Goodbye to Glory - Ichabod # 3
A church can change from a church of compassionate concern into a church of calisthenic conventionality utterly devoid of devotional vitality - censorious of spiritual and far-sighted leadership, worldly, wayward, and peevishly puny. Then can Ichabod be written over its portals, its pews, its pulpit.
A church can change from a catgaract of activity into a scum-covered pond of stagnation.
Thus, forgetting that "she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth," she hastens the departure of her glory.
A church can change from a church of aggressive conquest into a church posessive of a slothful timidity, a passive acquiescence in small attainments, a criminal spineless in the face of evils that arrogantly challenge, a careless in-difference to great stretches of the unattained.
Thus is Iscabod an appropriate adjective for its activities and aimlessness. A church can be a roller of marbles when it should be a remover of mountains. Thus does its spiritual muscle become flabby, its fingers fumbling, its feet halt - as the glory departs.
A church can put its headlight on the rear and think only of the glory that was. Then and thus does its light grow dim, its voice faltering, its spiritual ambitions anemic, its worship boresomely lacking in life, its glory one of the past. Pathetic the words that fell from the Master's lips: "And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto Him, 'Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!' "
And Jesus answering said unto him, "Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Mark 13:1, 2). They were great buildings. They were magnificent stones. But to His eyes they were nothing more than ruins, for the glory of the temple's worship and service had departed.
"But the Lord said unto Samuel, "Look not on his contenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
Outwardly that beautiful and stately temple seemed destined to "defy the tooth of time," inwardly it was hollow and empty and tottering to its fall. Write "Ichabod" upon it.
Is it possible for a church, when God calls it to "launch out into the deep" in the matter of soul-winning, to become "a drifting sepulcher manned by a frozen crew?"
Well, when academic luster takes the place of spiritual passion, when refrigeration is valued above conflagration, such is the danger.
I once heard Dr Perry Webb say: "The atmosphere in some churches is so cold, you can skate down the aisles!"
Is it true that a church may be noted for the gorgeous architecture of its building, the lovely music of its choir, the stateliness of its ritual, the fine-functioning of all its organizations, the largeness of numbers as to its congregation, the influence in many circles of business and social and educational life - and yet be, in the eyes of Him who marks the sparrow's fall, as a corpse wrapped in an ornate shroud?
Of the church at Sardis, Jesus, risen and enthroned, said: "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, 'These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead" (Revelation 3:1).
Somebody described another church like unto the church at Sardis in these words:
Outwardly, splendid as of old -
Inwardly sparkless, void and cold -
Her force and fire all spent and gone -
Like the dead moon she still shines on.
R. T. Ketcham once said: "Attend church, but do not attend a church which prefers science to Scripture, reason for revelation, theories for truth, culture for conversion, benevolence for blood, goodness for grace, sociability for spirituality, play for praise, pep for prayer, profession for possession, progress for power, reformation for regeneration, good for God, speculation for salvation, jubilation for justification, feelings for faith, paralysis for peace, politics for precepts."
~Robert G. Lee~
(continued with # 4)
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Goodbye To Glory - Ichabod # 2
Goodbye To Glory - Ichabod # 2
Ancient Jerusalem. And let us ask you to think of Jerusalem - "beautiful for situation" - as representative of the nation Israel. Triumphant were her temples. Her past shines glorious as doth the moon on midnight seas. For favored Jerusalem, kings kneeled down and prayed. For glorious Jerusalem, prophets, in tears and love, served. For beautiful Jerusalem, martyrs shriveled into flame. In Jerusalem's virgin face were eyes in which, deep-folded, lay prophecies of the Son of God.
But because within her sacred courts evil was girt with diadem, Jerusalem hardened her heart. Jerusalem bloodied her hands. Jerusalem deafened her ears. Jerusalem play the harlot. And Jesus described her then departing and afterward utterly departed glory in these words, "Thy house is left unto thee desolate."
Covered this blood-soaked earth with the wreck of once-glorious cities. Scarred the face of this war-blighted earth with the ruin of once-glorious nations. Marred the fair face of this world with the wreck of once-glorious civilizations - civilizations which have left behind them nothing but the smoke of the brilliant torch, nothing more than an empty name, nothing more than the shadow of a shadow.
What the Bible says about some nations and some cities - representatives in large measure of once-proud, once-strong-influential civilizations - is true of other nations and cities of the past and the present.
"For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes...
"Also Edom shall be a desolation, every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof...
"And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever; there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it" (Jeremiah 49:13, 17, 33).
"This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand" (Zephaniah 2:15).
In America we must remember that the glory of a nation is righteousness and faith in God - and going the way God points - and in such is our security against all foes, our immunity against the ravages of time.
"For the nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." (Isaiah 60:12.) This sober truth that only righteousness exalteth a nation - that if ever America loses her faith in God she will have to come off her pedestal, that pallbearers that carried other nations to their graves will do work for us if we forsake God and refuse to go the way He points - was put upon our hearts once by the editor of the Watchman Examiner in these words:
"We should remember that one hundred years ago Germany was regarded as the most Christian nation in Europe. Germany's evangelicalism was once so pronounced that Martin Luther gave us the marvelous translation of the Scriptures and directed the world to the Bible. The Scriptures so influenced the home, the school, and the Church in Germany that the national life saw a phenomenal progress. Germany was not making terrific strides in science, art, and culture. Then came a day when innate conceit got to work. Christianity was emasculated. Christ was rationalized to be nothing more than a good man. The Holy Scriptures were reduced to a crazy guilt. Religion came to be built on negatives. God was dwarfed and man was deified. 'Let the strong survive,' became the new religion. Germany was decivilized and Hitler had no trouble getting his followers to arm to the hilt to conquer the world."
Let us ask the help of Almighty God in these days when men "loose wild tongues that hold not God in awe," when there are evils that would lead our greatest graces to the grave and leave the world no copy. When the atheistic deformities of our times would coerce us into substituting for Christianity's vital bread a chunk of froth scattered by miasmatic winds - lest our country becomes a despised Ichabod among the nations on earth.
A Church May Lose Her Glory
"Thy glory hath departed "too bad and too sad when that is spoken of a church about which glorious things once were spoken. "Tis tragic, "tis true that some of the churches such is the epitaphic description of their decay, their inverted torch, their oil-less lamps, their turning back in the day of battle - though armed and carrying bows. That is grief for angels. That is laughter for devils. That is gloating for satan. That is groaning for Christ's followers!
A church can "leave its first love." The church at Ephesus did - and needed to "repent and do the first works" (Rev. 2:4, 5). A church can change from an army into an ecclesiastical nursery wherein the preacher is looked upon as a head nurse who has more to do with milk bottles for sickly saints than with mighty battles against seductive satan. Then does its glory depart.
~Robert G. Lee~
(continued with # 3)
Ancient Jerusalem. And let us ask you to think of Jerusalem - "beautiful for situation" - as representative of the nation Israel. Triumphant were her temples. Her past shines glorious as doth the moon on midnight seas. For favored Jerusalem, kings kneeled down and prayed. For glorious Jerusalem, prophets, in tears and love, served. For beautiful Jerusalem, martyrs shriveled into flame. In Jerusalem's virgin face were eyes in which, deep-folded, lay prophecies of the Son of God.
But because within her sacred courts evil was girt with diadem, Jerusalem hardened her heart. Jerusalem bloodied her hands. Jerusalem deafened her ears. Jerusalem play the harlot. And Jesus described her then departing and afterward utterly departed glory in these words, "Thy house is left unto thee desolate."
Covered this blood-soaked earth with the wreck of once-glorious cities. Scarred the face of this war-blighted earth with the ruin of once-glorious nations. Marred the fair face of this world with the wreck of once-glorious civilizations - civilizations which have left behind them nothing but the smoke of the brilliant torch, nothing more than an empty name, nothing more than the shadow of a shadow.
What the Bible says about some nations and some cities - representatives in large measure of once-proud, once-strong-influential civilizations - is true of other nations and cities of the past and the present.
"For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes...
"Also Edom shall be a desolation, every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof...
"And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever; there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it" (Jeremiah 49:13, 17, 33).
"This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand" (Zephaniah 2:15).
In America we must remember that the glory of a nation is righteousness and faith in God - and going the way God points - and in such is our security against all foes, our immunity against the ravages of time.
"For the nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." (Isaiah 60:12.) This sober truth that only righteousness exalteth a nation - that if ever America loses her faith in God she will have to come off her pedestal, that pallbearers that carried other nations to their graves will do work for us if we forsake God and refuse to go the way He points - was put upon our hearts once by the editor of the Watchman Examiner in these words:
"We should remember that one hundred years ago Germany was regarded as the most Christian nation in Europe. Germany's evangelicalism was once so pronounced that Martin Luther gave us the marvelous translation of the Scriptures and directed the world to the Bible. The Scriptures so influenced the home, the school, and the Church in Germany that the national life saw a phenomenal progress. Germany was not making terrific strides in science, art, and culture. Then came a day when innate conceit got to work. Christianity was emasculated. Christ was rationalized to be nothing more than a good man. The Holy Scriptures were reduced to a crazy guilt. Religion came to be built on negatives. God was dwarfed and man was deified. 'Let the strong survive,' became the new religion. Germany was decivilized and Hitler had no trouble getting his followers to arm to the hilt to conquer the world."
Let us ask the help of Almighty God in these days when men "loose wild tongues that hold not God in awe," when there are evils that would lead our greatest graces to the grave and leave the world no copy. When the atheistic deformities of our times would coerce us into substituting for Christianity's vital bread a chunk of froth scattered by miasmatic winds - lest our country becomes a despised Ichabod among the nations on earth.
A Church May Lose Her Glory
"Thy glory hath departed "too bad and too sad when that is spoken of a church about which glorious things once were spoken. "Tis tragic, "tis true that some of the churches such is the epitaphic description of their decay, their inverted torch, their oil-less lamps, their turning back in the day of battle - though armed and carrying bows. That is grief for angels. That is laughter for devils. That is gloating for satan. That is groaning for Christ's followers!
A church can "leave its first love." The church at Ephesus did - and needed to "repent and do the first works" (Rev. 2:4, 5). A church can change from an army into an ecclesiastical nursery wherein the preacher is looked upon as a head nurse who has more to do with milk bottles for sickly saints than with mighty battles against seductive satan. Then does its glory depart.
~Robert G. Lee~
(continued with # 3)
Goodby To Glory - Ichabod # 1
Goodbye To Glory - Ichabod # 1
"And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken." (1 Samuel 4:18-22).
Here we see swaddling clothes for the baby - and a shroud for the mother. Here we see a baby's cradle connected tragically with a woman's coffin. Here we hear a birth cry and a death gurgle at one and the same time.
The dying mother's fast act was to name her child. "And she named the child Ichabod." And her last testimony was - as she thought upon the ark of God being taken by the Philistines - "The glory is departed from Israel!" It was goodbye to glory!"
Let us make some applications of that statement, even though we may appear as those who carve epitaphs on tombstones, or as those who write obituaries, or as those who wailingly and discordantly participate in funeral dirges. Though we may be asking you to look through old windows upon scenes which others have described, though we may travel some well-worn and familiar trails, though we may serve the same food in somewhat different platters, still we make bold to ask you to remember that "tis true."
A Nation May Lose It's Glory
The wife of Phinehas, passing through the swirling waters of the river of death, said: "The glory is departed from Israel. "Thoughtfully scanning the pages of history, rubbing the dust of centuries off the tombs of some nations that underwent the frightful processes of self-burial, we can give the same testimonies concerning other nations. For "tis true that, warmed by the sun which never loses its glory, a nation's sun may set in night. Under the stars "stars which never lose their splendor a nation's starry crown may lose its brightness, being displaced by a withered wreath of poison ivy or a circle of undesirable cactus, or by the brow becoming an eyeless, earless, tongueless, brainless skull.
Beneath the heavens which declare the glory of God, even as the firmament showeth His handiwork, a nation that circled the clouds as a strong-winged eagle, can flutter among the clouds as a broken-winged vulture or squawking parrot. Among the flowery continents of God a nation can become a place of foul odors that make the righteous stop their noses.
Ancient Babylon. Great was the glory of Babylon of old; but Babylon became a vermin-infested, animal-prowling jungle - Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," became "as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Something of the tragic departure of its glory is told in these words:
"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in form generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." (Isaiah 13:20-22).
Ancient Carthage. Great was the glory of Carthage centuries ago. But her commanders became as impotent as skeletons of cattle scattered on desert sands. Her swift feet became as a cripple's walk - her clenched fist as the fumbling fingers of a paralytic.
Ancient Syria. Wondrous the glory of Syria at a time when Eleanor's troubadours at Antioch bewitched the Syrian air with ballads of the South - and lightened the horrors of the second crusade. But Syria's glory departed when the following was said. "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; They are revolted and gone" (Jeremiah 5:23).
Ancient Greece. Great was the glory of ancient Greece - especially from 450 B.C. to 350 B.C. - under Pericles. But Greece became a molded crust in history's garbage heap. Greece had her Athens - civilization's queen. Plato was hers. Socrates was hers. A vast multitude of seers was hers. Phidias, raising beautiful children unto Athens from the sterile womb of stone, marbled many places with sculptured wonders. The Muses tented in her gates and plumed the arts with eagle's wings. At many shrines the human brain bowed in reverence. But with all these persons, with all these things of beauty, Greece became a molded crust in history's garbage can.
Ancient Rome. Great was the glory of the Rome of centuries far back and forever gone - especially from 50 B.C. to 60 A.D. - with her astute statesmen, with her close-meshed code of laws, with her sword-woven mantle, coin-embroidered, that fell on cities where merchants congregated and fattened on the spoils of trade, with her armies that feasted and fattened on blood.
Rome was mighty among the kingdoms - mighty wherever ships and swords and thrones and lust of gold and sovereignty, constituted the boasted heritage of the age. But Rome and her glory became as a mouth full of pyorrheic gums holding rotten teeth, all loose and foul.
Ancient Nineveh. Great the glory of the nation-like realm of Nineveh - with her winged lions symbolic of strength and speed. But Nineveh became as a vari-colored butterfly enmeshed and perishing in the net of a relentless spider.
Ancient Egypt. Great the glory of old ancient Egypt - the land of the Pharaohs - the land of wealth and wonders. But it became a shabby sexton of splendid tombs - her torch of far-reaching splendor became a pot of smoke without one spark of remaining radiance.
Ancient Span. Great was the glory of ancient Spain - back there in the glorious years beyond recall. Wide and strong was the sway of her scepter. Her piratical ships harassed all the seas and filled her coffers with gold. But this nation, with climate and conquests and catches of coin, with thrones and crowns and scepters, with laughter and love and lure, with men and money and might, with fervor and force and fruit, became as a drowsy and lousy and frowsy beggar watching a broken clock.
~Robert G. Lee~
(continued with # 2)
"And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken." (1 Samuel 4:18-22).
Here we see swaddling clothes for the baby - and a shroud for the mother. Here we see a baby's cradle connected tragically with a woman's coffin. Here we hear a birth cry and a death gurgle at one and the same time.
The dying mother's fast act was to name her child. "And she named the child Ichabod." And her last testimony was - as she thought upon the ark of God being taken by the Philistines - "The glory is departed from Israel!" It was goodbye to glory!"
Let us make some applications of that statement, even though we may appear as those who carve epitaphs on tombstones, or as those who write obituaries, or as those who wailingly and discordantly participate in funeral dirges. Though we may be asking you to look through old windows upon scenes which others have described, though we may travel some well-worn and familiar trails, though we may serve the same food in somewhat different platters, still we make bold to ask you to remember that "tis true."
A Nation May Lose It's Glory
The wife of Phinehas, passing through the swirling waters of the river of death, said: "The glory is departed from Israel. "Thoughtfully scanning the pages of history, rubbing the dust of centuries off the tombs of some nations that underwent the frightful processes of self-burial, we can give the same testimonies concerning other nations. For "tis true that, warmed by the sun which never loses its glory, a nation's sun may set in night. Under the stars "stars which never lose their splendor a nation's starry crown may lose its brightness, being displaced by a withered wreath of poison ivy or a circle of undesirable cactus, or by the brow becoming an eyeless, earless, tongueless, brainless skull.
Beneath the heavens which declare the glory of God, even as the firmament showeth His handiwork, a nation that circled the clouds as a strong-winged eagle, can flutter among the clouds as a broken-winged vulture or squawking parrot. Among the flowery continents of God a nation can become a place of foul odors that make the righteous stop their noses.
Ancient Babylon. Great was the glory of Babylon of old; but Babylon became a vermin-infested, animal-prowling jungle - Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," became "as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Something of the tragic departure of its glory is told in these words:
"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in form generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged." (Isaiah 13:20-22).
Ancient Carthage. Great was the glory of Carthage centuries ago. But her commanders became as impotent as skeletons of cattle scattered on desert sands. Her swift feet became as a cripple's walk - her clenched fist as the fumbling fingers of a paralytic.
Ancient Syria. Wondrous the glory of Syria at a time when Eleanor's troubadours at Antioch bewitched the Syrian air with ballads of the South - and lightened the horrors of the second crusade. But Syria's glory departed when the following was said. "But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; They are revolted and gone" (Jeremiah 5:23).
Ancient Greece. Great was the glory of ancient Greece - especially from 450 B.C. to 350 B.C. - under Pericles. But Greece became a molded crust in history's garbage heap. Greece had her Athens - civilization's queen. Plato was hers. Socrates was hers. A vast multitude of seers was hers. Phidias, raising beautiful children unto Athens from the sterile womb of stone, marbled many places with sculptured wonders. The Muses tented in her gates and plumed the arts with eagle's wings. At many shrines the human brain bowed in reverence. But with all these persons, with all these things of beauty, Greece became a molded crust in history's garbage can.
Ancient Rome. Great was the glory of the Rome of centuries far back and forever gone - especially from 50 B.C. to 60 A.D. - with her astute statesmen, with her close-meshed code of laws, with her sword-woven mantle, coin-embroidered, that fell on cities where merchants congregated and fattened on the spoils of trade, with her armies that feasted and fattened on blood.
Rome was mighty among the kingdoms - mighty wherever ships and swords and thrones and lust of gold and sovereignty, constituted the boasted heritage of the age. But Rome and her glory became as a mouth full of pyorrheic gums holding rotten teeth, all loose and foul.
Ancient Nineveh. Great the glory of the nation-like realm of Nineveh - with her winged lions symbolic of strength and speed. But Nineveh became as a vari-colored butterfly enmeshed and perishing in the net of a relentless spider.
Ancient Egypt. Great the glory of old ancient Egypt - the land of the Pharaohs - the land of wealth and wonders. But it became a shabby sexton of splendid tombs - her torch of far-reaching splendor became a pot of smoke without one spark of remaining radiance.
Ancient Span. Great was the glory of ancient Spain - back there in the glorious years beyond recall. Wide and strong was the sway of her scepter. Her piratical ships harassed all the seas and filled her coffers with gold. But this nation, with climate and conquests and catches of coin, with thrones and crowns and scepters, with laughter and love and lure, with men and money and might, with fervor and force and fruit, became as a drowsy and lousy and frowsy beggar watching a broken clock.
~Robert G. Lee~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, February 9, 2019
The Christian And The Non-Christian # 2
The Christian And The Non-Christian # 2
The Gospel always comes as a contrast. It is not an extension of human philosophy, it is not just a bit of an appendix to the book of life, or merely an addition to something that men have been able to evolve for themselves. No! It is altogether from God, it is from above, it is from heaven, it is supernatural, miraculous, divine. It is this thing which comes in as light into the midst of darkness and hopelessness and unutterable despair. But it does come like that; and thank God, I say again, that it does.
The position we are confronted with is this. We are looking at the modern world in terms of this accurate description of it, and we see that everything that man has ever been able to think of has failed to cope with it. Is political action dealing with the moral situation? Is it dealing with the international situation? Can education deal with it? Read your newspapers and you have your answer. Hooliganism is not confined to the uneducated. Take all your social agencies, everything man has ever been able to think of. How can it possibly deal with a situation such as that which we have been considering in verse 17, 18 and 19? (Ephesians 4:20). When you are dealing with a darkened mind, with a hardened heart, with a principle of lasciviousness controlled the most powerful factors in man, all opposed to God, all vile and foul, what is the value of a little moral talk and uplift? What is the power of any legislation? You cannot change men's nature by passing man's laws, by giving them new houses, or by anything you may do for them. There is only one thing that can meet such a situation; and thank God it can! "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," says the great Apostle, as he looks forward to a visit to the city of Rome with all its grandeur and its greatness, as well as sins and its foulness. "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," he says, and for this reason,"it is the power of God unto salvation." And because it is the power of God it holds out a hope even for men and women who have given themselves over, abandoned themselves to the working of all uncleanness with greediness.
I have often said that there is nothing so romantic as the preaching of the gospel. You never know what is going to happen. I have this absolute confidence that if the vilest and the blackest character in this city of London today hears this message, even if he is the most abandoned wretch in the foulest gutter, I see hope for him, because of the gospel, this but that comes in, this power of God! The gospel comes into the midst of despair and hopelessness; it comes in looking at the life with a realistic eye. There is nothing, apart from the gospel, that can afford to be realistic; everything else has to try to persuade itself like a kind of self-hypnotism. Here is the only thing that can look at man as he is, at his very worst and blackest and at his most hopeless, and still address him. Why? Because the power of God is in it. And this is a power that can make men anew and refashion them after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle is about to tell us. It is the work of the Creator. So the Gospel comes in this way, and the words "But you" remind us of the whole thing.
But even more, and this is the point in particular that the Apostle himself is addressing here - these two words. But you at once provide us with a perfect and a comprehensive description of the Christian. Paul has described the "other Gentiles;" he is now describing the Christian. What does he tell us about him? Obviously, in the first place, he tells us that the Christian is one who by definition has been separated from and taken out of that evil world. The "other Gentiles?" - that is how they are living. "But you!" There has been a separation, the Christian has been laid hold of, he has been dragged out of that, and he has been put into another position. He was once like others, but he is no longer like them. Clearly, becoming a Christian is the profoundest change in the world. That is where, I suppose, the final enemy of the Christian faith is morality. And that is why I sometimes feel that Thomas Arnold, of Rugby fame, was perhaps of all men in the last century the one who did the greatest harm. His teaching, and the teaching of his followers has obliterated this particular point, this complete change, this translation, this movement. But it is this truth that is emphasized everywhere in the Bible about God's salvation. You find the Psalmist speaking of it, he talks about being lifted up out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, and his feet being established upon the rock. He has had to be hauled up out of the slime, the horrible pit! taken hold of, lifted up, and set upon a rock, while his goings have been established on a different level. Now that is Christianity, and it is only as the Church comes back to the realization of it that there is any hope for revival at all.
To establish the point I am making, let us hear Paul at the beginning of his Epistle to the Galatians. He is thanking God for His wonderful grace in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he puts it like this: "Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present world" (!:4). That is why Christ died. The first object of His dying on the Cross was that He might deliver His people from this present world; He takes hold of them and pulls them out of it. Listen to the Apostle again as he writes to the Colossians: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." When you become a Christian you change your realm, you are no longer in the kingdom of satan, you belong to the kingdom of God and of His Christ; you are no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but you are in the kingdom of light. These are Paul's terms and every one of them emphasizes this movement, this translation. You are not simply improved a little bit just where you are; that is never the business of Christianity; it never does that. It is something new. And it is going to end in a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
(continued with # 3)
The Gospel always comes as a contrast. It is not an extension of human philosophy, it is not just a bit of an appendix to the book of life, or merely an addition to something that men have been able to evolve for themselves. No! It is altogether from God, it is from above, it is from heaven, it is supernatural, miraculous, divine. It is this thing which comes in as light into the midst of darkness and hopelessness and unutterable despair. But it does come like that; and thank God, I say again, that it does.
The position we are confronted with is this. We are looking at the modern world in terms of this accurate description of it, and we see that everything that man has ever been able to think of has failed to cope with it. Is political action dealing with the moral situation? Is it dealing with the international situation? Can education deal with it? Read your newspapers and you have your answer. Hooliganism is not confined to the uneducated. Take all your social agencies, everything man has ever been able to think of. How can it possibly deal with a situation such as that which we have been considering in verse 17, 18 and 19? (Ephesians 4:20). When you are dealing with a darkened mind, with a hardened heart, with a principle of lasciviousness controlled the most powerful factors in man, all opposed to God, all vile and foul, what is the value of a little moral talk and uplift? What is the power of any legislation? You cannot change men's nature by passing man's laws, by giving them new houses, or by anything you may do for them. There is only one thing that can meet such a situation; and thank God it can! "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," says the great Apostle, as he looks forward to a visit to the city of Rome with all its grandeur and its greatness, as well as sins and its foulness. "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," he says, and for this reason,"it is the power of God unto salvation." And because it is the power of God it holds out a hope even for men and women who have given themselves over, abandoned themselves to the working of all uncleanness with greediness.
I have often said that there is nothing so romantic as the preaching of the gospel. You never know what is going to happen. I have this absolute confidence that if the vilest and the blackest character in this city of London today hears this message, even if he is the most abandoned wretch in the foulest gutter, I see hope for him, because of the gospel, this but that comes in, this power of God! The gospel comes into the midst of despair and hopelessness; it comes in looking at the life with a realistic eye. There is nothing, apart from the gospel, that can afford to be realistic; everything else has to try to persuade itself like a kind of self-hypnotism. Here is the only thing that can look at man as he is, at his very worst and blackest and at his most hopeless, and still address him. Why? Because the power of God is in it. And this is a power that can make men anew and refashion them after the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle is about to tell us. It is the work of the Creator. So the Gospel comes in this way, and the words "But you" remind us of the whole thing.
But even more, and this is the point in particular that the Apostle himself is addressing here - these two words. But you at once provide us with a perfect and a comprehensive description of the Christian. Paul has described the "other Gentiles;" he is now describing the Christian. What does he tell us about him? Obviously, in the first place, he tells us that the Christian is one who by definition has been separated from and taken out of that evil world. The "other Gentiles?" - that is how they are living. "But you!" There has been a separation, the Christian has been laid hold of, he has been dragged out of that, and he has been put into another position. He was once like others, but he is no longer like them. Clearly, becoming a Christian is the profoundest change in the world. That is where, I suppose, the final enemy of the Christian faith is morality. And that is why I sometimes feel that Thomas Arnold, of Rugby fame, was perhaps of all men in the last century the one who did the greatest harm. His teaching, and the teaching of his followers has obliterated this particular point, this complete change, this translation, this movement. But it is this truth that is emphasized everywhere in the Bible about God's salvation. You find the Psalmist speaking of it, he talks about being lifted up out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, and his feet being established upon the rock. He has had to be hauled up out of the slime, the horrible pit! taken hold of, lifted up, and set upon a rock, while his goings have been established on a different level. Now that is Christianity, and it is only as the Church comes back to the realization of it that there is any hope for revival at all.
To establish the point I am making, let us hear Paul at the beginning of his Epistle to the Galatians. He is thanking God for His wonderful grace in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he puts it like this: "Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present world" (!:4). That is why Christ died. The first object of His dying on the Cross was that He might deliver His people from this present world; He takes hold of them and pulls them out of it. Listen to the Apostle again as he writes to the Colossians: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." When you become a Christian you change your realm, you are no longer in the kingdom of satan, you belong to the kingdom of God and of His Christ; you are no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but you are in the kingdom of light. These are Paul's terms and every one of them emphasizes this movement, this translation. You are not simply improved a little bit just where you are; that is never the business of Christianity; it never does that. It is something new. And it is going to end in a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
(continued with # 3)
The Resurrection of Jesus # 3
The Resurrection of Jesus # 3
Our Lord's resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the truth of Christianity.
Pilate wrote the title of Christ in three languages on the Cross; and many have written excellent and unanswerable things, on the truth of the Christian Scriptures, and the reality of the Christian religion; but the best argument that has ever been written on the subject, was written by the invisible hand of the Eternal Power, in the rocks of our Saviour's sepulchre. This confounds the skeptic, settles the controversy, and affords an ample and sure foundation for all them that believe.
If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven or of men, we point him to the "tomb hewn out of the rock," and say "There is your answer! Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the morning of the third day, it was found empty; our Master had risen and gone forth from the grave victorious."
This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our relation; and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls down upon himself. "If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;" but if the fact is clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its disciples are safe.
This is the ground on which the apostle stood, and asserted the divinity of his faith: "Moreover I testify unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,and that he was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."
The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of the power of God, and the pledge of eternal life to his people.
The apostle calls it "the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead." This is a river overflowing its banks - an idea too large for language. Let us look at it a moment.
Where do we find "the exceeding greatness of His power?" In the creation of the world? in the Seven Stars and Orion? in the strength of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the deluge? in the fiery destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host? in hurling Nebuchadnezzar like Lucifer from the political firmament? No! It is the power which He wrought in Christ. When? When He healed the sick? when He raised the dead? when he cast out devils? when he blasted the fruitless fig tree? when He walked upon the waters of the Galilee? No! It was "when he raised Him from the dead." Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hand of the Son, "and set him above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church."
This is the source of our spiritual life. The same power that raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave, quickens the soul of the believer from the death in trespasses and sins. His tomb is a fountain of living waters; whereof if a man drink, he shall never die. His raised and glorified body is the sun, whence streams eternal light upon our spirits; the light of life, that never can be quenched.
Nor here does the influence of His resurrection end. He who raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies. His resurrection is the pledge and the pattern of ours. "Because He liveth
we shall also." "He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." We hear Him speaking in the prophet: "Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead."
How divinely does the apostle speak of the resurrection body of the saints! Ever since the fall of Eden, man is born to die. He lives to die. But Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The Hero of our salvation traveled into death's dominion, took possession of the whole territory on our behalf, and ascended to the heaven of heavens.
I recollect reading in the writings of Flavel this sentiment "that the souls in paradise wait with intense desire for the reanimation of their dead bodies, that they may be united to them in bliss forever.
In conclusion: Brethren, followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen Saviour! Go quickly and publish the glad tidings to sinners! And you, impenitent and unbelieving men hear this blessed message of salvation. Make haste! Procrastination is ruin. Now is the accepted time. O, fly to the throne of grace! I is my delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure and more confidence in praying for you to God. I have besought and entreated you, but you are yet in your sins, and rushing toward hell. Yet I will not give you up in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come, I will intercede with God to have mercy upon you for the sake of His beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to prevail at the throne!
~Christmas Evans~
(The End)
Our Lord's resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the truth of Christianity.
Pilate wrote the title of Christ in three languages on the Cross; and many have written excellent and unanswerable things, on the truth of the Christian Scriptures, and the reality of the Christian religion; but the best argument that has ever been written on the subject, was written by the invisible hand of the Eternal Power, in the rocks of our Saviour's sepulchre. This confounds the skeptic, settles the controversy, and affords an ample and sure foundation for all them that believe.
If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven or of men, we point him to the "tomb hewn out of the rock," and say "There is your answer! Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the morning of the third day, it was found empty; our Master had risen and gone forth from the grave victorious."
This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our relation; and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls down upon himself. "If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;" but if the fact is clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its disciples are safe.
This is the ground on which the apostle stood, and asserted the divinity of his faith: "Moreover I testify unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,and that he was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."
The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of the power of God, and the pledge of eternal life to his people.
The apostle calls it "the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead." This is a river overflowing its banks - an idea too large for language. Let us look at it a moment.
Where do we find "the exceeding greatness of His power?" In the creation of the world? in the Seven Stars and Orion? in the strength of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the deluge? in the fiery destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host? in hurling Nebuchadnezzar like Lucifer from the political firmament? No! It is the power which He wrought in Christ. When? When He healed the sick? when He raised the dead? when he cast out devils? when he blasted the fruitless fig tree? when He walked upon the waters of the Galilee? No! It was "when he raised Him from the dead." Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hand of the Son, "and set him above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church."
This is the source of our spiritual life. The same power that raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave, quickens the soul of the believer from the death in trespasses and sins. His tomb is a fountain of living waters; whereof if a man drink, he shall never die. His raised and glorified body is the sun, whence streams eternal light upon our spirits; the light of life, that never can be quenched.
Nor here does the influence of His resurrection end. He who raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies. His resurrection is the pledge and the pattern of ours. "Because He liveth
we shall also." "He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." We hear Him speaking in the prophet: "Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead."
How divinely does the apostle speak of the resurrection body of the saints! Ever since the fall of Eden, man is born to die. He lives to die. But Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The Hero of our salvation traveled into death's dominion, took possession of the whole territory on our behalf, and ascended to the heaven of heavens.
I recollect reading in the writings of Flavel this sentiment "that the souls in paradise wait with intense desire for the reanimation of their dead bodies, that they may be united to them in bliss forever.
In conclusion: Brethren, followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen Saviour! Go quickly and publish the glad tidings to sinners! And you, impenitent and unbelieving men hear this blessed message of salvation. Make haste! Procrastination is ruin. Now is the accepted time. O, fly to the throne of grace! I is my delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure and more confidence in praying for you to God. I have besought and entreated you, but you are yet in your sins, and rushing toward hell. Yet I will not give you up in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come, I will intercede with God to have mercy upon you for the sake of His beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to prevail at the throne!
~Christmas Evans~
(The End)
Saturday, February 2, 2019
The Resurrection of Jesus # 2
The Resurrection of Jesus # 2
Here we may observe, that He appeared to those who knew Him best, and gave them satisfactory and incontestable evidence of His resurrection. And He appeared, not only to the apostles, but to more than five hundred brethren at once. We have an account of His appearing at ten or eleven different times. On those occasions, He conversed with his disciples, reminded them of what He had said to them before His crucifixion, showed them His hands and feet, and besought them to touch and examine His person, and satisfy themselves as to His identity. So that they had ample opportunity, and every facility that could be desired, for ascertaining whether He was indeed Jesus of Nazareth, their Master, who was lately crucified before their eyes.
It was therefore with great power that the apostles bore witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit corroborated their testimony. Our faith in this distinctive doctrine of Christianity rests on a Divine foundation. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater," "And the apostles went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord also working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." In a few weeks after the resurrection of their Master, their testimony concerning it was received and firmly believed by many thousands, not in some distant and desert part of the world, but in Jerusalem, where He had been crucified.
How nobly the apostle Peter reasoned on this subject when he said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be holden of it."
Such was the evidence of our Lord's resurrection, that among those who were living at the time, and even those of them who so strenuously opposed the gospel, it appears to have been scarcely doubted. Pilate, in a letter to Tiberius, the Roman emperor, said, that Jesus, being raised from the dead, was believed by many to be God; whereupon the Roman senate expressed no doubt of His resurrection, but debated the question of receiving Him as one of the gods of Rome; which, however, was overruled by Divine Providence, for the honor of Christianity; for He who is higher than heaven, and the heaven of heavens, was not to be ranked with dumb idols upon earth.
II. Let me now consider the fact of our Lord's resurrection, and its bearing upon the great truths of our holy religion.
This most transcendent of miracles is sometimes attributed to the agency of the Father; who, as the Lawgiver, had arrested and imprisoned in the grave the sinner's Surety, manifesting at once his benevolence and His holiness; but by liberating the prisoner, proclaimed that the debt was canceled, and the claims of the law satisfied. It is sometimes attributed to the Son Himself; - who has power both to lay down His life, and to take it again; and the merit of whose sacrifice entitled Him to the honor of thus asserting His dominion over death, on behalf of His people. And sometimes it is attributed to the Holy Spirit, as in the following words of the apostle: "He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."
The resurrection of Christ is clear and incontestable proof of His Divinity.
He had declared Himself equal with God the Father, and one with Him in nature, and in glory. He had told the people that He would prove the truth of this declaration, by rising from the grave three days after His death. And when the morning of the third day began to dawn upon the sepulchre, lo! there was an earthquake, and the dead body arose, triumphant over the power of corruption.
This was the most stupendous miracle ever exhibited on earth, and its language is: "Behold, ye persecuting Jews and murdering Romans, the proof of my Godhead! Behold, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, the power and glory of your victim! I am He that liveth, and was dead; and lo! I am alive for evermore! I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star! Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else!
Our Lord's resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the truth of Christianity.
~Christmas Evans~
(continued with # 3)
Here we may observe, that He appeared to those who knew Him best, and gave them satisfactory and incontestable evidence of His resurrection. And He appeared, not only to the apostles, but to more than five hundred brethren at once. We have an account of His appearing at ten or eleven different times. On those occasions, He conversed with his disciples, reminded them of what He had said to them before His crucifixion, showed them His hands and feet, and besought them to touch and examine His person, and satisfy themselves as to His identity. So that they had ample opportunity, and every facility that could be desired, for ascertaining whether He was indeed Jesus of Nazareth, their Master, who was lately crucified before their eyes.
It was therefore with great power that the apostles bore witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit corroborated their testimony. Our faith in this distinctive doctrine of Christianity rests on a Divine foundation. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater," "And the apostles went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord also working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." In a few weeks after the resurrection of their Master, their testimony concerning it was received and firmly believed by many thousands, not in some distant and desert part of the world, but in Jerusalem, where He had been crucified.
How nobly the apostle Peter reasoned on this subject when he said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be holden of it."
Such was the evidence of our Lord's resurrection, that among those who were living at the time, and even those of them who so strenuously opposed the gospel, it appears to have been scarcely doubted. Pilate, in a letter to Tiberius, the Roman emperor, said, that Jesus, being raised from the dead, was believed by many to be God; whereupon the Roman senate expressed no doubt of His resurrection, but debated the question of receiving Him as one of the gods of Rome; which, however, was overruled by Divine Providence, for the honor of Christianity; for He who is higher than heaven, and the heaven of heavens, was not to be ranked with dumb idols upon earth.
II. Let me now consider the fact of our Lord's resurrection, and its bearing upon the great truths of our holy religion.
This most transcendent of miracles is sometimes attributed to the agency of the Father; who, as the Lawgiver, had arrested and imprisoned in the grave the sinner's Surety, manifesting at once his benevolence and His holiness; but by liberating the prisoner, proclaimed that the debt was canceled, and the claims of the law satisfied. It is sometimes attributed to the Son Himself; - who has power both to lay down His life, and to take it again; and the merit of whose sacrifice entitled Him to the honor of thus asserting His dominion over death, on behalf of His people. And sometimes it is attributed to the Holy Spirit, as in the following words of the apostle: "He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."
The resurrection of Christ is clear and incontestable proof of His Divinity.
He had declared Himself equal with God the Father, and one with Him in nature, and in glory. He had told the people that He would prove the truth of this declaration, by rising from the grave three days after His death. And when the morning of the third day began to dawn upon the sepulchre, lo! there was an earthquake, and the dead body arose, triumphant over the power of corruption.
This was the most stupendous miracle ever exhibited on earth, and its language is: "Behold, ye persecuting Jews and murdering Romans, the proof of my Godhead! Behold, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, the power and glory of your victim! I am He that liveth, and was dead; and lo! I am alive for evermore! I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star! Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there is none else!
Our Lord's resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the truth of Christianity.
~Christmas Evans~
(continued with # 3)
The Christian and the Non-Christian # 1
The Christian and the Non-Christian # 1
"But ye have not so learned Christ" (Ephesians 4:20).
Here we come to a dramatic and almost an abrupt statement. The Apostle has been describing the kind of like which he lived by the "other Gentiles," the kind of life that these Ephesian Christians themselves used to life - the life still being lived by those of their compatriots and fellows who had not believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. And having finished His description he suddenly turns, and uses this word "But." Now to get the full force of this, let us look at the statement again as a whole. "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ"; and then Paul goes on to say, "if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus."
We come, then, to this extraordinary, dramatic, vivid, almost, I say, abrupt statement which the Apostle makes here. And it is so obvious that he put it in this form quite deliberately, in order to call attention to it and to shock them, and in order to bring out the tremendous contrast that he has in mind. And therefore the emphasis must be placed both upon the "but" and upon you. "But you" - "you have not so learned Christ": the you in contrast with those other Gentiles; and the "but" standing here as a great word of contrast to bring out this marked antithesis. What then do those two words suggest to us?
The first thing, surely, that they should convey to us is a feeling of relief and of thanksgiving. I start with this because I think that it is the thing that we should be conscious of first of all. We have followed the Apostle's masterly analysis, his psychological dissection of the life of the unbeliever, the pagan, the man who is not a Christian, and we see how it goes from bad to worse because his mind is wrong. He is in a state of darkness, the heart is affected, and he is alienated from God. We have also seen men giving themselves over, in their foulness and lasciviousness, to work all kinds of iniquity and uncleanness with greediness. We have been looking at it all and seeing it. And then, Paul says, "But you!" And at once we say, "Well, thank God! we are no longer there, that is not our position. And this, I repeat, is the thing that must come first; we must feel a sense of relief and profound gratitude to God that we are covered by this. "But," that Paul is here turning from sin to salvation, and that we have experienced the change of which he is now going on to speak.
I emphasize this point because it seems to me that there is no better test of our Christian profession than our reaction to these words "But you." If we merely hold the truth theoretically in our minds this will not move us at all. If we have looked on at the description of sin merely in a kind of detached, scientific manner, or as the sociologist might do; if we have put down groups and categories of people, and have done it all in an utterly detached way, then we will have no sense of relief and of thanksgiving as we come to these words. But if we realize that all that was true of us; if we realize that we were in the grip and under the domination of sin; if we realize that we still have to fight against it, then, I say, these words at once give us a sense of marvelous and wonderful relief. It is not the whole truth, of course, there is more to be said. But as we respond to these words, in our feelings, in our sensibilities, as well with our minds, we are proclaiming whether we are truly Christian or not. We read these words of Paul, and then we read our newspapers, and as we look at what is going on all around us, we say, "Yes, it is absolutely right and true, that is life in this world. And then we suddenly stop and say, "Ah! but wait a minute, there is something else - there is the Christian, there is the Christian Church, there is this new humanity that is in Christ! The other seems to be true of almost everybody in the world, but it is not, for "there is yet a remnant according to the election of grace!" Thank God! In the midst of all the darkness there is a glimmer of light. Christianity is a protest in that sense; something has happened, there is an oasis in the desert. Here it is, thank God for it! And therefore I am saying that we test ourselves along these lines. Here we have been traveling in this wilderness, in this desert, and it seems to be endless. There seems nothing to hope for. Suddenly we see it - "But you!" After all, there is a bridgehead from heaven in this world of sin and shame "But you!" Relief! Thanksgiving! A sense of hope after all!
The words, "But you," of course, also mark the entry of the gospel. And I must confess that I am increasingly moved and charmed by the way in which this particular Apostle always brings in his gospel like this. We see him doing it in the fourth verse of his second chapter. He always does it in this way. There we read that terrifying passage in the first three verses, then suddenly, having said it all, Paul says, "But God!" - and in comes his gospel. And he is doing exactly the same thing here. This "but," you see, this this contrast, this disjunction, this is the Gospel, and it is something altogether different, it has nothing to do with this world and its mind and its outlook; it is something that comes in from above, and it brings with it a marvelous and a wonderful hope.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
(continued with # 2)
"But ye have not so learned Christ" (Ephesians 4:20).
Here we come to a dramatic and almost an abrupt statement. The Apostle has been describing the kind of like which he lived by the "other Gentiles," the kind of life that these Ephesian Christians themselves used to life - the life still being lived by those of their compatriots and fellows who had not believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. And having finished His description he suddenly turns, and uses this word "But." Now to get the full force of this, let us look at the statement again as a whole. "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ"; and then Paul goes on to say, "if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus."
We come, then, to this extraordinary, dramatic, vivid, almost, I say, abrupt statement which the Apostle makes here. And it is so obvious that he put it in this form quite deliberately, in order to call attention to it and to shock them, and in order to bring out the tremendous contrast that he has in mind. And therefore the emphasis must be placed both upon the "but" and upon you. "But you" - "you have not so learned Christ": the you in contrast with those other Gentiles; and the "but" standing here as a great word of contrast to bring out this marked antithesis. What then do those two words suggest to us?
The first thing, surely, that they should convey to us is a feeling of relief and of thanksgiving. I start with this because I think that it is the thing that we should be conscious of first of all. We have followed the Apostle's masterly analysis, his psychological dissection of the life of the unbeliever, the pagan, the man who is not a Christian, and we see how it goes from bad to worse because his mind is wrong. He is in a state of darkness, the heart is affected, and he is alienated from God. We have also seen men giving themselves over, in their foulness and lasciviousness, to work all kinds of iniquity and uncleanness with greediness. We have been looking at it all and seeing it. And then, Paul says, "But you!" And at once we say, "Well, thank God! we are no longer there, that is not our position. And this, I repeat, is the thing that must come first; we must feel a sense of relief and profound gratitude to God that we are covered by this. "But," that Paul is here turning from sin to salvation, and that we have experienced the change of which he is now going on to speak.
I emphasize this point because it seems to me that there is no better test of our Christian profession than our reaction to these words "But you." If we merely hold the truth theoretically in our minds this will not move us at all. If we have looked on at the description of sin merely in a kind of detached, scientific manner, or as the sociologist might do; if we have put down groups and categories of people, and have done it all in an utterly detached way, then we will have no sense of relief and of thanksgiving as we come to these words. But if we realize that all that was true of us; if we realize that we were in the grip and under the domination of sin; if we realize that we still have to fight against it, then, I say, these words at once give us a sense of marvelous and wonderful relief. It is not the whole truth, of course, there is more to be said. But as we respond to these words, in our feelings, in our sensibilities, as well with our minds, we are proclaiming whether we are truly Christian or not. We read these words of Paul, and then we read our newspapers, and as we look at what is going on all around us, we say, "Yes, it is absolutely right and true, that is life in this world. And then we suddenly stop and say, "Ah! but wait a minute, there is something else - there is the Christian, there is the Christian Church, there is this new humanity that is in Christ! The other seems to be true of almost everybody in the world, but it is not, for "there is yet a remnant according to the election of grace!" Thank God! In the midst of all the darkness there is a glimmer of light. Christianity is a protest in that sense; something has happened, there is an oasis in the desert. Here it is, thank God for it! And therefore I am saying that we test ourselves along these lines. Here we have been traveling in this wilderness, in this desert, and it seems to be endless. There seems nothing to hope for. Suddenly we see it - "But you!" After all, there is a bridgehead from heaven in this world of sin and shame "But you!" Relief! Thanksgiving! A sense of hope after all!
The words, "But you," of course, also mark the entry of the gospel. And I must confess that I am increasingly moved and charmed by the way in which this particular Apostle always brings in his gospel like this. We see him doing it in the fourth verse of his second chapter. He always does it in this way. There we read that terrifying passage in the first three verses, then suddenly, having said it all, Paul says, "But God!" - and in comes his gospel. And he is doing exactly the same thing here. This "but," you see, this this contrast, this disjunction, this is the Gospel, and it is something altogether different, it has nothing to do with this world and its mind and its outlook; it is something that comes in from above, and it brings with it a marvelous and a wonderful hope.
~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~
(continued with # 2)
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