COMPLETE DELIVERANCE FROM THE POLLUTION OF SIN

COMPLETE DELIVERANCE FROM THE POLLUTION OF SIN  

"Have mercy upon me, O God" Psa. 51:1

This is the fourth of the Penitential Psalms. (The others are 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, 143.) Of the seven it is central, and it is the greatest in spiritual power. The heading gives us the occasion of its writing, and thus we are enabled the more accurately to follow the working of the MIND OF THE SINNER. The whole song is a clear revelation of his consciousness that sin can only be dealt with by God. No plan is urged. From beginning to end the song is prayer, petition following petition. It is the cry of a soul who can have no hope except in the MERCY OF GOD. In it, too, the truth about sin is revealed. The three words are used: TRANSGRESSION, INIQUITY, AND SIN.

1. The first recognizes sin as definite REBELLION against God, and so involving GUILT.
2. The second estimates that sin is PERVERSION, and so involving POLLUTION.
3. The third realizes that sin is FAILURE and so involving RUIN.

The standard by which sin is known is that of the soul's relation to God, and therefore in the last analysis this penitent uttered a tremendous truth when he said: "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." Yet again the consciousness of the sinning soul as to its own need is clearly manifested. The penitent sinner asks that sin may be BLOTTED-OUT; that he may be washed, cleansed, made pure, purged with hyssop. The need is for infinitely more than forgiveness, as we are able to extend it to our fellow-men. It is for COMPLETE DELIVERANCE FROM THE POLLUTION OF SIN. This great song, pulsating with the agony of a sin-stricken soul, helps us to understand the stupendous wonder of the everlasting mercy of our God. CALVARY is God's answer; and it is enough.

ISHMAEL AND ISAAC - ISLAM AND JUDAISM

 ISHMAEL AND ISAAC - ISLAM AND JUDAISM

"God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is" Gen. 21:17

 This was the word of the Angel of God about Ishmael (through who came the NATIONS OF THE ARAB peoples and, eventually, ISLAM AND THE GREATER ISLAMIC WORLD), and it is one which we do well to ponder. ISHMAEL was the son of the bond-woman, the offspring of a FAILURE OF FAITH. When ISAAC, THE CHILD OF FAITH, was born, the bondwoman MOCKED. That is a suggestive statement. It was necessary that Hagar and Ishmael should be sent forth. They could have no part in the purposes of God, which were being wrought out through the chosen people. But when thus sent out, they had not passed out of the sight of God, nor beyond His care and government. God provided for him what he needed at the moment to preserve his life; God was with the lad, and he grew; God made of him A GREAT NATION. This account, rightly apprehended, will help us to that VIEW OF ALL HISTORY which is necessary to intelligent understanding thereof. God's elections never mean His aban­donment of those not elected. There is no nation which He has not made. There are no people which He has ex­cluded from the purposes of His good­ness. Those elected are elected to SERVE THE OTHERS. When at last His city is built, all the nations shall walk in the light thereof (Rev. 21:24). When the SEED, called in ISAAC, has won the final triumph, ISHMAEL will share in the glo­rious results knowing Christ to be Jesus of Nazareth and his Savior and Redeemer. A remembrance of that fact will purge our hearts from the possibility of all contempt for any less-favored peoples. We shall see in them those whom God sees, for whom God cares, and for whose ultimate recovery and blessedness God is forever working.

SAVED VS UNSAVED CONTRASTED

SAVED VS UNSAVED CONTRASTED 

"O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee" Psa. 36:10

Thus opens the prayer with which the Psalm closes, and it is the natural and restful conclusion to the contrast preceding it. That is a CONTRAST between the man who lives without the fear of God, and the God in Whom the righteous man is trusting. The description of the evil man is graphic. He has by some means PERSUADED HIMSELF that God does not interfere with men, by having no knowledge of what God says. Consequently he has no fear of God, enthrones himself at the center of his own being, and goes in the way of wickedness in thought and in action. The CONTRAST is not between that man and the man who fears God, but rather, as we have said, between that manner of life and the conception of God which inspires the contrary way of life. God is set forth in His lovingkindness, in His righteousness, in His faithfulness, in all His goodness to men. The prayer is for the continued manifestation of that lovingkindness to those who know this God. Thus the CONTRAST becomes personal. On the one hand are the MEN WHO HAVE NO FEAR OF GOD. On the other are THOSE WHO KNOW HIM. The difference is radical, and all the life is affected. LOSING THE FEAR OF GOD is to go in every way of wickedness, and ultimately to inevitable destruction (see last verse). To KNOW GOD is to worship Him, and in His ways to find refuge, satisfaction, life, and, light. In the ultimate words of Jesus: "This is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him Whom Thou didst send, Jesus Christ." (John 17:3)

BONDS OF GRACE AND GLORY

BONDS OF GRACE AND GLORY   

"Remember my bonds" Col. 4:18

                                                      

                                                                                                     

That is the last word but one, in one of the most wonderful letters Paul wrote; certainly the letter which in conjunction with that to the Ephesians constitutes the crowning height of all his teaching. It is not quite the last word. That follows, and in agreement with all his life and teaching turns back to God, and out towards others, in the parting wish "Grace be with you." Yet it is very suggestive that there should come the cry which reveals his consciousness of limitation and suffering. The whole letter had been written in prison, and surely during the writing the place had flamed with light. Paul had been seated in the heavenlies. The most wonderful visions of the GLORIES of his Lord had passed before him, and he had seen himself and all Christian souls filled to the FULL, COMPLETE in the FULLNESS, the COMPLETENESS, of this Lord of surpassing GLORY. He saw that all things come to a good end, perfected souls, even his bond(s) because of the God of all grace was in control with His plan from eternity past. Having finished, he took the pen in his own hand to write the salutation; and as he did so, the weight of the chain which bound him was felt and perhaps its pain also. Then his heart went out toward his comrades, and he craved their sympathy and help: "Remember my bonds." How close that human touch brings him to all of us, and how much more powerful becomes all his high spiritual teaching because of it! It is always so. The great things of spiritual interpretation are always made more powerful to others when they are reinforced by the touch that reveals our fellowship with those whom we serve in the sense of need. And yet in spite of the chain, he wrote his salutation: "Grace be with you."

SIN, SORROW, AND IGNORANCE DEALT WITH PROPERLY

SIN, SORROW, AND IGNORANCE DEALT WITH PROPERLY 

"I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah; and Thou forgave the iniquity of my sin" Psa. 32:5

This is the second of the seven Psalms which are usually called Penitential. (The others are 6, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). It is one of the greatest songs in the Psalter. In it, human experience is vividly revealed. SIN, SORROW, AND IGNORANCE are all expressed; and their inter-relationship is recognized. It is a Psalm of penitence, but it is also the song of a ransomed soul rejoicing in the wonders of the grace of God. SIN IS DEALT WITH; SORROW IS COMFORTED; IGNORANCE IS INSTRUCTED. The fundamental matter is that of SIN, and the power of the song is created by the contrast it makes between the soul HIDING sin, refusing to acknowledge it, and that same soul CONFESSING it, such as the two thieves on the cross (Luke 23:32-43). While there was continuance of silence on the part of the sinner, the hand of God was heavy upon him, and his life was withered. When the confession was made, that sinner found the heart of God, and life was healed, and songs took the place of sighing. These words which are emphasized reveal the Divine heart in the most wonderful way. In them God is set forth radiantly as "a God ready to pardon." Note carefully that when this man said he would CONFESS, God FORGAVE. So ready is He to PARDON, that He does not wait for the actual and formulated expression. The yielding of the will, the decision of the soul, this is what He seeks. Di­rectly He finds it, His forgiveness is granted, and the soul is restored to the consciousness of communion. This is finally illustrated in the teaching of Jesus. The father's kisses were upon his returning boy, before any word of confession was uttered (Luke 15:11-32). It was upon the bosom of his father that he gave expression to the confession already made in his will. Such is our God.

ISRAELS SIGNS MIRACLES AND WONDERS

ISRAELS SIGNS MIRACLES AND WONDERS

“And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.” Mark 16:20

That is Mark's last word about the Lord. He is co-operating with His messengers in the delivery of their message, and confirming the word by deeds of power (Heb. 2:4) which are the signs of His presence. The previous statement reveals Him as sitting at the right-hand of God, having been received up into Heaven. These two pictures should always be in our mind as we go forth on His business. He is the triumphant One. All He came to do, He did. His return to the Father was that of VICTORIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENT. But it was not a return to inactivity. From that supreme place of authority and power He directs and accompanies all the journeying’s and activities of those who are His messengers to men.

Two matters should be carefully noted. First, that He works with the preachers of the Word, in the actual work of preaching and here in His attempt to VERIFY THE MESSAGE AND THE MESSENGER SENT TO THE NATION. He has changed His method with the preaching of the Church to Gentiles as it differs from preaching to Israel, but too often we are in danger of preaching as though in the act we are alone. It is not so. In proportion as we are true to Him and His message, we may rest assured that He is Himself actually, by the Holy Spirit, working with us, making His own direct appeal to those who are listening to us. The truth is full of comfort. Then, second, we must recognize that it is He Who gives the signs, as He was doing to Israel He has changed His method with the church. It is not for us to choose what He should do and how He does these things. Today they are wholly spiritual; sometimes they are wrought in the mental and physical realms. The methods He uses to save men today are of His doing. He shall change His methods again at His Second Coming as Israel comes back into the picture as He brings His Kingdom rule to be established on this earth. Our only responsibility today is that of preaching the Word, and baptizing as He commanded (Matt. 28:19). He will use the methods as He knows to be necessary for the fulfillment of His purpose, and to the glory of His name. It is through the foolishness of preaching that men are saved.

<signs, miracles,wonders> See Holman article. The three Greek terms here are quite generally used in the New Testament to describe miracles. Dunamis {miracles}points to the source of the miracle: it is an act or display of divine "power." Teras {wonder} describes the immediate effect it is intended to produce: it is a prodigy or "wonder." Simeion {signs}indicates the purpose of the miracle: it is a "sign" pointing to something beyond it. Men are attempting to reproduce those things which lack that purpose today but they shall begin at the second return to again produce wonder in Israel, pointing the nation the right direction and they shall recognize the true Source of those displays and they shall finally respond correctly and the whole nation shall be saved as prophesied (Rom. 11:26), part of the plan before the very beginning (Eph. 1:11).

Cf. Acts 2:43; 2 Cor 12:12; Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:4; John 5:20.

TRUE AND FALSE GOVERNMENTS INTERESTS

TRUE AND FALSE GOVERNMENTS INTERESTS  

"The heads thereof, judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money" Micah 3:11

The second of Micah's messages was addressed to the RULERS, and was concerned with the coming of GOD'S TRUE RULER. Its first movement is contained in this chapter. It consisted of a denunciation of those in AUTHORITY, both PRINCES and PRIESTS and PROPHETS, and an exposure of the falseness of their authority. In these words the whole evil is graphically stated, and relentlessly unmasked. The HEADS, that is the CIVIL RULERS OR PRINCES, exercised their judicial function for reward. They were open to bribery their decisions could be bought by those able to reward them. The PRIESTS taught for hire, and therefore their teaching was accommodated to the desires of those who paid them. The PROPHETS were seeking for money, and therefore let this be carefully noticed—they guessed. That was not the true method. The PROPHET speaks what God gives him to speak.

But God's word cannot be bought. Therefore the PROPHETS turn to wizardry, to necromancy (prediction using spirits); they divine. In each case the inspiration of the exercise of authority, whether that of PRINCE, OR PRIEST, OR PROPHET, was the desire of SELF-ENRICHMENT. This is the evil principle in false authority. WHEN GOVERNMENT IS IN THE INTEREST OF THE GOVERNING CLASSES, INSTEAD OF THE GOVERNED, IT IS EVIL. Let all human attempts at government, whether autocratic or democratic, be examined in the light of this principle, and an explanation will be found of PERSISTENT FAILURE, and also of any measure of REAL SUCCESS. The true government is THEOCRATIC and seeks for perfection of its flock (Jude 24). By the true method of governing and its levels were decided before the world was even decided in a meeting before the beginning of this world (Eph. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:9- see article Triune Meeting Before The Beginning), Tsarists and the reign of the proletariat stand condemned. Rule, inspired by the self-interest of the rulers, spells ruin.