The Loving-kindness Of God # 2

 The Loving-Kindness Of God # 2

This loving-kindness of the Lord is never removed from His children. To our reason it may appear to be so, yet it never is. Since the believer is in Christ, nothing can separate him from from the love of God (Romans 8:39). God has solemnly engaged Himself by covenant, and our sins cannot make it void. God has sworn that if His children keep not His commandments He will "visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." Yet He adds, "Nevertheless My loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break." (Psalm 89:31-34). Observe the change of number from "their" and "them" to "him." The loving-kindness of God toward His people is centered in Christ. Because His exercise of loving-kindness is a covenant engagement it is repeatedly linked to His "truth" (Psalm 40:11; 138:2), showing tht it proceeds to us by promise. Therefore we should never despair.

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you." (Isaiah 54:10). No, that covenant has been ratified by the blood of its Mediator, by which blood the enmity (occasioned by sin) has been removed, and perfect reconciliation effected. God knows the thoughts which He entertains for those embraced in His covenant and who have been reconciled to Him; namely, "thoughts of peace and not of evil? (Jeremiah 29:11). Therefore we are assured, "The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." (Psalm 42:8). What a word that is! Not merely that the Lord will give or bestow, but command His loving-kindness. It is given by decree, bestowed by royal engagement, as He also commands "deliverances...the blessing, even life for evermore." (Psalm 44:4; 133:3), which announces that nothing can possibly hinder these bestowments. What ought OUR RESPONSE to be?

First, "Be therefore imitators of God as dear children; and walk in love" (Eph. 5:1-2). "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Col. 3:12). Thus it was with David: "Your loving-kindness is before my eyes; and I have walked in Your truth." (Psalm 26:3). He delighted to ponder it. It refreshed his soul to do so, and it molded his conduct. The more are occupied with God's goodness, the more careful we will be about our obedience. The constraints of God's love and grace are more powerful to the regenerate, than the terrors of His Law. "How precious is Your unfailing love, O God!" (Psalm 36:7).

Second, a sense of this divine perfection strengthens our faith, and promotes confidence in God.

Third, it should stimulate the spirit of worship. "Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You (Psalm 63:3).

Fourth, it should be our cordial when downcast. "Let Your merciful kindness be for my comfort." (Psalm 119:76). It was so with Christ in His anguish (Psalm 69:17).

Fifth, it should be our plea in prayer, "Quicken me, O Lord, according to Your loving-kindness." (Psalm 119:159). David applied to that divine attribute for new strength and increased vigor.

Sixth, we should appeal to it when we have fallen by the wayside. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness." (Psalm 51:1). Deal with him according to the gentlest of Your attributes, make my case an exemplification of Your tenderness.

Seventh, it should be a petition in our evening devotions. "Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning." (Psalm 143:8). Arouse me with my soul in tune therewith, let my waking thoughts be of Your goodness.

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

Losing Our Religion

 Losing Our Religion

Faith is on the decline nowadays, and it is no wonder. Most people in these postmodern times are convinced that it's impossible to know anything with settled certainty - so they can't really believe anything, either. When you aren't even sure whether objective truth exists, the suggestion that there is something to believe in simply doesn't make any sense. Begin with the assumption that nothing can be known for sure, and religious convictions are automatically out of the question.

In case you hadn't realized it, that kind of thinking now dominates our society. The concept of settled, knowable truth is widely considered intellectually inept and politically incorrect. There's my truth and your truth, meaning everything is ultimately just a matter of perspective. In other words, truth claims are really nothing more than just personal opinions, and they deserve to be treated that way. Every point of view, no matter how bizarre, demands equal respect. Because, after all, no one can say for sure what is ultimately true.

How did we get here? This is the wreckage of a post-structuralist epistemology, where all texts must be deconstructed; any spirital precept or article of faith must be met with unyielding skepticism; certainly is deemed the very height of arrogance; feelings count more than facts; and common sense, moral values - even knowledge itself - are scorned as relics of a more naive epoch of human society.

There is zero tolerance for religious faith in a climate like that.

Western society was built on beliefs that are rooted in Scripture, starting with the truth that God exists and has made Himself known. The whole weight of the United States' Declaration of Independence hangs on truths about God and His creation that our nation's founding fathers regarded as 'self-evident."

They were right about that. All creation is filled with important realities that are self-evident - axiomatic - beginning with the very foundation of all truth. The Bible says some basic knowledge of God is innate in every human heart: "That which is known about God is evident within them." (Romans 1:19).

Furthermore, God constantly displays His glory through creation in a way that is hard to miss. Whether you study the vastness of the universe or examine a single drop of pond water through a microscope, you will see ample evidence of God's infinite power, wisdom, creativity - and a host of other attributes. These truths (precisely the kind of ultimate, objective realities the postmodern mind rejects) are purposefully built into all of creation at every conceivable level.

Scripture goes on to say, "God mae it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power an divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:19=20).

Humanity's problem is that because of our sin, we resist accountability to God, so we suppress that innate knowledge and ignore or try to explain away what is literally spread across the universe in all its resplendence before our eyes. Because fallen minds refuse to see what is obvious, they lose the ability to make sense of anything. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." (vv. 21-22).

I've been quoting, of course, from the opening chapter of the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans. He goes on to chronicle a pattern of decline that has been repeated in cycles throughout human history. It is a descent into sin and depravity that has brought down every one of history's most powerful empires and currently threatens our civilization. It is a path that goes from unbelief to complete intellectual futility, and it drags whole societies through idolatry, uncontrolled lusts, degrading passions, and every conceivable expression of unrighteousness.

The end result is "a depraved mind" (v. 28) - a soul utterly given over to wickedness, irrationality, and contempt for everything that is truly righteous. In an act of divine judgment, God withdraws His grace and allows an individual (or an entire culture) to reach that point or moral and spiritual insanity. Here's how the apostle says it:

Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, hates of God, insolent, arrogance, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (vv. 28:32).

Nothing is more politically incorrect than religious belief. Genuine faith in God is commonly represented as a dangerous, disqualifying disorder. 

Although public discourse today is full of cries for justice and structural change, there is simply no way to  affirm any coherent standard of justice - much less is there any hope of change for the better - apart from a sweeping return to the God of Scripture, who is the source of all truth. We desperately need a generation of men and women who will open their eyes to that reality, turn from the unbelief and cold skepticism that define our culture, and flee for mercy to the God they have spurned. The good news is that God does offer full and free forgiveness and abundant blessing for those who will heed the call of Jesus Christ and come to Him in repentant faith.

~John MacArthur~

(The End)

Jesus' Teaching And Our Culture

 Jesus' Teaching And Our Culture

Most of Jesus' teaching is completely out of sync with the mores that dominate our culture.

I'm talking, of course, about the Jesus we encounter in Scripture, not the always-gentle, never-stern, over-lenient coloring-book character who exists only in the popular popular imagination. The real Jesus was no domesticated clergyman with a starched collar and genteel manners; He was a bold, uncompromising Prophet who regularly challenged the canons of political correctness.

Consider the account of Jesus' public ministry given in the New Testament. The first word of His sermon was "Repent!" - a theme that was no more welcome and no less strident-sounding than it is today. The first act of His public ministry touched off a small riot. He made a whip of cords and chased money-changers and animal merchants off the Temple grounds. That initiated a three-year long conflict with society's most distinguished religious leaders. They ultimately handed Him over to Roman authorities for crufixion while crowds of lay people cheered them on.

Jesus was pointedly, deliberately, and dogmatically counter-cultural in almost every way. No wonder the religious and academic aristocracy of His generation were so hostile to Him.

Would Jesus receive a warmer welcome from world religious leaders, the media elite, or the political gentry today? Anyone who has seriously considered the New Testament knows very well that He would not. Our culture is devoted to pluralism and tolerance; contemptuous of all absolute or exclusive truth-claims; convinced that self-love is the greatest love of all; satisfied that most people are fundamentally good; and desperately wanting to believe that each of us is endowed with a spark of divinity.

Against such a culture Jesus' message strikes every discordant note.

Check the biblical record. Jesus' words were full of hard demands and stern warnings. He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? (Luke 9:23-25). "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26).

At one point those back-to-back tragedies, Jesus said, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:2-5).

Ignoring the normal rules of taste, tact, and diplomacy, Jesus in effect declared that all His listeners were sinners in need of redemption. He pointed out sin and condemned it. "The world...hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." (John 7:7). Then, as now, that message was virtually guaranteed to offend many - perhaps most - of Jesus' audience, starting with the most pious religious folk.

Elsewhere Jesus made the promise of life and forgiveness explicit: "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24). "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." (John 10:27-28).

That, of course, is the glorious message of the gospel - just as potent and relevant today as it was then. But the promise is for those who are weary of sin; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6); those who come to Christ with repentant hearts - not those who are convinced they are fundamentally good. Proud people - including lots of religious people, don't really believe Christ's message at all.

So what would Jesus say to a pluralistic, tolerant, self-indulgent society like ours? I'm convinced His approach today would be the very same strategy we see in the New Testament. To smug, self-satisfied, arrogant sinners (including multitudes on church rolls) His words would sound harsh, shocking, provocative. But to "the poor in spirit" - those who are exhausted and spent by the ravages of sin; desperate for forgiveness and without any hope of atoning for their own sin - Jesus' call to repentant faith remains the very gateway to eternal life.

This is a particularly hard message in cultures like ours that elevate self-love, self-esteem, or self-righteousness, but Jesus was absolutely clear, and these words do still speak to us: "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14).

~John MacArthur~

(The End))