way or another, he has convinced them with subtlety that friendship with the world and friendship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can be maintained simultaneously, and that affection for the accursed thing can be mingled together with affection for Him who is blessed forever.  Nothing could be farther from the truth!

In the realm of nature, only a fool would reason and act in this manner.  Taking up the language of the Prophet Malachi (cf. Mal. 1:8), let all those who labor under such delusion, offer now to their spouses the same kind, and degree, of devotion that they render to God, and see if they will accept it.   Can she that is "espoused" "to one husband" (II Cor. 11:2) flirtatiously give her affection to another with impunity?   This would certainly not take place in the natural realm (under normal circumstances, at least), and it is far more certain that it shall not take place in the realm of the Spirit!  One of the old time writers once said, "The church is the bride of Christ, and for a bride to fail in love is to fail in all things."   From one perspective, at least, a man's or an assembly's love for, and devotion to, the risen and glorified Christ, the One declared in the Scripture, is the only thing they have to commend themselves to Him.

  

This indictment of James is not against those who are "of this world" and who never "have known the way of righteousness" (cf. II Pet. 2:21), but rather against those who have known it, at least by profession.   Characteristically, among countless religious devotees today, "wickedness arrays itself in fair garments, and imitates the language of holiness; but the precepts of Jesus, like his famous scourge of small cords," must "chase it out of the temple, and will not tolerate it" (C.H. Spurgeon).  In Babylon, which is the world masquerading as the church, more often than not, those who are uncompromisingly living by faith in the Son of God will find themselves being chased "out of the temple."   "Away with such ones from the earth," are the sentiments of those who are of this world towards those who are seeking a better country, that is, an heavenly one.

New Creatureship and the World to Come.  Those who are in Christ Jesus through obedience to the gospel have been made new creatures in Him.  With such ones, "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Cor. 5:17).  They have, by God's grace, made the passage from "death unto life" (Jn. 5:24; I Jn. 3:14).  This transition from darkness into light has imparted to them a new heart, new loves, new affections, and new hatreds, which they did not possess  prior to their being in Christ.  They now love things that are true and righteous, and they hate every false way.  They have come to love the ways of God in Christ Jesus, and to despise the ways of this world. 

They are new creatures, in deed and in substance, and not only in their doctrine or religious profession.  New creatures acutely sense the contrariness and animosity of this present evil world towards them.  They have been "enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and" have been "made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come" (Heb. 6:4-5).  Things of a temporal nature, and things that are contrary to the will of God, are things which now trouble, distract, and even cast them down, whereas things which pertain to the truth of the gospel, and things that are eternal, greatly comfort them, assuaging their griefs, and which also invigorate their spirits Godward.  They have learned the inseparable connection between "the sufferings of this present time" and "the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

Making the Best of Both Worlds???  The old adage of making the best of both worlds is false through and through, but it has been adopted as the "philosophy" of myriads of religious devotees.  The Apostle's lamentable indictment of some of the younger women that "some are already turned aside after Satan" (I Tim. 5:5), is also a truthful representation of many professing faith in Christ in our day.  Such turning aside does not necessarily entail engaging in base immorality, or becoming involved in a religious cult.  It simply means that one has surrendered one's heart's affection (and allegiance) to the world, and its prince.  It means that men have departed from "the way of holiness" (Isa. 35:8) and are now governed by "the lust of the flesh," "the lust of the eyes," and "the pride of life" (I Jn. 2:16).  It means that their flesh and blood relations are esteemed above those who are living by faith in the Son of God. With them things which are true and everlasting have become eclipsed by things which are passing away.   It means that the Lord Jesus Christ is no longer to them personally, as evidenced by their manner of living, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (Jn. 14:6). 

After the Lord’s notable discourse in John chapter 6 where He spoke of the necessity of men eating His flesh and drinking His blood, if they would live forever, and not die in their sins, it is recorded that “many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.”  In our generation, and in every generation since that early time, the Lord Jesus Christ has had disciples who have gone back, and walk no more with Him.  However, in Babylon men are deceived in thinking that they can walk with Jesus, and at the same time, keep their religious profession to save face. But all such ones shall be exposed for who they really are by the Lord in the last day.

Incidentally, hereditary orthodoxy appears to be one of the greatest menaces to the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is where a second generation of those professing the faith takes on the orthodoxy of a former generation, but not the all-essential vibrancy which proceeds from faith in the living Christ. These have a form of religion, but they do not have the Son (see I Jn. 5:11-12). They have a form of godliness, but deny the power that would enable them to live godly in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.  Such hereditariness can take place within a family, a congregation, or even a generation, where the love of many has waxed cold, due to abounding iniquities, and failure to come to grips with the sin issue, as God represents it in Scripture.