APOSTATE TEACHERS
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” Jude vs. 4.
Introduction: What an accurate and up to date picture of today’s Christian churches! These apostate teachers abound and they are truly ungodly, seeking in every way to pervert the grace of God and the worship of the professing church. When these ungodly men take the leadership in a church, any true Christians in the audience will either see them for what they are and leave the church, or else they will continue and be robbed of the truth and become proud in spirit. The false professors will be rocked to sleep and led to Hell. God help us! What we need is a spiritual awakening, that will return the churches and people to the “old paths” (Jer. 6:16) and to the “faith once delivered” (Jude vs. 3). Let us seek to open up this text.
I. “Crept in unawares.”
1. They are cunning, deceitful operators. As advertisers who wish to sell beer, wine, liquor or cigarettes — they paint the pretty picture and never show you the end results of using their products!
2. Wolves among the sheep, false prophets. Matthew 7:15.
3. Satan’s ministers dressed up as angels of light. 2 Cor. 11:13-15.
II. “Ordained to this condemnation.”
1. “Ordained” or “reprobated” (Romans 1:28-32; 9: 20-22).
2. Also it means that they were “ordained” or raised up to this position in order to try the professing church. God sends them to sift the wheat, to purge out the pure gold of those who truly know the Lord. He also sends them to further the work of hardening in the hearts who resist the truth and know not the Lord. When He sends the “shaking,” the things that He has planted will remain (Heb. 12:27-29).
3. God’s sovereignty both in election and reprobation. God is God!
III. “Ungodly.”
1. Ungodly words — Anti-Christ.
2. Ungodly works — Satanic.
3. Not like God — wicked, unholy, impure, hypocritical—though pretending to be true witnesses of God.
IV. “Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness.”
1. “Lascivious” — lewd, wanton, fleshly lusts.
2. Making excuses for their sin, covering it up.
3. Denying man’s true condition in depravity and spiritual inability.
4. Making a mockery of the Gospel of blood redemption, mocking the efficacy of Christ’s shed blood. Calling much of the Gospel truth mere “myths.”
5. Antinomians, denying the necessity of a believer striving against sin, denying the place of God’s law in the life of faith. Law-deniers, they are perverters of the grace of God. “Let us sin that grace may abound,” they teach. Paul said of such that their “damnation is just” (Rom. 3:8). “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid” (Rom. 6:1-2). A true Antinomian is destitute of the grace of God that teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (Titus 2:11-15).
V. “Denying the only Lord God.”
1. His absolute sovereignty, His glory in the predestination and providential control of “all things.”
2. His power to fully execute His will. “Power belongeth unto God” (Psalm 62:11), and to God alone.
3. His influence in this world. “God has created the universe, set it under certain laws, and then gone off and let it run its course” — this is the attitude of many professing Christians, a position that is close to deism. No, God is active in the affairs of this earth. Psalm 135:6.
4. His sufficiency. Faith in Him is all I need to carry me through. Apostate teachers, false prophets, willful deceivers always try to ADD to HIM.
VI. “And our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1. Denying or corrupting the truth as to His Person. Reject His eternal Sonship, His absolute Deity, His virgin birth, His pure and sinless life.
2. Denying the truth as to His Performance — His blood atonement, His resurrection, His ascension to the throne of Glory, and His coming. The effectual and completed nature of His work as the only Redeemer of God’s elect.
3. Denying His Presence with us in the Person of the Holy Spirit of God. Don’t believe He can actually be with His people, don’t believe they can intimately know Him, reject the idea of His coming again to take them unto Himself for ever.
Close: Such are the leading teachings of apostate deceivers in our days. We must know their tactics and continue to expose them! Christ and His people are ONE, the “one body,” the “church.” Apostate teachers deny this, reject His Deity, pervert the truths of justification and sanctification — indeed all the great themes of the Gospel—and lead everyone astray that they can possibly influence. They have no love of the truth, no love for men’s souls and are positively wicked and perverted. They will land in Hell, and all who follow them are like unto them. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing: and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17). That is my cry to family and friends at this hour. Wake up! Be not deceived! AMEN!
— Wylie W. Fulton (outline written in the early 1960s, typed up Oct. 2004)
Friday, October 14, 2011
THE SINNER SAVED BY SPECIAL MERCY
“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:11-14).
HERE we have the Shepherd going many miles out of the way, as it were, to rescue one lost sheep. This reveals the heart compassion of our Lord Jesus who came to call and save poor sinners who could not save or rescue themselves. He went all the way to where His strayed little sheep was, for it could not get up out of its ensnared condition and come back to the Shepherd. Note:
I. The Sinner. “That which was lost” (Vss. 11).
1. We must discover our condition as to WHO we are by nature — a son of Satan. John 8:44.
2. WHAT he is by nature — a child of God’s wrath, fallen out of Paradise into the very “lap” of the wicked one. “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
II. His Condition. “That which was lost” … gone astray” (Vss. 11-12).
The Shepherd must find him right where he is lost. Notice this story accompanies that of the lost coin and lost son in Luke chapter 15. What can a sinner DO in this condition? He is so lost, so out of sight, so very far away that he is essentially “dead” to the Shepherd’s call.
1. The awful JUDGMENT he is under. In original sin, falling in Adam, that sinner has inherited not only a tremendous GUILT but also a NATURE THAT IS PRONE TO EVER EVIL and SPIRITUALLY DEAD, unable to assist him in his recovery. This is seen in: a) His many daily transgressions; b) His inherent depravity that is always manifesting itself; and c) His adamant rejection of the “light.” John 3:19.
2. The necessity that he must DIE physically, depressing him greatly as he advances in age and knows the “grim reaper” lingers near.
3. The WRATH OF GOD yet to come — Judgment Day, Hell, All-piercing Eyes of the Eternal One.
III. His Saviour. “The Son of man is come ... he rejoiceth.” Christ is the God-man, Jehovah’s only provided Saviour for mankind under condemnation.
1. He is wholly human, and thus: a) Touched with the feeling of our infirmities; b) Desiring the will of God — “I delight to do thy will, O God;” c) Born of a real and natural birth, though Deity itself is the One who was delivered from the Virgin’s womb; d) The “only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9).
2. He who is wholly human is also wholly God — the Eternal Son of God wrapped in Flesh. His birth was a) Without a human father to supply the sperm; b) Born of a virgin who never knew a man; c) Born as the One who is the Subject and Fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. A Saviour for a poor lost, Hell-deserving sinner — yes, indeed!
3. He alone is the one fit Mediator between God and man. In Him we see: a) An ordained, eternal Messiah-Christ-Mediator, the “Daysman” that Job desired (Job 9:33); b) One who stood for His people as their representative, as His Name was given in the angel’s appearance to Joseph (Mat. 1:21); c) Set up from the foundation of the world as the One Object of Jehovah’s delight, the One who would fulfill the covenant of redemption, by becoming the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
4. What a Saviour! Jesus our Good Shepherd indeed rejoices over the lost sheep when He finds it and brings it back to the fold! He is my Saviour — is He yours?
IV. Then note, The Sinner’s Salvation. “The Son of man is come to save” (text). Also note Luke 19:10, “To seek and to SAVE that which was lost.” And note further the Lord Jesus declares, “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Mat. 18:14). Salvation of the soul is the purchased possession of every heir of the Covenant of Grace, provided at the price of the obedience, suffering, blood and death of the Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20).
1. The sinner is the recipient of eternal covenant love (Jer. 31:3).
2. He is the sinner Christ had in mind when He prayed in the garden.
3. He is the poor sinner whose life is saved at the price of our Lord’s precious blood.
4. He is quickened and effectually called by the Spirit of God. John 5:25; John 6:37.
5. He is freely justified by grace and not of works — pronounced righteous by believing on the Holy Son of God.
6. He is adopted, placed within the family of grace. Regeneration gives him the nature of a child of God; Adoption gives him his place of Sonship within the Kingdom of the Great King.
7. See then, the marvels of such special, free, sovereign and eternal love and grace. Grace is an attribute of God that is bestowed only upon the elect of God, giving them what they DESERVE NOT. It is more than mercy, but it also precludes mercy which is the attribute of God that keeps back from guilty sinners what they DO DESERVE.
Conclusion: Are you within that favored group, loved of God, redeemed by the shed blood of Christ, sought and found by this Good Shepherd? Then,
1. You are the little lamb that the Shepherd sought out for His own sake, not for the mere good of the lamb itself. Psalm 106:8; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 48:11.
2. The Shepherd left the ninety-nine and went out in the dark of the night, just to find YOU. Mat. 20:16.
3. You have been cuddled and carried home on the shoulders of the Shepherd. What grace! How tender His touch and marvellous His power and encouraging His love!
4. What a wonder that the Shepherd actually “rejoiced” over such an unworthy creature as a stray sheep — an undone creature such as YOU! Marvelous grace! Free grace! Unmerited grace! Sovereign grace! Saving grace! Amen and Amen!
— Notes, etc. by W. W. Fulton
[ From notes originally written in 1961; copied to my computer and slightly enlarged, Nov. 2008 ]
“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:11-14).
HERE we have the Shepherd going many miles out of the way, as it were, to rescue one lost sheep. This reveals the heart compassion of our Lord Jesus who came to call and save poor sinners who could not save or rescue themselves. He went all the way to where His strayed little sheep was, for it could not get up out of its ensnared condition and come back to the Shepherd. Note:
I. The Sinner. “That which was lost” (Vss. 11).
1. We must discover our condition as to WHO we are by nature — a son of Satan. John 8:44.
2. WHAT he is by nature — a child of God’s wrath, fallen out of Paradise into the very “lap” of the wicked one. “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
II. His Condition. “That which was lost” … gone astray” (Vss. 11-12).
The Shepherd must find him right where he is lost. Notice this story accompanies that of the lost coin and lost son in Luke chapter 15. What can a sinner DO in this condition? He is so lost, so out of sight, so very far away that he is essentially “dead” to the Shepherd’s call.
1. The awful JUDGMENT he is under. In original sin, falling in Adam, that sinner has inherited not only a tremendous GUILT but also a NATURE THAT IS PRONE TO EVER EVIL and SPIRITUALLY DEAD, unable to assist him in his recovery. This is seen in: a) His many daily transgressions; b) His inherent depravity that is always manifesting itself; and c) His adamant rejection of the “light.” John 3:19.
2. The necessity that he must DIE physically, depressing him greatly as he advances in age and knows the “grim reaper” lingers near.
3. The WRATH OF GOD yet to come — Judgment Day, Hell, All-piercing Eyes of the Eternal One.
III. His Saviour. “The Son of man is come ... he rejoiceth.” Christ is the God-man, Jehovah’s only provided Saviour for mankind under condemnation.
1. He is wholly human, and thus: a) Touched with the feeling of our infirmities; b) Desiring the will of God — “I delight to do thy will, O God;” c) Born of a real and natural birth, though Deity itself is the One who was delivered from the Virgin’s womb; d) The “only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9).
2. He who is wholly human is also wholly God — the Eternal Son of God wrapped in Flesh. His birth was a) Without a human father to supply the sperm; b) Born of a virgin who never knew a man; c) Born as the One who is the Subject and Fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy. A Saviour for a poor lost, Hell-deserving sinner — yes, indeed!
3. He alone is the one fit Mediator between God and man. In Him we see: a) An ordained, eternal Messiah-Christ-Mediator, the “Daysman” that Job desired (Job 9:33); b) One who stood for His people as their representative, as His Name was given in the angel’s appearance to Joseph (Mat. 1:21); c) Set up from the foundation of the world as the One Object of Jehovah’s delight, the One who would fulfill the covenant of redemption, by becoming the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
4. What a Saviour! Jesus our Good Shepherd indeed rejoices over the lost sheep when He finds it and brings it back to the fold! He is my Saviour — is He yours?
IV. Then note, The Sinner’s Salvation. “The Son of man is come to save” (text). Also note Luke 19:10, “To seek and to SAVE that which was lost.” And note further the Lord Jesus declares, “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Mat. 18:14). Salvation of the soul is the purchased possession of every heir of the Covenant of Grace, provided at the price of the obedience, suffering, blood and death of the Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20).
1. The sinner is the recipient of eternal covenant love (Jer. 31:3).
2. He is the sinner Christ had in mind when He prayed in the garden.
3. He is the poor sinner whose life is saved at the price of our Lord’s precious blood.
4. He is quickened and effectually called by the Spirit of God. John 5:25; John 6:37.
5. He is freely justified by grace and not of works — pronounced righteous by believing on the Holy Son of God.
6. He is adopted, placed within the family of grace. Regeneration gives him the nature of a child of God; Adoption gives him his place of Sonship within the Kingdom of the Great King.
7. See then, the marvels of such special, free, sovereign and eternal love and grace. Grace is an attribute of God that is bestowed only upon the elect of God, giving them what they DESERVE NOT. It is more than mercy, but it also precludes mercy which is the attribute of God that keeps back from guilty sinners what they DO DESERVE.
Conclusion: Are you within that favored group, loved of God, redeemed by the shed blood of Christ, sought and found by this Good Shepherd? Then,
1. You are the little lamb that the Shepherd sought out for His own sake, not for the mere good of the lamb itself. Psalm 106:8; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 48:11.
2. The Shepherd left the ninety-nine and went out in the dark of the night, just to find YOU. Mat. 20:16.
3. You have been cuddled and carried home on the shoulders of the Shepherd. What grace! How tender His touch and marvellous His power and encouraging His love!
4. What a wonder that the Shepherd actually “rejoiced” over such an unworthy creature as a stray sheep — an undone creature such as YOU! Marvelous grace! Free grace! Unmerited grace! Sovereign grace! Saving grace! Amen and Amen!
— Notes, etc. by W. W. Fulton
[ From notes originally written in 1961; copied to my computer and slightly enlarged, Nov. 2008 ]
THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
“And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 17:8).
HEAVEN has a library of books, for we read that on Judgment Day, “and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life” (Rev. 20:12). What type of “books” they are, we cannot fully comprehend in this life—whether literal bound volumes, or rolled up scrolls, or computer data—but we know that whatever was in the heart of God to record in a literal fashion, is visible in the archives of Heaven. And the greatest book of all Heaven’s library is that one referred to as “THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN.”
There evidently is a book or books containing the records of every living soul, and from these books one’s name might be removed or “blotted out.” When Moses pled for the children of Israel in their folly, as God’s impending judgment hung over them, he prayed, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin —; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exod. 32:32-33). “Moses gave proof that his affections were bound up with Israel, though they were a sinful people. So much were their interests his, he was willing to be blotted out of God’s book, if He would not forgive them. Here again we must be careful not to read into his words what is not there. Moses said, ‘Thy book,” not ‘the Lamb’s book of Life.’ In Psalm 69:28 we read, ‘Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.’ In Isaiah 4:3 it is said, ‘And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.’ Thus it seems clear from these references that the ‘book’ mentioned by Moses was not ‘the Lamb’s book of life’ (Rev. 21:27), which was written ‘from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 17:8), but the Divine register in which are recorded the names of those living on the earth, whose names are ‘blotted out’ at the death of each one. God has various books” (A. W. Pink).
But what we wish to see is that one essential book, that records the names of those persons that God has chosen from the beginning (2 Thes. 2:13), those dear ones given by the Father to the Son for a redeemed and ransomed people (John 6:37; John 17:2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24), and the ones who are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5). This is known in Scripture as the number of the redeemed, the roll-book of the elect of God—THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN for the sinners of God’s eternal choice and objects of His immutable love.
I. How Old is This Book?
One of the most mysterious objects in the Bible is this Book of Life. It was written before there was a man — yes, even before the sun shone forth in its noonday splendor and prior to the hanging of the moon and stars in their places by the creative Word of God. Just think of the cool breezes that sweep over the waters and the trickling of the brooks that add music to a walk in the forest — when this central book of Heaven was prepared, none of these existed. There was no birdsong and no baby’s sigh — neither had the sweet voice of love ever whispered its devotion in the ear of its companion. God dwelt alone and yet in His foreknowledge He looked upon and loved His future believing family, and chose them from among the sons of men. And the first activity of Deity that we have on record was this writing of the names that comprise that Book — the names of all the loved ones of Jehovah’s purpose and program of redemption. They were certified as the names that Christ would bear upon the cross, for whose sins alone He would suffer, bleed and die. Actually God composed this wonderful Book before the beginning, before Genesis 1:1. And we who are the children of God now were on His mind then!
What is there to rejoice your heart as a believer, and to stir up more sincere love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it that He died for you? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that He was willing to suffer scorn and shame in your place? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that Christ died and was buried and rose again? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that the Lord called you, quickened you, brought you out from among the fallen sons of men, and led you to take your place as a repentant and believing soul before God? Most surely, but more than this! Are you rejoicing and serving Him because He has used you in some manner in His kingdom, or that you have found a place within the family of God? Most surely, but more than this! Is it because the demons of Hell and the powers of darkness have been made subject to you through faith? Most surely, but more than this! Hear our Lord: “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Oh, if you have some hope that God has begun a work of grace in your bosom, the very foundation of your hope, the seal of Heaven that can never be broken, is that you were among those ancient objects of Jehovah’s tenderest attribute of love as He inscribed your name in His Book of Predestination.
If in your experience, my reader, you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, your Mediator, and your Lord and Saviour, then you have become a member of that “general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23), and God is your Father and you shall dwell with the spirits of just men made perfect in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
So this Book is OLD. It is God’s record from which no name can ever be expunged and to which no name can ever be added. With the late B. B. Caldwell, we are glad that our enemies have no access to this Book — they would try to erase or strike out my name! God has reserved the keeping of this ancient work to Himself alone, and no mere man can touch it. How the truth of God has been caricatured and corrupted throughout much of church life! In my earlier days I have heard cheap-jack evangelists say, “Jesus desires to save you, if you will let Him in. The recording angel is poised now to write your name in the Lamb’s book of life. All you need to do is come down this aisle while we sing another verse of ‘Just As I Am,’ and give your heart to God. Come now! God wants to save you!” Many have sung that popular hymn, “There’s a New Name Written Down in Glory,” but according to the statements of the Bible such is never the case. No “new names” can ever be written; the scroll is as old as the pre-creation counsel of the Lord our God!
II. Who Wrote This Book? It is God’s book; it is the Lamb’s book.
1. God wrote it in eternity past, before time began. There was an eternal blood covenant of grace in the Godhead. We read: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). God the Father chose a people and ordained all things for their salvation; God the Son agreed to the decree and assumed the office of Mediator to fulfill the stipulations of this great counsel of peace; then God the Holy Spirit was set up as the Executor who would quicken and bring to faith and repentance each heir of redemption.
2. There is much comfort in knowing about this great covenant and in coming to a personal knowledge of the God who prepared it. At the end of his life David spoke of God’s everlasting covenant and said it was “ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire” (2 Sam. 23:5). This was known as “the sure mercies of David” (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34), and was the consolation of the people of God.
3. The covenant of grace was enacted and the Book written as an act of the most generous compassion and love of Jehovah for His own. When we see Jesus in His high priestly prayer, we find Him praying to the Father, “that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:23-24). God loved the objects of His love with the same eternal love with which He loved His eternal Son!
4. And because God is the Author of this marvelous eternal Book, He says to the people of His covenant, “I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:20). And these are the ones, my friends, that will eventually come to experience with Jeremiah, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). And in God’s own good time He reveals to them what He told Israel, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:7-9).
5. And since God is the One who inscribed my name, if I am truly one of His, I repeatedly am assured that it cannot be erased, marked out, expunged or altered. It stands and stands forever. “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). Forever be His name adored, for His unchangeable love. Of Jesus the Mediator we read, “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). And He Himself boldly proclaimed, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
6. Because it is God’s Book and not man’s, we know that the Bible which He hath given us is true. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The Bible is true in all of its promises. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:20-22).
7. He who wrote the Book of Life inspired Paul to teach us His truth. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:28-31). “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). The Book of Life and the Holy Book I hold in my hand are both the writings of Almighty God, and so being a subject of His purpose and calling, I am secure in Him. Amen and Amen!
III. What Is This Book? The best we can understand from Scripture, just what is this Book we are thinking about at this time? It is this mysterious Book by which people are either included in the kingdom of Heaven or rejected—“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).
1. It is the Roster of those who have Eternal Life. “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:9). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
2. It is the ancient Roll-Book of the Sheep of Christ. “But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:26-29).
3. It is the Register Book of the Redeemed. The Lord Jesus affirms, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “This is the blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Mat. 26:28).
4. It is the Book of God’s Purpose. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9). “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her (Rebecca), The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:11-13).
5. It is the Charter Book of the Kingdom of Heaven. God will do nothing outside of or contrary to His eternal purpose of grace. The doctrine of election has been called “the great charter of Heaven,” and so it is, for all things the Lord purposed and all things He created, and all things that He is bringing to pass, must forever be subservient to that one purpose of the glory of God in Christ and His elect seed. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Grace, and always it is running on schedule for God is its “builder and maker” and He stands fast. His throne is immoveable, and it’s a covenant throne, operated under strict conformity “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11). And that is some purpose! And the tried and troubled little child of God, amidst all the struggles of time and circumstances, of flesh and spirit, can find a consolation in this that he would never find in the proud theories of free-will and self-assertive teachings. It is only in God as a covenant God, and in Christ as a Faithful Saviour, that the pilgrim can press forward “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
When Satan assails, where is our consolation? It is in an Eternal God of Sovereign Purpose, an Almighty God who knows no defeat, and a precious Saviour who fulfilled all things and has revealed Himself to us. Then the believer can realize much sweetness out of the promise given by the Apostle John: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
6. It is the Chief Volume of the Library of Heaven. There are other books in Heaven, “the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life” (Rev. 20:21). But this is the Special Book, the Book regarded by the Lord of Heaven above all other books. And someday the redeemed souls in Heaven and the names in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be equal; in God’s purpose and from the viewpoint of the Timeless One, they already are.
7. To be saved, it is imperative to be included in this Book! “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). Every soul who experiences salvation by grace is a soul who was chosen of God, elected by grace, and inscribed in the Book of Predestination before all worlds. But as we come down to the consummation of all things in the program of Jehovah God, I would have you note that the Book of Life is not only inclusive but exclusive as well. Just as there is a great multitude of elect sinners whose names were written in love in this Book from the foundation of the world, so there is a host of sinners fallen in Adam who were never loved of God and whose names never appeared in the Book of Redemption. This is known as the great doctrine of Reprobation. This is God’s solemn and sovereign REJECTION of many of his creatures. The reality of it is not based upon the deserts of fallen man or his non-deserts, but wholly and only upon God’s pure and absolute sovereignty in the realization of His eternal counsel. Christ is the Center of all the purpose and program of God, and it is for His glory that all men and all worlds were created. God is glorified supremely in the destiny of the damned in Hell as well as the saved in Glory. Notice again that text of rejection in Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Conclusion: What is your relationship to the Lamb’s Book of Life? Do you love the God of an eternal purpose and absolute decree, or do you fly in His face in rebellion? Know for sure, that there is yet a Judgment Day appointed to you when you must stand before your Maker. Are you found at His footstool as a poor beggar, seeking His mercy and His favor, crying, “Pass me not, O gentle Saviour! Hear my humble cry; while on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by!” (Fanny J. Crosby). Are you willing to be conformed to His image and to submit to all His truth without rebellion? Do you cry, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!” If so, I believe you are one whose poor name was inscribed by the Almighty in the Book of those who are sealed by the Blood of His only-begotten Son, accepted in the Beloved, for God is their Father and Christ is their Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit has performed in them the marvel of regeneration and given them repentance and faith whereby they know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. In their hearts is much praise to Him who chose them, who redeemed them and who keeps them safe now and unto all Eternity!
“The Book of Life! It matters little whether your name is written among those upon whom honorary degrees have been conferred by earthly universities. It matters little whether text-books shall give your name as among the literati of this or of past ages. It matters little whether your name is among those who are recorded as the lucky and fortunate ones of this earth. It is less than nothing whether your name is on the list of the famous millionaires. But, oh, it is much whether your name is on that Book. Is it there?” (B. H. Carroll).
Thank God that He included me! He didn’t have to, but I believe He did; I hope He did; I trust He did — and that is all my hope and my heart lifts up to Him in fervent praise even now. Amen.
— Notes and Outlines of W. W. Fulton
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).
“And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 17:8).
HEAVEN has a library of books, for we read that on Judgment Day, “and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life” (Rev. 20:12). What type of “books” they are, we cannot fully comprehend in this life—whether literal bound volumes, or rolled up scrolls, or computer data—but we know that whatever was in the heart of God to record in a literal fashion, is visible in the archives of Heaven. And the greatest book of all Heaven’s library is that one referred to as “THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN.”
There evidently is a book or books containing the records of every living soul, and from these books one’s name might be removed or “blotted out.” When Moses pled for the children of Israel in their folly, as God’s impending judgment hung over them, he prayed, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin —; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exod. 32:32-33). “Moses gave proof that his affections were bound up with Israel, though they were a sinful people. So much were their interests his, he was willing to be blotted out of God’s book, if He would not forgive them. Here again we must be careful not to read into his words what is not there. Moses said, ‘Thy book,” not ‘the Lamb’s book of Life.’ In Psalm 69:28 we read, ‘Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.’ In Isaiah 4:3 it is said, ‘And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.’ Thus it seems clear from these references that the ‘book’ mentioned by Moses was not ‘the Lamb’s book of life’ (Rev. 21:27), which was written ‘from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 17:8), but the Divine register in which are recorded the names of those living on the earth, whose names are ‘blotted out’ at the death of each one. God has various books” (A. W. Pink).
But what we wish to see is that one essential book, that records the names of those persons that God has chosen from the beginning (2 Thes. 2:13), those dear ones given by the Father to the Son for a redeemed and ransomed people (John 6:37; John 17:2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24), and the ones who are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5). This is known in Scripture as the number of the redeemed, the roll-book of the elect of God—THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN for the sinners of God’s eternal choice and objects of His immutable love.
I. How Old is This Book?
One of the most mysterious objects in the Bible is this Book of Life. It was written before there was a man — yes, even before the sun shone forth in its noonday splendor and prior to the hanging of the moon and stars in their places by the creative Word of God. Just think of the cool breezes that sweep over the waters and the trickling of the brooks that add music to a walk in the forest — when this central book of Heaven was prepared, none of these existed. There was no birdsong and no baby’s sigh — neither had the sweet voice of love ever whispered its devotion in the ear of its companion. God dwelt alone and yet in His foreknowledge He looked upon and loved His future believing family, and chose them from among the sons of men. And the first activity of Deity that we have on record was this writing of the names that comprise that Book — the names of all the loved ones of Jehovah’s purpose and program of redemption. They were certified as the names that Christ would bear upon the cross, for whose sins alone He would suffer, bleed and die. Actually God composed this wonderful Book before the beginning, before Genesis 1:1. And we who are the children of God now were on His mind then!
What is there to rejoice your heart as a believer, and to stir up more sincere love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it that He died for you? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that He was willing to suffer scorn and shame in your place? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that Christ died and was buried and rose again? Most surely, but more than this! Is it that the Lord called you, quickened you, brought you out from among the fallen sons of men, and led you to take your place as a repentant and believing soul before God? Most surely, but more than this! Are you rejoicing and serving Him because He has used you in some manner in His kingdom, or that you have found a place within the family of God? Most surely, but more than this! Is it because the demons of Hell and the powers of darkness have been made subject to you through faith? Most surely, but more than this! Hear our Lord: “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Oh, if you have some hope that God has begun a work of grace in your bosom, the very foundation of your hope, the seal of Heaven that can never be broken, is that you were among those ancient objects of Jehovah’s tenderest attribute of love as He inscribed your name in His Book of Predestination.
If in your experience, my reader, you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, your Mediator, and your Lord and Saviour, then you have become a member of that “general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23), and God is your Father and you shall dwell with the spirits of just men made perfect in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
So this Book is OLD. It is God’s record from which no name can ever be expunged and to which no name can ever be added. With the late B. B. Caldwell, we are glad that our enemies have no access to this Book — they would try to erase or strike out my name! God has reserved the keeping of this ancient work to Himself alone, and no mere man can touch it. How the truth of God has been caricatured and corrupted throughout much of church life! In my earlier days I have heard cheap-jack evangelists say, “Jesus desires to save you, if you will let Him in. The recording angel is poised now to write your name in the Lamb’s book of life. All you need to do is come down this aisle while we sing another verse of ‘Just As I Am,’ and give your heart to God. Come now! God wants to save you!” Many have sung that popular hymn, “There’s a New Name Written Down in Glory,” but according to the statements of the Bible such is never the case. No “new names” can ever be written; the scroll is as old as the pre-creation counsel of the Lord our God!
II. Who Wrote This Book? It is God’s book; it is the Lamb’s book.
1. God wrote it in eternity past, before time began. There was an eternal blood covenant of grace in the Godhead. We read: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). God the Father chose a people and ordained all things for their salvation; God the Son agreed to the decree and assumed the office of Mediator to fulfill the stipulations of this great counsel of peace; then God the Holy Spirit was set up as the Executor who would quicken and bring to faith and repentance each heir of redemption.
2. There is much comfort in knowing about this great covenant and in coming to a personal knowledge of the God who prepared it. At the end of his life David spoke of God’s everlasting covenant and said it was “ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire” (2 Sam. 23:5). This was known as “the sure mercies of David” (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34), and was the consolation of the people of God.
3. The covenant of grace was enacted and the Book written as an act of the most generous compassion and love of Jehovah for His own. When we see Jesus in His high priestly prayer, we find Him praying to the Father, “that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:23-24). God loved the objects of His love with the same eternal love with which He loved His eternal Son!
4. And because God is the Author of this marvelous eternal Book, He says to the people of His covenant, “I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD” (Hosea 2:20). And these are the ones, my friends, that will eventually come to experience with Jeremiah, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). And in God’s own good time He reveals to them what He told Israel, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:7-9).
5. And since God is the One who inscribed my name, if I am truly one of His, I repeatedly am assured that it cannot be erased, marked out, expunged or altered. It stands and stands forever. “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). Forever be His name adored, for His unchangeable love. Of Jesus the Mediator we read, “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). And He Himself boldly proclaimed, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
6. Because it is God’s Book and not man’s, we know that the Bible which He hath given us is true. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The Bible is true in all of its promises. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:20-22).
7. He who wrote the Book of Life inspired Paul to teach us His truth. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:28-31). “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). The Book of Life and the Holy Book I hold in my hand are both the writings of Almighty God, and so being a subject of His purpose and calling, I am secure in Him. Amen and Amen!
III. What Is This Book? The best we can understand from Scripture, just what is this Book we are thinking about at this time? It is this mysterious Book by which people are either included in the kingdom of Heaven or rejected—“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).
1. It is the Roster of those who have Eternal Life. “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Eph. 3:9). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
2. It is the ancient Roll-Book of the Sheep of Christ. “But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:26-29).
3. It is the Register Book of the Redeemed. The Lord Jesus affirms, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “This is the blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Mat. 26:28).
4. It is the Book of God’s Purpose. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9). “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her (Rebecca), The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:11-13).
5. It is the Charter Book of the Kingdom of Heaven. God will do nothing outside of or contrary to His eternal purpose of grace. The doctrine of election has been called “the great charter of Heaven,” and so it is, for all things the Lord purposed and all things He created, and all things that He is bringing to pass, must forever be subservient to that one purpose of the glory of God in Christ and His elect seed. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Grace, and always it is running on schedule for God is its “builder and maker” and He stands fast. His throne is immoveable, and it’s a covenant throne, operated under strict conformity “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11). And that is some purpose! And the tried and troubled little child of God, amidst all the struggles of time and circumstances, of flesh and spirit, can find a consolation in this that he would never find in the proud theories of free-will and self-assertive teachings. It is only in God as a covenant God, and in Christ as a Faithful Saviour, that the pilgrim can press forward “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
When Satan assails, where is our consolation? It is in an Eternal God of Sovereign Purpose, an Almighty God who knows no defeat, and a precious Saviour who fulfilled all things and has revealed Himself to us. Then the believer can realize much sweetness out of the promise given by the Apostle John: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
6. It is the Chief Volume of the Library of Heaven. There are other books in Heaven, “the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life” (Rev. 20:21). But this is the Special Book, the Book regarded by the Lord of Heaven above all other books. And someday the redeemed souls in Heaven and the names in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be equal; in God’s purpose and from the viewpoint of the Timeless One, they already are.
7. To be saved, it is imperative to be included in this Book! “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). Every soul who experiences salvation by grace is a soul who was chosen of God, elected by grace, and inscribed in the Book of Predestination before all worlds. But as we come down to the consummation of all things in the program of Jehovah God, I would have you note that the Book of Life is not only inclusive but exclusive as well. Just as there is a great multitude of elect sinners whose names were written in love in this Book from the foundation of the world, so there is a host of sinners fallen in Adam who were never loved of God and whose names never appeared in the Book of Redemption. This is known as the great doctrine of Reprobation. This is God’s solemn and sovereign REJECTION of many of his creatures. The reality of it is not based upon the deserts of fallen man or his non-deserts, but wholly and only upon God’s pure and absolute sovereignty in the realization of His eternal counsel. Christ is the Center of all the purpose and program of God, and it is for His glory that all men and all worlds were created. God is glorified supremely in the destiny of the damned in Hell as well as the saved in Glory. Notice again that text of rejection in Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Conclusion: What is your relationship to the Lamb’s Book of Life? Do you love the God of an eternal purpose and absolute decree, or do you fly in His face in rebellion? Know for sure, that there is yet a Judgment Day appointed to you when you must stand before your Maker. Are you found at His footstool as a poor beggar, seeking His mercy and His favor, crying, “Pass me not, O gentle Saviour! Hear my humble cry; while on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by!” (Fanny J. Crosby). Are you willing to be conformed to His image and to submit to all His truth without rebellion? Do you cry, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!” If so, I believe you are one whose poor name was inscribed by the Almighty in the Book of those who are sealed by the Blood of His only-begotten Son, accepted in the Beloved, for God is their Father and Christ is their Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit has performed in them the marvel of regeneration and given them repentance and faith whereby they know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. In their hearts is much praise to Him who chose them, who redeemed them and who keeps them safe now and unto all Eternity!
“Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold;
I would make sure of Heaven, I would enter the fold.
In the book of Thy kingdom, with its pages so fair,
Tell me, Jesus my Saviour, is my name written there?
“Is my name written there,
On the page white and fair?
In the book of Thy kingdom,
Is my name written there?”
(Mary A. Kidder)
“The Book of Life! It matters little whether your name is written among those upon whom honorary degrees have been conferred by earthly universities. It matters little whether text-books shall give your name as among the literati of this or of past ages. It matters little whether your name is among those who are recorded as the lucky and fortunate ones of this earth. It is less than nothing whether your name is on the list of the famous millionaires. But, oh, it is much whether your name is on that Book. Is it there?” (B. H. Carroll).
Thank God that He included me! He didn’t have to, but I believe He did; I hope He did; I trust He did — and that is all my hope and my heart lifts up to Him in fervent praise even now. Amen.
— Notes and Outlines of W. W. Fulton
EXTOL THE CREATOR!
“Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:5-6).
HERE the Creator is set forth as the Caller and Covenant Head of His believing people. It is as their Creator that He has redeemed them back from the state of sin into which they plunged through Adam’s disobedience. It is as Creator that Christ has come into the world to be the only Redeemer of God’s elect — “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made … He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not … And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Read John 1:1-18).
The Great Creator became my Saviour! Just think! He created us, created this earth planet, stretched out the heavens, upheld the earth, gave breath to all the people upon it—then He called a remnant of that rebellious people unto Himself in righteousness, held them, kept them, gave them in covenant, and safely took them unto Himself without loss of one. Not a poor wandering, destitute child can be lost. If, in our sin and despair, we are given that precious gift of faith and can look to Him as our Righteousness, then we shall know Him as we follow on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3), and He’ll lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. Glorious Creator! Royal Redeemer! Precious Saviour! Eternally our Lord!
As Creator, He calls His people unto Himself. He re-creates them in Christ Jesus: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
As Creator, He upholds and keeps them. Of Christ our Creator-Redeemer we are told: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, [He] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).
As Creator, He establishes them in Covenant. For Israel, “I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you” (Lev. 26:9). For the Christian, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Heb. 8:6).
As Creator, He commissions His called and established ones—sends them on a mission to deliver Good News of the One who delivers prisoners from their dungeon and freely restores sight to the blind. Isaiah wrote Christ’s commission (See Isa. 61:1-3), and early in His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus announced it: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
As Creator, His glory is firmly secured. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8). “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isa. 43:7). “And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them” (Ezek. 39:21).
As Creator, He demands exclusive worship, and repels all images and idols. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exod. 20:3-6). And Jesus said to Satan himself, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8). And so we repeat those signal words of Isaiah: “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8).
As Creator, like the potter with complete freedom and sovereignty forms his vessels unto honor and dishonor, so none can refuse Jehovah’s hand or question what He does. “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jer. 18:6). “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Rom. 9:18-21).
As Creator, He is moving on the Divine schedule. His time clock and His calendar may be misunderstood by us, but He is moving according to a fixed and unalterable plan and purpose. This holds true for the entire universe, and most especially for the election of grace. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (Mat. 20:15). “Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalm 76:7-10).
As Creator, He will bring on the consummation of all things—yea, He will burn up all things that we see. “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer” (Rev. 10:5-6). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).
As Creator, He only can say, “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5). Has He begun a good work in you? And is He conforming you, as a predestinated one, to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29)? Have you received that “effectual call,” that irresistible call, bringing you into His family and making you a “child of the King,” a child of the Creator? Amen.
— W.W. F. (Nov. 2008)
“Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:5-6).
HERE the Creator is set forth as the Caller and Covenant Head of His believing people. It is as their Creator that He has redeemed them back from the state of sin into which they plunged through Adam’s disobedience. It is as Creator that Christ has come into the world to be the only Redeemer of God’s elect — “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made … He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not … And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Read John 1:1-18).
The Great Creator became my Saviour! Just think! He created us, created this earth planet, stretched out the heavens, upheld the earth, gave breath to all the people upon it—then He called a remnant of that rebellious people unto Himself in righteousness, held them, kept them, gave them in covenant, and safely took them unto Himself without loss of one. Not a poor wandering, destitute child can be lost. If, in our sin and despair, we are given that precious gift of faith and can look to Him as our Righteousness, then we shall know Him as we follow on to know the Lord (Hosea 6:3), and He’ll lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. Glorious Creator! Royal Redeemer! Precious Saviour! Eternally our Lord!
As Creator, He calls His people unto Himself. He re-creates them in Christ Jesus: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
As Creator, He upholds and keeps them. Of Christ our Creator-Redeemer we are told: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, [He] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).
As Creator, He establishes them in Covenant. For Israel, “I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you” (Lev. 26:9). For the Christian, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Heb. 8:6).
As Creator, He commissions His called and established ones—sends them on a mission to deliver Good News of the One who delivers prisoners from their dungeon and freely restores sight to the blind. Isaiah wrote Christ’s commission (See Isa. 61:1-3), and early in His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus announced it: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
As Creator, His glory is firmly secured. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8). “Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isa. 43:7). “And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them” (Ezek. 39:21).
As Creator, He demands exclusive worship, and repels all images and idols. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exod. 20:3-6). And Jesus said to Satan himself, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8). And so we repeat those signal words of Isaiah: “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8).
As Creator, like the potter with complete freedom and sovereignty forms his vessels unto honor and dishonor, so none can refuse Jehovah’s hand or question what He does. “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jer. 18:6). “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Rom. 9:18-21).
As Creator, He is moving on the Divine schedule. His time clock and His calendar may be misunderstood by us, but He is moving according to a fixed and unalterable plan and purpose. This holds true for the entire universe, and most especially for the election of grace. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (Mat. 20:15). “Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still, When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalm 76:7-10).
As Creator, He will bring on the consummation of all things—yea, He will burn up all things that we see. “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer” (Rev. 10:5-6). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).
As Creator, He only can say, “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5). Has He begun a good work in you? And is He conforming you, as a predestinated one, to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29)? Have you received that “effectual call,” that irresistible call, bringing you into His family and making you a “child of the King,” a child of the Creator? Amen.
— W.W. F. (Nov. 2008)
FOR WHOM DOES OUR LORD PRAY?
(A Brief Look at Christ's Prayer in John 17)
I. HE PRAYS FOR THE ELECT ONLY.
"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine" Vs. 9.
1. Christ frames His prayer according to the Father's will. "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing" (John 6:39).
2. He commends back to the Father those only whom the Father has given Him (Vss. 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24). God gave a select number to Christ to redeem, and He has only these in mind as He prays and prepares to go to the Cross.
3. God chose some, NOT ALL, to salvation!
4. God the Father's purpose in election, the Son's work in redemption, and the Spirit's work in calling are of the most definite design, and concerning the same people.
5. Since Christ is praying only for the elect, then belief in election is not an optional thing but most important. 2 Thess. 2:13.
6. Those who are fighting election are opposing God's only purpose of salvation!
II. HE PRAYS FOR THEIR SALVATION.
"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" Vs. 2.
1. In so far as His authority and kingship are concerned, Christ was appointed by God the Father to be the Head over all mankind.
2. But His work of salvation is restricted to those the Father gave Him to save!
3. Christ gives life, or else none could be saved. He is the only source of life, my sinner friend!
4. This life is not yours by your own choice or taking, but by His will and His action in bestowing it, speaking life to your spiritually-dead soul.
5. Not all will receive this spiritual life. Christ gives the quickening Spirit only to the elect as the Father commanded.
6. Since He has authority over every human being, He could give salvation to all if He purposed to do so, but since the gifts and callings of God are effectual, we know whom He purposed to saved by the very fact that they are called to leave all and follow the Saviour.
7. Christ's authority is for the one purpose of the sure salvation of God's dear sheep. Read John 10:14-18.
III. HE PRAYS FOR THEIR SECURITY.
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" Vs. 15.
1. What does the safety and security of the godly consist of?
a. Calling and salvation.
b. Deliverance from the Evil One.
c. Freedom to serve the Lord.
d. Fellowship with God along the pilgrim journey.
e. Service and a place in His kingdom.
2. He does not promise nor pray that we be delivered from all the vexations and trials of this life!
3. He does promise strength in battle and His comforting Presence. "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20).
4. He gives the Holy Ghost to lead them and His angels to protect them. John 14:26; Hebrews 1:14.
5. He knows them and they know Him. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).
6. He gives them eternal life and not one of His sheep shall perish. "And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one" (John 10:28-30).
7. An eternal home with HIM. "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (Vs. 24). "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2)
Conclusion: What safety, what assurance, what security is here! 1. He prays for the Elect. 2. He prays for their Salvation. And, number 3, He prays for their Security.
When I was under Holy Spirit conviction, verse 20 of this chapter was the verse the Holy Spirit used in bringing me to the light. I was already firmly convinced that Christ had an elect people to save, but I didn't know that I was one of them. Then I found great encouragement that led me to Christ in these words: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (Vs. 20). And I said, "Lord, I do believe; help thou mine unbelief!" And I would never have even DESIRED to believe on Him or follow Him had I not been eternally given by the Heavenly Father! Praise the Lord! Remove your shoes from off your feet, for we are standing on Holy Ground!
This is the question with you, my dear friend: Do you have some assurance that HE has called you, that you are redeemed by the Son of God, that you are in Him, and chosen by the Father unto salvation before the world began? Amen and Amen!
— Notes by Wylie Fulton (with a few borrowed thoughts).
(A Brief Look at Christ's Prayer in John 17)
I. HE PRAYS FOR THE ELECT ONLY.
"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine" Vs. 9.
1. Christ frames His prayer according to the Father's will. "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing" (John 6:39).
2. He commends back to the Father those only whom the Father has given Him (Vss. 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24). God gave a select number to Christ to redeem, and He has only these in mind as He prays and prepares to go to the Cross.
3. God chose some, NOT ALL, to salvation!
4. God the Father's purpose in election, the Son's work in redemption, and the Spirit's work in calling are of the most definite design, and concerning the same people.
5. Since Christ is praying only for the elect, then belief in election is not an optional thing but most important. 2 Thess. 2:13.
6. Those who are fighting election are opposing God's only purpose of salvation!
II. HE PRAYS FOR THEIR SALVATION.
"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" Vs. 2.
1. In so far as His authority and kingship are concerned, Christ was appointed by God the Father to be the Head over all mankind.
2. But His work of salvation is restricted to those the Father gave Him to save!
3. Christ gives life, or else none could be saved. He is the only source of life, my sinner friend!
4. This life is not yours by your own choice or taking, but by His will and His action in bestowing it, speaking life to your spiritually-dead soul.
5. Not all will receive this spiritual life. Christ gives the quickening Spirit only to the elect as the Father commanded.
6. Since He has authority over every human being, He could give salvation to all if He purposed to do so, but since the gifts and callings of God are effectual, we know whom He purposed to saved by the very fact that they are called to leave all and follow the Saviour.
7. Christ's authority is for the one purpose of the sure salvation of God's dear sheep. Read John 10:14-18.
III. HE PRAYS FOR THEIR SECURITY.
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" Vs. 15.
1. What does the safety and security of the godly consist of?
a. Calling and salvation.
b. Deliverance from the Evil One.
c. Freedom to serve the Lord.
d. Fellowship with God along the pilgrim journey.
e. Service and a place in His kingdom.
2. He does not promise nor pray that we be delivered from all the vexations and trials of this life!
3. He does promise strength in battle and His comforting Presence. "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20).
4. He gives the Holy Ghost to lead them and His angels to protect them. John 14:26; Hebrews 1:14.
5. He knows them and they know Him. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27).
6. He gives them eternal life and not one of His sheep shall perish. "And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one" (John 10:28-30).
7. An eternal home with HIM. "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (Vs. 24). "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2)
Conclusion: What safety, what assurance, what security is here! 1. He prays for the Elect. 2. He prays for their Salvation. And, number 3, He prays for their Security.
When I was under Holy Spirit conviction, verse 20 of this chapter was the verse the Holy Spirit used in bringing me to the light. I was already firmly convinced that Christ had an elect people to save, but I didn't know that I was one of them. Then I found great encouragement that led me to Christ in these words: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (Vs. 20). And I said, "Lord, I do believe; help thou mine unbelief!" And I would never have even DESIRED to believe on Him or follow Him had I not been eternally given by the Heavenly Father! Praise the Lord! Remove your shoes from off your feet, for we are standing on Holy Ground!
This is the question with you, my dear friend: Do you have some assurance that HE has called you, that you are redeemed by the Son of God, that you are in Him, and chosen by the Father unto salvation before the world began? Amen and Amen!
— Notes by Wylie Fulton (with a few borrowed thoughts).
Sunday, October 17, 2010
CHRIST BLESSING THE DEFICIENT AND CURSING THE SELF-SUFFICIENT
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets” Luke 6:20-26.
HERE we find Christ our Lord doing what He ever was accustomed to do — pronouncing blessing and help and strength to those who are in the dire straits of need and helplessness, while cursing and casting down the hopes of all those whose confidence is in self. Read the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, for there you find those blessings pronounced upon the needy. But in the Matthew passage, He does not pronounce the curses as given in verses 24-26 here in Luke chapter 6. But as we note the characters who are called “blessed,” we can see that any natural sinner who is not of like character is surely eliminated from Christ’s bounty and left for the great day of His wrath!
Christ is merciful only to those who need mercy. Throughout the Word of God we find it always the same — salvation is for the sinner, healing for the sick, deliverance for those who are bound and need God’s sovereign mercy. But not so today — today salvation is made available to all upon the spur of the moment who will “step out by faith and take it.” Christ is presented as ever so willing, but utterly unable, to receive the spiritually dead sinner. The sinner is pictured as having free will and spiritual abilities which the Word of God knows nothing about; the sinner is said to “cast the deciding vote” in God’s election — God has voted for him, the devil against him and he must break the tie! Well, my friend, if that is the case none will be saved for a spiritually dead sinner cannot vote, cannot call, cannot claim an interest, cannot lift a finger or move a toe. “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).
I. “Blessed be ye POOR” — “Woe unto you that are RICH!” Vss. 20, 24. (I would have you note that the characteristics here are spiritual rather than physical.)
1) Poor here, yet possessor of the kingdom of Heaven! Psalm 69:33.
2) Rich here, but that is the end of his consolation. Mark 10:23.
3) Rich in own eyes — such self-esteem God hates. Rev. 3:17.
4) Notice Hannah’s prophetic prayer. 1 Sam. 2:7-8.
5) The prophecy of Zacharias. Luke 1:52-53.
II. “Blessed are ye that HUNGER” — “Woe unto you that are FULL!” Vss. 21, 25. (I remind you to be careful, for Satan has his counterfeit of each of these traits.)
1) Hungry here, yet filled with the food of righteousness forever! Isa. 41:17; 55:1-2.
2) Full here, but awaiting an eternal hunger and thirst out yonder in the lake of fire forever. Rev.14:11.
3) Notice the Rich Man and Lazarus — one was always full of the bread that satisfies in this life — the other knew no fullness of bread here. Luke 16:19-25. This story fully comprehends what we desire to show in this entire message. Christ here gives the story in the physical sense, but as all His parables it most clearly illustrates the spiritual sense.
4) Will you be in that number who through much tribulation shall enter the kingdom of God? Rev. 7:13-17, note especially verse 16.
III. “Blessed are ye that WEEP now” — “Woe unto you that LAUGH!” Vss. 21, 25. (Notice the present tense in these words of Christ — the God-given spiritual characteristics of believers and not conditions of salvation.)
1) A weeping now which shall be turned into JOY. Isa. 51:11.
a. Mourning over corruptions. Rom. 7:18-19, 24.
b. Crying after Christ. Zech. 12:10; Mark 2:20; Mark 10:47-52.
2) A laughing now which leaves the soul stupefied for eternity. Read with me: Prov. 24:9; 10:23; 14:9; James 4:8-9.
3) The emptiness of feigned mirth. Prov. 14:13.
a. Great comedians live a very sad and lonely life. No delight in life, no true joy, no real happiness. Illustration: A man came to a psychiatrist, told him he found no more joy in living and was thinking of ending it all. Famous clown was in town performing with a well-known circus. The doctor said, “You ought to go and hear the great Gamiko. He will entertain you, keep your sides splitting with his jokes and funny ways, and you will forget all your troubles. You’ll learn to be happy like that clown!” But the man looked at the physician and said, “No, Doc, that won’t work! You see I AM ‘the great Gamiko’!” He who could make other people laugh was in reality a miserable and lonely person.
b. “IT is better to go to the house of mourning …” (Read Eccl. 7:2-6.)
4) Repentance is the necessary balm. Luke 13:3.
a. True repentance cuts to the heart. Luke 18:13; 2 Cor. 7:10-11.
b. Godly sorrow necessary for a sinner to approach unto the Lord God of Heaven. Joel 2:13.
c. Repentance is necessary to saving faith. Faith and repentance are concomitants, they co-exist in such a manner that none can successfully argue that the one opens the way for the other. Regeneration precedes all these spiritual graces. Acts 20:21.
d. A genuine, godly repentance makes no excuses but comes clean in its confession. Witness the Prodigal – Luke 15:17-19.
IV. “Blessed are ye when men shall HATE you” — “Woe unto you when all men SPEAK WELL of you!” Vss. 22-23, 26. (Here we clearly see that the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ will never stand you in well with a God-hating, Christless world.)
1) A hatred that is not to be hated. Mat. 10:22-40.
2) This is the offense of the Cross. Let us rejoice that we are accounted worthy to suffer shame for Him! 1 Cor. 1:18; Gal. 5:11. If we preach on side issues we won’t be persecuted, but it is the preaching of the Cross that they hate! “The offense of the Cross!”
3) “In like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” Vs. 23. See Mat. 23:37.
4) “The world loves its own” (See John 15:19) and speaks well of that preacher or professing Christian who has never known the separating power of the Gospel. John 15:19. God’s chosen, ordained, elected servant is not a part of this world system. God has called him out!
5) “So did their fathers to the false prophets” Vs. 26. Jer. 5:30-31; 14:13-16.
Conclusion: When the Pharisee and the publican came up to the temple to worship, which one did Christ tell you was going home a “justified” man? The publican who cried out to God and smote his own breast in self-despair was saved, rather than the boastful religious Pharisee who saw no need of a Substitute. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14). Amen!
— Notes by W. W. Fulton
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets” Luke 6:20-26.
HERE we find Christ our Lord doing what He ever was accustomed to do — pronouncing blessing and help and strength to those who are in the dire straits of need and helplessness, while cursing and casting down the hopes of all those whose confidence is in self. Read the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, for there you find those blessings pronounced upon the needy. But in the Matthew passage, He does not pronounce the curses as given in verses 24-26 here in Luke chapter 6. But as we note the characters who are called “blessed,” we can see that any natural sinner who is not of like character is surely eliminated from Christ’s bounty and left for the great day of His wrath!
Christ is merciful only to those who need mercy. Throughout the Word of God we find it always the same — salvation is for the sinner, healing for the sick, deliverance for those who are bound and need God’s sovereign mercy. But not so today — today salvation is made available to all upon the spur of the moment who will “step out by faith and take it.” Christ is presented as ever so willing, but utterly unable, to receive the spiritually dead sinner. The sinner is pictured as having free will and spiritual abilities which the Word of God knows nothing about; the sinner is said to “cast the deciding vote” in God’s election — God has voted for him, the devil against him and he must break the tie! Well, my friend, if that is the case none will be saved for a spiritually dead sinner cannot vote, cannot call, cannot claim an interest, cannot lift a finger or move a toe. “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).
I. “Blessed be ye POOR” — “Woe unto you that are RICH!” Vss. 20, 24. (I would have you note that the characteristics here are spiritual rather than physical.)
1) Poor here, yet possessor of the kingdom of Heaven! Psalm 69:33.
2) Rich here, but that is the end of his consolation. Mark 10:23.
3) Rich in own eyes — such self-esteem God hates. Rev. 3:17.
4) Notice Hannah’s prophetic prayer. 1 Sam. 2:7-8.
5) The prophecy of Zacharias. Luke 1:52-53.
II. “Blessed are ye that HUNGER” — “Woe unto you that are FULL!” Vss. 21, 25. (I remind you to be careful, for Satan has his counterfeit of each of these traits.)
1) Hungry here, yet filled with the food of righteousness forever! Isa. 41:17; 55:1-2.
2) Full here, but awaiting an eternal hunger and thirst out yonder in the lake of fire forever. Rev.14:11.
3) Notice the Rich Man and Lazarus — one was always full of the bread that satisfies in this life — the other knew no fullness of bread here. Luke 16:19-25. This story fully comprehends what we desire to show in this entire message. Christ here gives the story in the physical sense, but as all His parables it most clearly illustrates the spiritual sense.
4) Will you be in that number who through much tribulation shall enter the kingdom of God? Rev. 7:13-17, note especially verse 16.
III. “Blessed are ye that WEEP now” — “Woe unto you that LAUGH!” Vss. 21, 25. (Notice the present tense in these words of Christ — the God-given spiritual characteristics of believers and not conditions of salvation.)
1) A weeping now which shall be turned into JOY. Isa. 51:11.
a. Mourning over corruptions. Rom. 7:18-19, 24.
b. Crying after Christ. Zech. 12:10; Mark 2:20; Mark 10:47-52.
2) A laughing now which leaves the soul stupefied for eternity. Read with me: Prov. 24:9; 10:23; 14:9; James 4:8-9.
3) The emptiness of feigned mirth. Prov. 14:13.
a. Great comedians live a very sad and lonely life. No delight in life, no true joy, no real happiness. Illustration: A man came to a psychiatrist, told him he found no more joy in living and was thinking of ending it all. Famous clown was in town performing with a well-known circus. The doctor said, “You ought to go and hear the great Gamiko. He will entertain you, keep your sides splitting with his jokes and funny ways, and you will forget all your troubles. You’ll learn to be happy like that clown!” But the man looked at the physician and said, “No, Doc, that won’t work! You see I AM ‘the great Gamiko’!” He who could make other people laugh was in reality a miserable and lonely person.
b. “IT is better to go to the house of mourning …” (Read Eccl. 7:2-6.)
4) Repentance is the necessary balm. Luke 13:3.
a. True repentance cuts to the heart. Luke 18:13; 2 Cor. 7:10-11.
b. Godly sorrow necessary for a sinner to approach unto the Lord God of Heaven. Joel 2:13.
c. Repentance is necessary to saving faith. Faith and repentance are concomitants, they co-exist in such a manner that none can successfully argue that the one opens the way for the other. Regeneration precedes all these spiritual graces. Acts 20:21.
d. A genuine, godly repentance makes no excuses but comes clean in its confession. Witness the Prodigal – Luke 15:17-19.
IV. “Blessed are ye when men shall HATE you” — “Woe unto you when all men SPEAK WELL of you!” Vss. 22-23, 26. (Here we clearly see that the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ will never stand you in well with a God-hating, Christless world.)
1) A hatred that is not to be hated. Mat. 10:22-40.
2) This is the offense of the Cross. Let us rejoice that we are accounted worthy to suffer shame for Him! 1 Cor. 1:18; Gal. 5:11. If we preach on side issues we won’t be persecuted, but it is the preaching of the Cross that they hate! “The offense of the Cross!”
3) “In like manner did their fathers unto the prophets” Vs. 23. See Mat. 23:37.
4) “The world loves its own” (See John 15:19) and speaks well of that preacher or professing Christian who has never known the separating power of the Gospel. John 15:19. God’s chosen, ordained, elected servant is not a part of this world system. God has called him out!
5) “So did their fathers to the false prophets” Vs. 26. Jer. 5:30-31; 14:13-16.
Conclusion: When the Pharisee and the publican came up to the temple to worship, which one did Christ tell you was going home a “justified” man? The publican who cried out to God and smote his own breast in self-despair was saved, rather than the boastful religious Pharisee who saw no need of a Substitute. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14). Amen!
— Notes by W. W. Fulton
THE THREE-FOLD CRY OF A CONCERNED SOUL
This is a day when not many sinners are anxious about their souls’ need. The pleasures of sin for a season, along with the pursuits of job, family and social life, have inoculated them against any terror of soul over their final state. They go along with a whirlwind of activities, many activities that are seemingly harmless and/or necessary—including works of charity and religion. But, Oh, where is “the one thing needful”? Where is the cry, “What must I do to be saved?” Where is the heart-broken, bowing at the foot of Sovereign Mercy in concern for their state—a concern often exemplified in Bible characters both in the Old and New Testaments?
But it is cause for praise to God the Most High—and it is evidence of eternal love to that soul—when one comes to be broken down under a feeling sense of his wretchedness, of his guilt and unworthiness. Then the soul seeks to interact with the Lord. He calls on the name of the Lord, for they that call upon Him shall find His ears opened to their cries—shall find salvation! Read Rom. 10:13; Psalm 145:19. Christ will be PRECIOUS to these called, convicted, concerned, contrite souls—“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious” (1 Pet. 2:7).
But I have gleaned three cries that are especially significant to the experience of souls coming along the way of grace—three that signify a sinner’s feeling of helplessness within self and his lifting longing eyes Heavenward. Notice:
I. “Be not silent to me” Psalm 28:1.
Here the sinner has come to know that it is not so much his speaking to God, as God’s royal response to him as a needy one. It is not the suggestion that I can place in the ear of God but the motive that God can speak to my heart and soul. God sovereignly maintains His right to hear or not hear, as it pleases Him; and my cry cannot take the form of an effrontery to the Majesty of Heaven. I bow. I recognize Jehovah’s prerogative.
II. “Let my prayer come unto thee” Psalm 102:1.
Here I know that a general benevolence of Heaven will not suffice. No amount of “universal” application of the “universal” promises is in any way helpful to me. Mine is a desperate case; my case calls for the attention of the Lord Himself. He maintains a “throne of grace” and He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15-16) and He knows my deep need. It is His power that has created within me that very sense of urgency, and so now “Let my prayer come unto thee.” My personal need must be heard on High.
III. “When wilt thou come unto me?” Psalm 101:2.
God must visit the sinner in quickening mercy and renewing grace! Otherwise, as a fallen and helpless sinner, I can never even come to see myself as I am before God, my need, my great distance from Him. I will have no heart towards God if He does not manifest His heart of purpose and love towards me. In salvation, you see, God comes and makes His abode with a sinner, and in this way we know the great boon of salvation. Salvation is not a sinner’s response to God, but God’s invasion of a sinner’s territory, claiming all for Himself and His eternal purposes. Salvation is when the sinner is indwelt by the Holy Spirit in such as way as to be called a “son of God” and to be led in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Conclusion:
“Salvation is of the Lord” Jonah 2:9. Have you come to see this and to approach the Court of Heaven? And in your journey here below, has it been your experience that the Lord came near and enabled you to utter this three-fold cry?
At this moment, are you concerned for your soul? Are you burdened about your sinful condition? Do you seek assurance of pardoning mercy? Is there a concern about your lethargy, your laziness and “lack of concern”? If so then there is HOPE. But if you while away the hours and know nothing of soul concern and a personal crying in the ear of God, then assuredly all is NOT well in your case. God grant a complete awakening!
Your soul’s well-wisher,
Wylie Fulton
This is a day when not many sinners are anxious about their souls’ need. The pleasures of sin for a season, along with the pursuits of job, family and social life, have inoculated them against any terror of soul over their final state. They go along with a whirlwind of activities, many activities that are seemingly harmless and/or necessary—including works of charity and religion. But, Oh, where is “the one thing needful”? Where is the cry, “What must I do to be saved?” Where is the heart-broken, bowing at the foot of Sovereign Mercy in concern for their state—a concern often exemplified in Bible characters both in the Old and New Testaments?
But it is cause for praise to God the Most High—and it is evidence of eternal love to that soul—when one comes to be broken down under a feeling sense of his wretchedness, of his guilt and unworthiness. Then the soul seeks to interact with the Lord. He calls on the name of the Lord, for they that call upon Him shall find His ears opened to their cries—shall find salvation! Read Rom. 10:13; Psalm 145:19. Christ will be PRECIOUS to these called, convicted, concerned, contrite souls—“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious” (1 Pet. 2:7).
But I have gleaned three cries that are especially significant to the experience of souls coming along the way of grace—three that signify a sinner’s feeling of helplessness within self and his lifting longing eyes Heavenward. Notice:
I. “Be not silent to me” Psalm 28:1.
Here the sinner has come to know that it is not so much his speaking to God, as God’s royal response to him as a needy one. It is not the suggestion that I can place in the ear of God but the motive that God can speak to my heart and soul. God sovereignly maintains His right to hear or not hear, as it pleases Him; and my cry cannot take the form of an effrontery to the Majesty of Heaven. I bow. I recognize Jehovah’s prerogative.
II. “Let my prayer come unto thee” Psalm 102:1.
Here I know that a general benevolence of Heaven will not suffice. No amount of “universal” application of the “universal” promises is in any way helpful to me. Mine is a desperate case; my case calls for the attention of the Lord Himself. He maintains a “throne of grace” and He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15-16) and He knows my deep need. It is His power that has created within me that very sense of urgency, and so now “Let my prayer come unto thee.” My personal need must be heard on High.
III. “When wilt thou come unto me?” Psalm 101:2.
God must visit the sinner in quickening mercy and renewing grace! Otherwise, as a fallen and helpless sinner, I can never even come to see myself as I am before God, my need, my great distance from Him. I will have no heart towards God if He does not manifest His heart of purpose and love towards me. In salvation, you see, God comes and makes His abode with a sinner, and in this way we know the great boon of salvation. Salvation is not a sinner’s response to God, but God’s invasion of a sinner’s territory, claiming all for Himself and His eternal purposes. Salvation is when the sinner is indwelt by the Holy Spirit in such as way as to be called a “son of God” and to be led in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Conclusion:
“Salvation is of the Lord” Jonah 2:9. Have you come to see this and to approach the Court of Heaven? And in your journey here below, has it been your experience that the Lord came near and enabled you to utter this three-fold cry?
At this moment, are you concerned for your soul? Are you burdened about your sinful condition? Do you seek assurance of pardoning mercy? Is there a concern about your lethargy, your laziness and “lack of concern”? If so then there is HOPE. But if you while away the hours and know nothing of soul concern and a personal crying in the ear of God, then assuredly all is NOT well in your case. God grant a complete awakening!
Your soul’s well-wisher,
Wylie Fulton
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