By Grace We Have Been Saved; Faith is a Gift of God

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. --Ephesians 2:8

We Obtain Salvation By Our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Man in his mind often takes credit for his own salvation;
This is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day. (Psalms 25:5)

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled." (John 17:12)

"Of them which Thou gavest me have I lost none." (John 18:9)

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

By Doyle D. Dewberry, Retired Pastor and Author of Sovereign Grace Baptist Proclaimer

Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 'This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.' And He spake this parable unto them, saying, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, 'Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.' I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:1-7)

This is one in a trilogy of parables (the shepherd and the lost sheep, the father and the prodigal son, and the woman and the lost coin) with very much in common. In all three parables, there is the effectual and persistent searching for the lost, which represents one of God’s people, and the finding or return of the object. In heaven there is rejoicing and celebration on the return of the object—the repentance and return of one of God’s elect, or every one of God’s people.

When I look for lost sheep, I am looking for any sheep. When the Lord looks for a lost sheep, He is looking for His own sheep, one of His fold. The sheep that I may find is the one He has been seeking to save, every one of whom He knows by name (John 10:3).

One of our problems in understanding this parable has to do with the “when” of our salvation. We generally think of it as the time when we first believe, but God’s people are those given to Him before the foundation of the world. God sees us as His people before we were ever born, yea, before the world began.

When we believe, it is just our Lord finding us, as this lost sheep, and we are returned to the fold. It is a matter of our status before Adam and before the fall, and after Adam and after the fall. While all men fell with Adam, so also did God’s people, whom He chose before time began:

“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).

God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)

Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. (Psalms 89:26)

What is the occasion for this parable? The religious people of the day were complaining because the Lord was receiving and eating with sinners (v. 1-3). The same is true today. We have the religious but lost (even those who appear to be divinely drawn unto the Lord and salvation), who look down upon the poor sinner because they consider themselves not to be sinners. But unless a man sees himself a sinner, and lost, he cannot be saved, for the Lord came to seek and to save the lost sinner.

Who is the shepherd? The Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has come to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21) and, yea, even to give His life for the sheep (John 10).

What sheep does Christ look for? The sheep He seeks are they whose names were written in the Lamb’s book of life before the world began and, as a result of the fall by Adam, are His lost sheep. Christ’s sheep will or do believe, and are designated as His Sheep. There are many other sheep in the world, but they are not His sheep. Jesus said of them,

“Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).

Who are the 99 that He has left in the wilderness? They are the found sheep. In Luke’s account of this parable, he only tells us that the 99 were those He left behind while He sought this one lost sheep; in Matthew’s account of the parable, we learn more of the 99—the 99 are they that did not go astray. We do not assume that they are just persons that need no repentance (v. 7), but that they, like all of God’s people, need on-going repentance—it is the self-righteous that think they do not need to repent.

Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. (Psalms 62:1)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16)

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)

“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.” (Matthew 18:11-13)

Here are five important points of this parable, which reveal to us the Lord’s saving of all His sheep:

1. Our Lord was not seeking just any sheep, but one of His sheep, which was lost. If He had seen 99 other sheep, it would not have deterred Him in His search for the one sheep, which was His, but lost. There were many sheep in the world, but He sought His own.
2. The Lord seeks that lost sheep, for He goes after that which is lost (v. 4). Remember the words of our Savior who said that He “came to seek and save that which was lost.” Evangelism is no more than our finding those whom the Lord seeks, and while we know them not before, He knows them, has purposed their salvation, and thus He foreknew them and predestined them (Romans 8:28-29).
   
   Notice also the occasion of His sending His disciples out to gather in His sheep, showing us that salvation was to the Jew first (Romans 1:16), but includes only His lost sheep:

   These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-6)

   The importance of this verse is in what He did not say. He did not say “Go ye to the house of Israel, the lost sheep,” but that they were to go to the lost sheep “of” the house of Israel. They did not go to every Israelite in the land. Paul taught: all of Israel is not of Israel (Romans 9), indicating there is an Israel according to the flesh and one according to the Spirit. A true Jew is not one outwardly, but one inwardly—and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God (Romans 2:28-29).
3. The Lord will seek His sheep until He finds it; He is an effectual Shepherd. A good example of this is when the Lord went to Zacchaeus—it was Jesus’ main purpose in going through Jericho. While Zacchaeus was up in the tree where he could see the passing Savior, the Savior came to him, telling him to come down, for he is told, “Today… I must abide at thy house.” This man was a publican (who are cited along with sinners in Luke 15). Publicans were Jews working with the Romans collecting taxes from the people, and hated in Israel, but the Lord loved him.

   And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him: for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.' And Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)

   The sheep was a helpless sheep (v. 5) and therefore lost in the wilderness. He could not come to the fold as other sheep, so the Lord carried him there on His shoulders, as we are told:

   “When He hath found it, He layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing” (Luke 15:5).
   

   You will never find sinners coming to Christ before He first comes to them, and no one will enter heaven, as this sheep in the fold, except on the shoulders of the Savior Himself. Salvation is not something that man does for God, but that which God does for man. God is the God of salvation.
   
   
   
   Consider repentance, which is not first of man, but first of God:
   

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Romans 2:1-9)

4. The shepherd rejoiced over finding the sheep and sought his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him (v. 6). It is typical of that which takes place in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over 99 of the self-righteous that think they need no repentance.
   
   Keep in mind all three related parables, including the woman who lost the coin (drachma) and the father who lost a son: they represent the triune-Godhead in the salvation of sinners. We have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit represented. The latter may be a little difficult to understand, but the Holy Spirit is like a mother to the Church, even though He is spoken of as in the masculine, He broods over the Church much as He did in creation (Genesis 1:2).

Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the Stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

Consider also the following, which can be said did not lead to the saving of this sheep!

1. It was not saved by any law or good works. We are told, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, and that our salvation is by grace—not of works. Works are for those who are already saved, for we are the workmanship of God, created unto good works.” (Ephesians 2)
2. It was not saved by seeking the Lord. As it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
3. It was not saved by praying. Praying is for those already saved. It is so set forth in the Scriptures. When Paul was writing to the Church in Rome, he said, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
4. It was not saved through a witness other than the Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. This is not to say that God’s people are not saved through another witnessing, but it does demonstrate that man is not necessary in the salvation of anyone. Peter brought the message of salvation to the Gentiles (all through the leading of the Lord for him to do so), but the apostle Paul was saved on the road to Damascus by the personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself, which was after the Lord’s ascension into heaven!
   
   We sometimes get the opinion that no one can be saved unless man speaks to him: it is one way, but not the only way. Missionaries sometimes feel that unless they go to a certain country, no one could be saved there, but God has not put the fate of man in man’s hands, but in His own! Many have been saved from reading the Scriptures only (the testimony of this writer), others from reading messages in papers and books. Preaching the gospel is accomplished by publishing as well as proclaiming!

In conclusion, we can say this: that we can learn much of man’s salvation in our Lord’s parable of the lost sheep. The sheep was saved through the efforts of the Good Shepherd who sought the sheep, and sought it until He found it, and carried it home on His shoulders. So it is with the Lord Jesus and the salvation of His people given to Him before the foundation of the world!

The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. (Psalms 118:14)

"I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment." (Ezekiel 34:16)

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. (2 Peter 3:15)

By the Grace of God, Through the Faith of Christ, We Have Been Saved; It Is the Gift of God

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. --Ephesians 2:8

You can't cram religion down someone's throat: only by the grace of God (and not by our own effort) do we receive faith; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). The mistake that some Christians make is to preach to people who are not ready, willing and able to receive the message.

"No man can come to the Son except the Father draw him" --John 6:44

We are all sinners: some have been found while others remain lost. A lost sinner must be drawn by God to want to know Christ. God says to us, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31:3)." Our Creator, knowing the hearts and minds of men, has the sovereign right to choose who He will draw near to Him and when. It's all according to His will and in His time.

When God draws someone near, Christians are the vessels that He uses to reveal the truth about His Word to lost sinners. When we are saved, we desire to proclaim the good news in every place, and we should be prepared to explain the hope we have through the faith of Christ with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (the nine "fruit of the Holy Spirit," Galatians 5:22).

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. --Acts 2:21

Apart from the amazing grace of God, we cannot find Christ. Grace (unmerited favor) and faith are gifts of God: this is why nobody should boast of faith since there is nothing they did to earn it. If they boast of their own faith, then they are misguided people who mistakenly think that by choosing to believe when other sinners didn't, God reciprocated by making them righteous. God chooses us and calls us for good works (to do good), not because of good works (not because we did good). It is not our own faith, but the faith of Christ that saves us.

Sin is the transgression of the laws of God. No man, other than Christ, is without sin. God, being a righteous judge, requires that sin be paid for; that is, that no sin go unpunished. Yet God, being merciful and knowing that all men sin and fall short of His glory, provided a way for His People to escape the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death. The way to escape the penalty of sin, the death of the spiritual body, is through Christ, who paid the wages (penalty) of sin on the cross for God's People.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,
And not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
--Galatians 2:16

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Christ in all ways and by all means so that all may say of him, "He has been with Jesus." A penitent believer has his sins already laid on Christ: he obeys the commandments of God and follows the footsteps of Christ, teaching repentance and forgiveness and helping the Lord save those who are still lost, for it brings the Lord glory when we help Him find His lost sheep. However, we need not worry, for we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, predestinated for eternal life: the Lord knows them that are His ("mine elect"), and He will bring to faith all for whom Christ died.

Christ says, "For many be called, but few chosen." God calls all of us to salvation—those who ignore the call could care less that they are not chosen—no one is being short-changed, for all true believers will be saved and the unbelievers don't want to be saved. Anyone who comes to Christ will not be cast out. Christ says, "Knock, and it will be opened unto you." If we knock, then we were chosen and called by God.

If we go straight to Christ and hide in His wounds, we shall know our election. If we look to Jesus and believe on Him, we make proof of our election directly, for so surely as we believe, we are elected. Jesus tells us whether we are chosen or not: we cannot find it out in any other way. If we go and put our trust in Him, His answer will be, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

There will be no doubt about Him having chosen us when we have chosen Him.

Christ says that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Jesus tells us that the second greatest commandment is to love others as we love ourselves and as He loves us. This includes everyone, whether they believe as we do or not. And Jesus says that we should pray for our enemies and do good to them rather than hate them. But we should take care not to unequally yoke ourselves to unbelievers (in marriage or otherwise), for this will lead to lives of misery.

We cannot truly know the Father without knowing the Son; this is why Jesus tells us: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27).

Christ Jesus, the Son of God, says to us with His gentle voice: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
But that which is through the faith of Christ,
The righteousness which is of God by faith.
--Philippians 3:9

It is through Christ that we receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, which enables us to pardon anyone even as God forgives us. So forgive our enemies today, do not think of ourselves first, and we will come to know God, our Father, as He really is. Then we will pray for those who hate us, love those who curse us, and ask our heavenly Father to fill our enemies with grace and bring them to repentance. We will visit the one who hates us and ask his forgiveness even if he was to blame, thus we will teach him humility by taking the first step, and we will get rid of our own pride in the process and we will increase in love.

Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
And made higher than the heavens;
Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice,
First for his own sins, and then for the people’s:
For this He did once, when He offered up Himself.
--Hebrews 7:25-27



"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
But the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."
--John 14:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am:
And His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain;
But I laboured more abundantly than they all:
Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
--1 Corinthians 15:10

We deserve no rewards, no merit, no crowns that we may boast, for it is all of God. Any faith we have more than another is because God dealt that measure to us, and not because of ourselves. Any work we do greater than any other is because God worked within us more than another. Rather than ask, “What rewards will we get,” we should ask, “What does God will for us to do.” And when we have done it, say, “We are unprofitable servants.” Abandon pride and, as the certain poor widow who threw in two mites, surrender all to our Lord. Everlasting life is all the reward we need. (“Do Christians Receive Rewards in Heaven for their Works on Earth?,” Tony Warren)

The Father Sent the Son to be the Savior of the World

There is salvation only in the blood of Christ.

As a shepherd, Abel sanctified his work to the glory of God and offered a sacrifice of blood upon his altar. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. This early type of our Lord is exceedingly clear and distinct: it clearly manifests the great fact that the Son is coming.

Abel was hated by his brother, hated without a cause. And even so was the Savior: the natural and carnal man hated the accepted Man in whom the Spirit of grace was found and rested not until His blood had been shed.

Abel fell and sprinkled his altar and sacrifice with his own blood, and therein sets forth the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, slain by the enmity of man while serving as a priest before the Lord. "The good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep." Let us weep over Him as we view Him slain by the hatred of mankind, staining the horns of His altar with His own blood.

The blood of Jesus has a mighty tongue and the importance of its prevailing cry is not vengeance but mercy.

It is precious beyond all preciousness to stand at the altar of our good Shepherd! We see Him bleeding there as the slaughtered priest and we hear His blood speaking peace to all His flock, peace between man and his offended Maker, peace in our conscience, peace between Jew and Gentile, peace all down the ages of eternity for blood-washed men.

Abel is the first shepherd in order of time, but our hearts shall ever place Jesus first in order of excellence. Great Keeper of the sheep, we the people of your pasture bless you with our whole hearts when we see you slain for us.

"His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." --Luke 22:44

The mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle with temptation so forced His frame to an unnatural excitement that His pores sent forth great drops of blood which fell down to the ground.

This proves how tremendous must have been the weight of sin when it was able to crush the Savior so that He distilled great drops of blood! This demonstrates the mighty power of His love. This sets forth the voluntariness of Christ's sufferings since, without a lance, the blood flowed freely. No need to put on the leech or apply the knife; it flows spontaneously. No need for the rulers to cry, "Spring up, O well;" of itself it flows in crimson torrents.

If men suffer great pain of mind, apparently the blood rushes to the heart. The cheeks are pale, a fainting fit comes on, and the blood has gone inward as if to nourish the inner man while passing through its trial. But see our Savior in His agony; He is so utterly oblivious of self that, instead of His agony driving His blood to the heart to nourish Himself, it drives it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the ground, pictures the fullness of the offering which He made for men.

Do we not perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which He passed, and will we not hear its voice to us? "You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." Behold the great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who sweat even to blood rather than yield to the great tempter of our souls.

"Without the shedding of blood is no remission." --Hebrews 9:22

In none of the Jewish ceremonies were sins, even typically, removed without blood shedding. In no case, by no means, can sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that there is no hope for us outside of Christ since there is no other blood shedding that is worth a thought as an atonement for sin.

Sin will yield to nothing less potent than the blood of Him whom God has set forth as a propitiation. What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon! Why should we seek another? Persons of merely formal religion cannot understand how we can rejoice that all our sins are forgiven us for Christ's sake. Their works and prayers and ceremonies give them very poor comfort; and well may they be uneasy since they are neglecting the one great salvation, endeavoring to get remission without blood.

My soul, sit down and behold the justice of God as bound to punish sin; see that punishment all executed upon the Lord Jesus, and fall down in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of Him whose blood has made atonement for you.

It is in vain when conscience is aroused to fly to feelings and evidences for comfort: this is a habit that we learned in the Egypt of our legal bondage. The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross. "The blood is the life thereof," says the Levitical law, and let us rest assured that it is the life of faith and joy and every other holy grace.

Oh! how sweet to view the flowing
Of my Savior’s precious blood;
With divine assurance knowing
He has made my peace with God.

Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us.

He had been all night in agony; He had spent the early morning at the hall of Caiaphas; He had been hurried from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate. He had, therefore, but little strength left, and yet neither refreshment nor rest were permitted Him. They were eager for His blood and, therefore, led Him out to die, loaded with the cross.

Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen and sharp bones were inter-twisted every here and there among the sinews: every time the lash came down these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Savior was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before, but this of the Roman lictors was probably the most severe. My soul, stand here and weep over His poor stricken body.

Now we see Jesus brought before the priests and rulers who pronounce Him guilty, and we see the great Scapegoat led away by the appointed officers of justice.

• God Himself imputes our sins to Him.
• The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
• He was made sin for us.
• He, the substitute for our guilt, bore our sin, represented by the cross, upon His shoulders.

As we look at the cross upon His shoulders, does it represent our sins? There is one way by which we can tell whether He carried our sins or not. Have we laid our hand upon His head, confessed our sins, and trusted in Him? Then our sin lies not on us; they have all been transferred by blessed imputation to Christ, and He bears them on His shoulder as a load heavier than the cross.

Believers in Jesus, can we gaze upon Him without tears as He stands before us, the mirror of agonizing love?

He is at once fair as the lily for innocence and red as the rose with the crimson of His own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which His stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.

See how the patient Jesus stands,
Insulted in His lowest case!
Sinners have bound the Almighty's hands,
And spit in their Creator's face.

With thorns His temples gor'd and gash'd
Send streams of blood from every part;
His back's with knotted scourges lash'd.
But sharper scourges tear His heart.

"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" --Psalms 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34

We here behold the Savior in the depth of His sorrows. No other place so well shows the griefs of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony, as that in which His cry rends the air, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to pass; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of His Father's presence. This was the black midnight of His horror; then it was that He descended the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full meaning of these words.

Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness, but let us remember that God never does really forsake us; it is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking.

We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love, but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him?

In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief; in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season.

O poor, distressed soul who once lived in the sunshine of God's face but are now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken you. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the luster of His grace. But since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Savior have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished because all was fulfilled in Him and, therefore, the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay.

The old law of ordinances was put away and, like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside when Jesus died on the cross. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation: the mercy seat could now be seen and the glory of God gleamed forth above it.

By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for He was "not as Moses, who put a veil over His face." Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in Him. The annual ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood, which was once every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great High Priest and, therefore, the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now because Jesus has entered within the veil with His own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus.

"I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich and is a King; and will He suffer me to want while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother."

Christ knows our wants and sympathizes with us. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty—He knows them all, for He has felt all.

Before we can have any right idea of the love of Jesus, we must understand His previous glory in its height of majesty and His incarnation upon the earth in all its depths of shame.

Who can tell us the majesty of Christ? When He was enthroned in the highest heavens He was very God of very God; by Him were the heavens made, and all the hosts thereof. His own almighty arm upheld the spheres; the praises of cherubim and seraphim perpetually surrounded Him; the full chorus of the hallelujahs of the universe unceasingly flowed to the foot of His throne. He reigned supreme above all His creatures; God over all, blessed forever.

Who can tell His height of glory then? And who, on the other hand, can tell how low He descended?

• To be a man was something.


• To be a man of sorrows was far more.


• To bleed and die and suffer, these were much for Him who was the Son of God.


• But to suffer such unparalleled agony: to endure a death of shame and desertion by His Father, this is a depth of condescending love, which the most inspired mind must utterly fail to fathom.


• Herein is love! And truly it is love that "passeth knowledge."

We too frequently ascribe the honor of our salvation, or at least the depths of its benevolence, more to Jesus Christ than we do the Father. This is a very great mistake.

What if Jesus came? Did not His Father send Him? If He spoke wondrously, did not His Father pour grace into His lips that He might be an able minister of the new covenant? He who knows the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost as he should know them never sets one before another in his love.

Are you united with Him? Then believe that you are united unto the God of heaven. Since to the Man Christ Jesus you are brother and hold close fellowship, you are linked thereby with God the Eternal, and "the Ancient of days" is your Father and your friend.

The Father sent Him! Contemplate that subject; think how Jesus works what the Father wills.

“Sanctified by God the Father.” --Jude 1:1
“Sanctified in Christ Jesus.” --1 Corinthians 1:2
“Through sanctification of the Spirit.” --1 Peter 1:2

Mark the union of the three Divine Persons in all their gracious acts. How unwisely do believers talk who make preferences in the Persons of the Trinity, who think of Jesus as if He were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious, while the Father they regard as severely just but destitute of kindness.

Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father and the atonement of the Son so as to depreciate the work of the Spirit. In deeds of grace, none of the Persons of the Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen they are one, and in the actions which flow from that great central source they are still undivided. Specially notice this in the matter of sanctification. While we may without mistake speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must take heed that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son had no part therein.

It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still does Jehovah say, "Let us make man in our own image after our likeness," and thus we are "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." See the value that God sets upon real holiness since the three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working to produce a Church without "spot or wrinkle or any such thing."

And we, believers, as the followers of Christ, must also set a high value on holiness and upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. We must value the blood of Christ as the foundation of our hope, but never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit, which is our meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. This day let us so live as to manifest the work of the Triune God in us.

Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and God spoke into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular enough to be recorded.

It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with God. Even as Jesus was, is this world, so are we; therefore, let us learn the lesson which this simple statement concerning Him teaches us. May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father so that often we may answer Him. And though the world knows not to whom we speak, may we be responding to that secret voice unheard of by any other ear, which our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy.

God has spoken to us, let us speak to God, either to:

• Set our seal that God is true and faithful to His promise, or


• Confess the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or


• Acknowledge the mercy which God's providence has given, or


• Express assent to the great truths that God the Holy Ghost has opened to our understanding.

If we would hear the whispers of God's love, our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to His voice. This very evening may our hearts be in such a state that when God speaks to us, we, like Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer Him.

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors." --Romans 8:12

As God's creatures, we are all debtors to Him: to obey Him with all our body and soul and strength. Having broken His commandments, as we all have, we are debtors to His justice, and we owe to Him a vast amount, which we are not able to pay.

But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God's justice anything since Christ paid the debt that His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.

I am a debtor to God's grace and forgiving mercy, but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid. Christ said, "It is finished!," and by that He meant that the punishment of death that His people owed for their sins was wiped away forever from the book of remembrance. Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled, the handwriting is nailed to the cross, the receipt is given, and we are debtors to God's justice no longer.

But then, because we are not debtors to our Lord's justice, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been otherwise.

Christians, pause and ponder for a moment: what debtors we are to divine sovereignty! How much we owe to His immeasurable love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for us. Consider how much we owe to His forgiving grace: after ten thousand affronts He loves us as infinitely as ever.

Consider what we owe to His power, how:

• He has raised us from our deaths in sin,


• He has preserved our spiritual lives,


• He has kept us from falling, and


• Though a thousand enemies have beset our paths, we have been able to hold on our way.
  

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
And He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;
And shall say, "Destroy them." --Deuteronomy 33:27

But the Lord said unto him, "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me,
Too bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake." --Acts 9:15-16

God had a couple of interesting questions for Satan in the first chapter of the book of Job. God asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan responded, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Certainly the omniscient Lord knew where Satan had been and what he had been up to; the ensuing conversation bears that out. Evidently, Satan and his demonic angels were looking for someone to accuse, devour and destroy, probably someone with weaknesses. God asked Satan if he had considered His servant, Job; however, Satan did not want to consider Job because he was a righteous man. God challenged the devil to attempt to tempt Job, knowing that he would be faithful until the end. Certainly, Satan had been doing just as the New Testament says, prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour. We must be strong like Job, and repent and hold fast till our Lord returns. We must resist the devil so he will flee from us. We must pray for our Lord to lead us not into temptation; but if temptation be permitted, to deliver us from evil.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. --Colossians 3:12-17

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. -1 Peter 4:8

Don’t Let the Devil Plant the Seed of Doubt

The following is adapted from the Daily Meditations of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Be Careful to Maintain Good Works

“How long will it be ere they believe me?” (Numbers 14:11)

Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. It so dishonors Christ that He will withdraw His visible presence if we insult Him by indulging it.

It is true that unbelief is a weed, the seeds of which we can never entirely extract from the soil; but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things, it is the most to be abhorred; its injurious nature is so venomous that he that exercises it, and he upon whom it is exercised, are both hurt thereby.

In your case, O believer, unbelief is most wicked, for the mercies of your Lord in the past increase your guilt in doubting Him now—this is crowning His head with thorns of the sharpest kind.

When you distrust the Lord Jesus, He may well cry out: “Behold I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.”

As it is very cruel for a well beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband, so it is very cruel to distrust the Lord: the sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted.

Jesus has never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is uniformly affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest and has unbounded wealth. It is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust all sufficiency.

The cattle on a thousand hills will suffice for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust His fullness, but who can drain a fountain? Myriad spirits have drawn their supplies from Him, and not one of them has murmured at the scantiness of His resources.

Away, then, with this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Savior.

Bunyan tells us that unbelief has “as many lives as a cat.” If so, let us kill one life now and continue the work till the whole nine are gone.

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16)

There is no doubt that a part of the wonder concentrated in the word “behold” is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me.” How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief!

What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favored people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush—He cries: “How can I have forgotten you, when I have graven you upon the palms of my hands? How dare you doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?”

O unbelief, how strange a marvel you are! We do not know at which we should most wonder: the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people.

God keeps His promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. He never fails; He is never a dry well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor. And yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears as if our God were the mirage of the desert.

“Behold,” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marveling.

Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands—“I have graven you”—It does not say, “your name.” The name is there, but that is not all: “I have graven you.”

See the fullness of this! I have graven your person, your image, your case, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works. I have graven you, everything about you, all that concerns you. I have put you altogether there.

Will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when He has graven you upon His own palms?

“Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” (Exodus 14:13)

These words contain God’s command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do? The Master’s word to him is, “Stand still.”

It will be well for him if, at such times, he listen only to His Master’s word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions.

• Despair whispers: “Lie down and die; give it all up.”

  But God would have us put on a cheerful courage and, even in our worst times, rejoice in His love and faithfulness.

• Cowardice says: “Retreat; go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.”

  But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid you go from strength to strength, and so you shall; and neither death nor hell shall turn you from your course. What, if for a while, you are called to stand still, yet this is but to renew your strength for some greater advance in due time.

• Precipitancy cries: “Do something. Stir yourself—to stand still and wait is sheer idleness.”

  We must be doing something at once—we must do it, so we think, instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something, but will do everything.

• Presumption boasts: “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.”

But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “Stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands.

“Stand still”—keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long before God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.”

Avoid Foolish Questions

Avoid foolish questions. (Titus 3:9)

Our days are few and are far better spent in doing good, than in disputing over matters that are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical importance; and our Churches suffer much from petty wars over abstruse points and unimportant questions. After everything has been said that can be said, neither party is any the wiser and, therefore, the discussion no more promotes knowledge than love, and it is foolish to sow in so barren a field.

Questions upon points wherein Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God alone; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of observing human ceremonials are all foolish, and wise men avoid them.

Our business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether. If we observe the apostle’s precept (Titus 3:8) to be careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings.

There are, however, some questions that are the reverse of foolish, which we must not avoid, but fairly and honestly meet, such as these:

• Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?


• Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind?


• Am I walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit?


• Am I growing in grace?


• Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Savior?


• Am I looking for the coming of the Lord and watching as a servant should do who expects his master?


• What more can I do for Jesus?

Such inquiries as these urgently demand our attention. If we have been at all given to caviling, let us now turn our critical abilities to a service so much more profitable. Let us be peacemakers and endeavor to lead others both by our precept and example to “avoid foolish questions.”

Other Related Scripture

Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:22-32)

And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, “Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.” And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” (Luke 18:18-22)

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” (Luke 10:25-28)

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:12-18)

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. (Titus 3:1-9)

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:8-16)

But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:18-26)

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Hate the Sin, Not the Sinner

By One Man, Adam, Sin Entered into the World

By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Romans 5:12)

Sin is the Transgression of the Laws of God

Sin is the transgression of the laws of God, not just the Ten Commandments, but all that the Lord declares in His Word. Jesus asks, “If you are not able to do that thing which is least, why take thought for the rest” (Luke 12:26)? “For he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much (Luke 16:10). “Therefore, whosoever shall break one of the least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

God requires a life of perfect obedience to His law; however, man was unable to function in a lawful, responsible way. God, being a righteous judge, requires that no sin go unpunished, so man was unable to escape God’s divine justice (Romans 6:23). Yet God, being merciful, knowing that all men sin and fall short of His glory, provided a way for His People to escape the penalty of sin, which is spiritual death. God Himself became man’s personal Savior (Isaiah 43:10-11), that He might reconcile His people to Himself by His shed blood and substitutionary death (Colossians 1:21-22). Thus the way to escape the penalty of sin, the death of the spiritual body, is through Christ, who paid the wages (penalty) of sin on the cross for all of God’s People. Then whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21). (“The Real Work and Accomplishment of the Cross,” Tony Warren)

God’s saving grace can be acquired only through the Lord Jesus Christ: there is no other name that can effectively address the dilemma of man’s sin and its inevitable consequences. Thus there is no other name whereby mankind may be saved (Acts 4:12). (“Statement of Faith,” Tony Warren)

The Natural State of Fallen Man is Total Depravity

There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:10-11)

Mankind was created in the image of God, but fell to Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden and became separated from God. As a result of this original sin, man produces seed that is, from the womb, stained with a sinful nature and is subject to death in the righteous wrath of God. (“Statement of Faith,” Tony Warren)

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. (Exodus 32:22)

“They obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart.” (Jeremiah 11:8)

“And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness.” (Hosea 7:2)

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23)

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:5)

Sin has utterly ruined the garden of paradise that the Lord prepared for Adam, and has driven forth the children of men to till the ground, which yields thorns and briers unto them. My soul, remember the fall, for it was your fall. Weep much because the Lord of love was so shamefully ill-treated by the head of the human race, of which you are a member and as undeserving as any. Behold how dragons and demons dwell on this fair earth, which once was a garden of delights. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

“You will not receive instruction to hearken to my Words” (Jeremiah 35:13), says the Lord, “Seeing you hate instruction, and casts my Words behind you” (Psalm 50:17).

God had one son without sin; but He has no son without temptation. The natural man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, and the Christian man is born to temptation just as certainly, “for the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

“Ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me.” (Jeremiah 16:12)

Without the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, in our hearts, we are under the control of the devil, who fills us with horrible thoughts. Every doctrine of God’s Word hangs upon and confirms the total depravity of man since Adam’s fall to temptation in the Garden of Eden. If you do not understand the condition of fallen man, you do not and cannot rightly understand any other doctrine of God’s Word. (“The Bondage of the Sinner’s Will,” L.R. Shelton, Sr.)

For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. (Philippians 2:21)

Unsaved man is alienated or separated from the life that is in God, so he has no spiritual life in him; he does not know Christ and has no desire to know Christ—his entire being is depraved; therefore, he has no righteousness, no understanding or knowledge of God. He does not seek after God; he is going away from God; he has no natural goodness. The way of peace he has not known, and there is no fear of God before his eyes. His mouth is full of cursing; his throat is an open sepulchre; his heart is deceitful, incurably wicked; his righteousness is as filthy rags. He is in open rebellion against God; there is no love of God in his heart. His carnal mind is enmity against God. He has no power to do good; therefore, he wills not to repent, and within himself he cannot come to Christ. He is without strength and, therefore, he has no power to come to the Son except the Father draw him to the one Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. (“The Bondage of the Sinner’s Will,” L.R. Shelton, Sr.)

The following is adapted from “Ham Was Led By Satan” by Ock Soo Park, GNN.

Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, departed from the domain of God and entered into the domain of Satan when they were led by him to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Satan entered Adam and Eve’s hearts when they fell into temptation, and man has sinned from that point onward. As their descendants, our hearts have become one with the heart of Satan.

When Satan works inside of us, he first inserts a thought into us—if we continue to follow that thought, Satan then enters our hearts. We may think that we are doing good things, but we are being controlled by Satan and, because of this, we ultimately go against God. No matter what good we may do, we are still connected to Satan, and he will continue to stir up evil thoughts in us that lead us into temptation and sin.

Into our hearts Satan puts thoughts that are different from the Word of God. When Satan puts hateful, deceitful, lustful, vengeful, wicked thoughts into are hearts, we follow them because we do not know that they are from him. This is why we must throw out our ways and our thoughts. The thoughts, “I better live as a good person,” and “God must not love me,” must be thrown out too.

We when trust our “own” thoughts, we allow Satan to lead us down the path of destruction; when we live according to our “own” thoughts, we are accepting Satan’s thoughts into our hearts, and we are departing from the Word of God. We must not accept any of Satan’s corrupt thoughts into our hearts: we must return to God and accept the pure Word of God into our hearts; we must return to God and receive the Spirit of God into our hearts.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7). As God has said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). “I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them” (Jeremiah 32:38).

No matter what sins we may have committed, our hearts are restored, cleansed and made holy when we enter the heart of God. The heart is the channel by which man reconnects with God: we can believe in God, receive God into our hearts, and serve God from our hearts when we enter the domain of the heart of God.

To enter the heart of God, we must receive the Spirit of God into our hearts, and we must deny the thoughts that Satan stirs up in us. We must come to know that the thoughts that arise in us are not our own, but are inserted by Satan; and we must focus our thoughts on things that are true, honest, just, pure, and lovely.

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)

If all the things of your heart were revealed exactly as they are, you would be able to see that no matter who you are, you are as hateful, filthy, lustful and deceitful as anyone else because Satan is leading your thoughts.

Satan deceives us by making us think: “All I have to do is go to church and be good; I only need to live honestly and try not sin.” But do not think that you will go to heaven by this standard: this is a thought resulting from Satan’s deception; this is man’s standard of good, not God’s. When believing this standard, we try to hide our evil hearts as if they are not there. Today, there are many Christians who pursue after goodness in this manner, but there is no one who can do good through pursuing goodness with their own effort and determination: this is not possible because our hearts are connected to Satan, and evil continually flows inside of us:

“For the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

People try to suppress the evil in their hearts and create good. Although it may appear to be good to us, it is not so in the eyes of God; therefore, He does not call it good. In God’s eyes, any good we try to create on our own comes from an evil place in our hearts: as the apostle Paul said, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:21).

If we closely search within ourselves, hatred and lust continually arise in our hearts even though we want to do good: this evil is the condition of having left the heart of God and having entered the heart of Satan.

That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. (Philemon 1:6)

We must come before God if we want to receive goodness, which is the Spirit of God, because God is the only one who is good. When Jesus was asked, “Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why callest thou me good? There is no one good but God alone.” Good does not exist in this world: good exists only in God; therefore, we must come before God to create good.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

God does not allow us into heaven because we did something good, and He does not send us to hell for doing something evil. If a person has committed many terrible sins, all things change in a single moment when his heart enters God’s because there can be no murder, hatred, or corruption within the heart of God.

Entering the heart of God means that you give yourself to God completely so that He can make you whole. Good lies only in God: when you are in the heart of God, you have the Spirit of God: He takes charge of everything; He makes your life new; He washes your sins away no matter how many you may have; He renews your life; His Word becomes your thoughts.

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established. (Proverbs 16:1-3)

Believing in God is not realizing that you have stolen or committed adultery, then making up your mind and laboring not to do such things again—it is entering the heart of God and leaving your soul in God’s hands. When you receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, you realize clearly in your heart that you can no longer believe your own thoughts, but that you must believe in the Word of God and accept the heart of God as your own. When you accept the heart of God as your own, you can believe in yourself because you have the guidance of God, which is the Word of God in your heart, and the Spirit of God begins to live and work inside of you.

When God says, “Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), He isn’t just referring to those who commit terrible sins. The people that God destroyed during Noah’s flood were not all people who committed murder, adultery, or some other terrible sin. The evil that God is referring to is the evil of having left God and having allowed Satan to lead us.

The devil is the one that puts evil thoughts into our hearts, and he is able to do this because our hearts have been connected to him since Adam’s fall into temptation in the Garden of Eden.

As the descendents of Adam and Eve, Satan continues to put evil hearts inside of us—the problem is not that we are committing sins, but that our hearts have left the domain of God and entered into the domain of Satan. We cannot simply repent from our sins of stealing, committing adultery, or murder: we must repent from having left God. We must say, “This is not working, because I am trying to do good without turning to God. I can only do evil regardless of how much I try to do good!” Deep in our hearts, we must realize, “Why is such an evil, hateful and lustful heart arising from me? What is wrong with my heart?” This is how dirty the heart of man becomes when he has departed from God!

We must deny our thoughts, which are stirred up by Satan, and we must turn to the Word of God in order to have true repentance and true faith. True faith is entering the heart of God and departing from the world of our own hearts, where Satan is leading our thoughts.

If you live believing you can become good by your own efforts, you will fail because you cannot become good, no matter how hard you try, while you are in the heart of Satan. If you live according to your own thoughts, you will fail because your thoughts are not your own, but the evil thoughts that Satan is stirring up in you. If you believe in yourself and try to live honestly and refrain from sinning, you will fall into sin everyday because only God is good. Until you realize that, as a whole, you are completely depraved and deceitful, your attempts to be good will fail: things won’t go well and you will, in turn, feel like you are going crazy, losing your sanity, doing whatever Satan tells you to do and ending up in sin.

But when you leave your soul in the hands of God, when you surrender your will to God’s will, you will experience God making you distant from sin and working in you to do good. When God enters your heart, hatred will disappear from it. When God enters your heart, you will have His guidance from then on. When God enters your heart, you will be able to live a holy life, glorifying our heavenly Father.

Biblical Examples of Being Led by Satan
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23)

Adam and Eve:
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve received thoughts from Satan, tempting them to disobey God and to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan entered into their hearts. Being the descendents of Adam and Eve, man has sinned from that point onward.

Noah’s Ark:
People who were destroyed at the time of Noah’s flood followed their “own” thoughts because Satan deceived them. When God said that He would destroy the earth with water, Satan put into each person a heart different from the Word of God. They thought, “Why would God, full of love, punish the world? He is only warning us to not sin. We just have to be good.” They simply believed in this thought that Satan gave them. It was a very uncertain thought, but they had no idea that it was from Satan. Thus, they did not help Noah build the ark; instead, they despised Noah for building it. Satan deceived them just as he deceived Adam and Eve when he told them they would not die from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, even though God said that man would die if they did so.

Noah’s Son, Ham:
Ham was saved with the others on his father’s ark but, unlike his brothers, his thoughts were steadily led by Satan. His brothers Shem and Japheth thought in their hearts: “Father has gotten drunk and is lying asleep, naked. He is not usually like this, but he is this way because he is drunk. We’d better cover him before anyone else sees him.” But Ham did not feel this way. He thought: “Father always gets naked whenever he drinks! He did this the last time, and the last time my wife almost passed by! I don’t know what’s wrong with my father!” He was full of complaint in his heart. His heart of complaint, itself, was not the problem, but his heart had become one with Satan as he stirred up thoughts in Ham. Shem and Japheth had the guidance of God, the heart of God, while Ham had the heart of Satan.

Ham departed from the heart of God when he accepted Satan’s thoughts into his heart. With the thoughts of Satan, Ham judged the nakedness and drunkenness of Noah with his own standards, and went out and spoke ill of him. He had not done this himself, but Satan in Ham’s heart had done this. What did Noah do after waking from his sleep? He knew what Ham had done and cursed him, saying: “Cursed be Canaan, a servants of servants shall you be unto his brethren.”

Esau:
Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob. After their father, Isaac, had finished blessing Jacob, Esau begged for blessings from his father as well. But Isaac cursed Esau. How could a father curse his own son like that? He was not cursing his son: he was cursing the heart of his son, which belonged to Satan.

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, ‘Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?’ And Esau said unto his father, ‘Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.’ And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, ‘Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.’ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed Him: and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.’ (Genesis 27:37-41)

Judas Iscariot:
The devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to sell Jesus to the Jewish high priests to make some money. At first, when he had this thought, he felt, “What? Why am I having such thoughts? I can’t believe I want to sell Jesus!” But he believed that this was his own thought, so he followed it. Satan put the thought inside of him, making him feel that all would be well. Judas eventually sold Jesus but did not spend any of the money—he committed suicide.

And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him… (John 13:2)

Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. (Luke 22:3)

The Power of Satan, the Prince of the Kings of Earth, is at Work in the World

“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” This He said, signifying what death He should die. (John 12:31-33)

The prince of this world, the spirit of Satan, is in the world, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

When we chose to disobey any of the commandments, laws and judgments that God has given us, it is the devil, the evil spirit, that we are listening to, not the Holy Spirit. For God does not make man sin neither is He responsible for it: man in his fallen state is responsible for his own sin by accepting the thoughts of the devil into his heart. We defeat the devil’s temptation using the Word of God, “for it is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (John 14:27-30)

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” (John 16:7-11)

The following is adapted from the Morning and Evening Devotionals of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. (Revelation 12:7)

War always will rage between the two great sovereignties until one or the other is crushed. Peace between good and evil is impossible; the very pretence of it would be, in fact, the triumph of the powers of darkness.

Michael will always fight; his holy soul is vexed with sin and will not endure it. Jesus will always be the dragon’s foe, and that not in a quiet sense, but actively, vigorously, with full determination to exterminate evil. All His servants, whether angels in heaven or messengers on earth, will and must fight; they are born to be warriors—at the cross they enter into covenant never to make truce with evil; they are a warlike company, firm in defense and fierce in attack.

The duty of every soldier in the army of the Lord is daily, with all his heart and soul and strength, to fight against the dragon. We are foolish to expect to serve God without opposition: the more zealous we are, the more sure are we to be assailed by the myrmidons of hell. The dragon and his angels will not decline the affray; they are incessant in their onslaughts, sparing no weapon, fair or foul. The Church may become slothful, but not so her great antagonist; the devil’s restless spirit never suffers the war to pause; he hates the woman’s seed and would devour the Church if he could.

The servants of Satan partake of much of the old dragon’s energy, and are usually an active race. War rages all around, and to dream of peace is dangerous and futile. Glory be to God, we know the end of the war. The great dragon shall be cast into the lake of fire and forever destroyed, while Jesus, and those who are with Him, shall receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords tonight, and pray the Holy Spirit to nerve our arms for the conflict. Never a battle is so important; never a crown is so glorious. Every man to his post, warriors of the cross, and may the Lord tread Satan under your feet shortly!

God Does Not Tempt Us, Satan, the Prince of Darkness, Does

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

That Satan tempt you. (1 Corinthians 7:5)

“Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God:’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:13-15)

Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. (Acts 5:3)

The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

“Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:23)

Satan hindered us. (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

“Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:15)

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31)

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. (Luke 4:1-2)

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. (1 Chronicles 21:1)

The Devil’s Power to Tempt and Oppress is Under God’s Control

The following is adapted from “Behold He Cometh: the Church Strong in Tribulation – Symrna” by Herman Hoeksema.

Although the devil possesses power to tempt and oppress the people of God, the power he possesses is limited and meted out to him by God. And when the full measure of the devil’s time and power has been meted out to him according to the will of God, the Lord bids him stop, and he can stir no more against God’s children.

God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The blessed comfort for God’s children lies in the fact that the power of evil is under the absolute control and sovereignty of God. Christ has received all power in heaven and on earth: power, also, to control the devil (His mighty adversary), His cause, and His people in the world.

In hell, evil spirits are under, with misery, God’s supremacy: when permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel. As we see with the case of Job, the devil must approach God for permission to afflict His servant:

And the Lord said unto Satan, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” And Satan answered the Lord, and said, ‘Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.’ And the Lord said unto Satan, “Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.” So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. (Job 2:3-7)

When Satan fails to induce Job to apostasy by depriving him of all that he has in the world, he must again turn to the Most High for permission to continue and to aggravate his attack. The devil, therefore, can never proceed beyond the limits set him by the Almighty; neither can he reach any other end than the purpose of God in the affliction of His people in the world.

All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

It is evident then that tribulation can never harm God’s children. It is simply a trial by which we are sanctified and purified and strengthened in the faith. What mighty comfort for us in tribulation! The devil can do us no harm, but must serve the purpose of God in Christ. The gates of hell cannot prevail against us. Under the mighty protection and care of our heavenly Father, we have nothing to fear.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him. (James 1:12)

Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:19-21)

It is God Who Restrains Wickedness in Men

It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

Beware of self-confidence and self-righteousness. Believers whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, and whose hopes are bright, should not say, “We shall never sin,” but rather should cry, “Lead us not into temptation.” Without divine grace preserving our purity, the holiest among us would fall into temptation, even in the worst of sin—that which is done with deliberation and willfulness. It is by the hand of God that we are “kept back” from the vilest transgressions. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

We may think that we have integrity and are freely restraining ourselves from sinning against God, but the truth is, God withholds man from sinning against Him (Genesis 20:6). God is always at work in the world restraining corrupt men, and working in believers to do good so that His will and His purpose might be made manifest. For believers, it is “Christ in us” that keeps us from succumbing to the diverse lusts of the flesh, “for the love of Christ constrains us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). (“Why Was It a Sin that David Numbered Israel?” Tony Warren)

The communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. (Philemon 1:6)

The following is adapted from the Morning and Evening Devotionals of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30)

All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except “He worketh in you to will and to do of His own good pleasure.”

• Do you desire to speak for Jesus—how can you unless the Holy Ghost touch your tongue?
• Do you desire to pray? Alas! What dull work it is unless the Spirit makes intercession for you!
• Do you desire to subdue sin? Would you be holy? Would you imitate your Master? Do you desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality? Do you want to be made like the angels of God, full of zeal and ardor for the Master’s cause? You cannot without the Spirit: “without me you can do nothing.”

O child of God, you have no life within you apart from the life that God gives you through His Spirit! Then let us not grieve Him or provoke Him to anger by our sin. Let us not quench Him in one of His faintest motions in our soul. Let us foster every suggestion and be ready to obey every prompting.

The Holy Spirit is indeed mighty, so let us attempt nothing without Him; let us begin no project, carry on no enterprise, and conclude no transaction without imploring His blessing. Let us give Him the due homage of feeling our entire weakness apart from Him. Then let us depend upon Him alone, having this for our prayer: “Open my heart and my whole being to your incoming, and uphold me with your free Spirit when I shall have received that Spirit in my inward parts.”

Canst you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion? (Job 38:31)

If inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature may soon show us how puny we are. In the spiritual, as in the natural world, man’s power is limited on all hands. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars or quench so much as one of the beams of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn; the seasons revolve according to the divine appointment. Neither can the whole race of men effect a change therein; Lord, what is man?

When the Holy Spirit sheds abroad His delights in the soul, none can disturb—all the cunning and malice of men are ineffectual to stay the genial quickening power of the Comforter.

When He deigns to visit a church and revive it, the most inveterate enemies cannot resist the good work; they may ridicule it, but they can no more restrain it than they can push back the spring when the Pleiades rule the hour.

God wills it, and so it must be. On the other hand, if the Lord in sovereignty, or in justice, binds up a man so that he is in soul bondage, who can give him liberty? He alone can remove the winter of spiritual death from an individual or a people. He looses the bands of Orion, and none but He. What a blessing it is that He can do it.

O! That He would perform the wonder tonight. I suffer much from sin and temptation: these are my wintry signs, my terrible Orion. Lord, work wonders in me and for me. Lord, end my winter and let my spring begin. I cannot with all my longings raise my soul out of her death and dullness, but all things are possible with you. I need celestial influences, the clear shinings of your love, the beams of your grace, the light of your countenance—these are the Pleiades to me.

The following is adapted from “Why Did God Harden Pharaoh’s Heart?” and “Works of Law or Exhortation to Obedience?” by Tony Warren

Some have this misguided idea of a God sitting in heaven worrying if man will be too evil and destroy the world, or not good enough to get the job done of building His Church before the great wickedness come. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is not sitting back idle, waiting to see what wicked man will do next. It is He who is in control. Not a feather falls to the ground unless it be known ahead of time of God.

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil.” (Isaiah 45:7)

There is no iniquity with the Lord our God (2 Chronicles 19:7). God withdraws light, and thus creates darkness, but this is not sin. God takes away peace, and thus creates war, but this is not God sinning. God removes His hand of restraint from man’s heart, and thus it is hardened, but this is not God forcing man to sin. And when we look at the very context of Isaiah chapter 45, it becomes clear that this is what God is saying.

Notice the contrast between these things: light contrasted against the darkness, and peace contrasted against bad or evil. The opposite of peace is war or adversity and trouble. What God is saying is that “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

God establishes peace, and God brings evil by withdrawing that peace He has established. He’s not obligated to bring man peace and He’s not obligated to shine light upon every person. God bound Satan and God can loose him; He’s not obligated to keep him bound.

So you see, by taking away peace, God creates adversity and trouble as judgment upon the wicked for their unrighteousness. This is not sin or wickedness; it is justice.

The following is adapted from “Why Was It a Sin that David Numbered Israel?” by Tony Warren

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, ‘Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.’ And Joab answered, ‘The Lord make His people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then doth my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?’ Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 21:1-4)

Satan provoked David to number Israel’s army. David’s reason for doing this was so “that he may know it.” In other words, his own delight or pleasure was what induced him to do this, but it was Satan who tempted him. These are the keys to understanding this sin.

We know that David’s purpose for numbering the men of war was that he might delight or glory in Israel’s own might or resources—we read in previous chapters how they had begun looking to themselves for strength. This shows that they had forsaken trust in the Lord and forgotten that He alone was their sword and bulwark. God allowed David to be tempted by Satan because Israel had taken their eyes off God as their ruler, fortress and provider; and David, too, momentarily took his eyes off the Lord and looked toward Israel’s own ability to provide a host as their strength.

And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’ (2 Samuel 24:1)

It was because of Israel’s sin in not trusting God that God removed His hand of restraint and allowed Satan to tempt David to be prideful, that he would number his armies. God Himself informs us that He allowed David to conduct this census “because of Israel’s sin.” It was God who had removed His normal restraint of sin from David because of the judgment He would place upon Israel for their continuing sin of pride and vanity.

God moved David in the same way that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart: by removing His hand of restraint, He allowed Satan to provoke David to this error. God did not make David sin, but He took away His hand of restraint, and David’s own human pride and vanity does the rest: “His heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride” (Daniel 5:20).

God tempts no man to sin (James 1:13), but neither is He obligated to restrain any man from his own sin. God allowed Satan to tempt David so that He could restore David and Israel to a proper relationship with Him. David’s sin was not in the counting, but in why he was counting: by counting, he was illustrating his trust (and the trust of Israel) in the number of his own soldiers, rather than his trust in the Lord. The counting was the goad, and David was the vessel that God used to judge Israel. And though this judgment was upon Israel, a lesson is taught to all God’s people throughout history. Another example of God restraining man from sin without his knowledge can be found with Abimelech:

“Said he not unto me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother:’ in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream, ‘Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.’” (Genesis 20:5-6)

So while, to the novice, the two passages (1 Chronicles 21:1; 2 Samuel 24:1) might seem like a contradiction, they are in complete harmony with each other. It is not a contradiction, but the idioms of Scripture that God has inspired to confound the worldly wise, but are revealed to those given spiritual wisdom.

God Uses Our Sins and Hardened Hearts for His Good Purposes

All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself… According to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. (Ephesians 1:9,11)

“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27)

The following is adapted from “Why Did God Harden Pharaoh’s Heart?” and “Works of Law or Exhortation to Obedience?” by Tony Warren

And God said, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 7:3)

As God sent Moses to ask Pharaoh, who reigned over Egypt, to let the children of Israel go, He removed His hand of restraint on Pharaoh so that his heart would be in its normal unreasonable and deceitful state. God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” so that His glory could be seen in the signs and wonders for generations to come. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, “Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”

When God says that He “hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He is saying that he removed His hand of restraint, which allowed Pharaoh’s heart to return to its nature hardened state. It’s not that God made Pharaoh do anything; God simply stopped restraining him and let him do what he wanted to do.

The sin of the hardened heart was truly Pharaoh’s, but God uses the language that “He hardened his heart” to show that He is sovereign, He was in charge, and it was for His purposes that it was allowed. In other words, God allowed Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened to its natural state so that He might work out the plan of man’s salvation in it. He allowed the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart by removing His hand of restraint of his sin as a judgment upon Pharaoh and a blessing for generations to come.

Allow me to make a practical analogy. If someone is physically holding another person back from committing a crime, then lets that person go because he agrees not to commit other crimes... and then, upon release, this same person commits another crime, is this man responsible for the other man’s sin simply because he no longer physically restrained him? The answer of course is no, not at all. Every man is responsible for his own sin. When the man holding the person back took away his hand of restraint, the sinner did what he wanted to do all along—the one doing the restraining is under no obligation to physically prevent anyone from sinning, and neither is God.

It is important to understand that God cannot sin. Therefore, it is biblically impossible that He made Pharaoh sin. But He hardens who He wants, and He softens who He wants: He can have mercy (soften) or He can judge (harden); it’s His sovereign right to do so. And who are we to question it? In Romans chapter 9, God speaks about His sovereign right to use wicked man to His glory as He says:

“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 resisteth 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 honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that He might make known the riches of His Glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory?” (Romans 9:18-23)

God is “not obligated” to maintain peace or hold back war. He is under no obligation to restrain anyone from sin or soften anyone’s heart. God removed His hand of restraint, thereby, “hardening Pharaoh’s heart,” but the sin is Pharaoh’s, not God’s. God allowed Pharaoh’s obstinate heart to return to its natural hardened state so that He could use it for His glory, but Pharaoh is the one responsible for his sin. We see this plainly in the following verse:

Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians hardened their hearts? (1 Samuel 6:6)

Also, we see where God puts the blame for the Egyptians hardening their hearts: right on them. For God Himself merely let their hearts be hardened. In this way only does He take responsibility for the hardened hearts. He removed His hand of softening as a judgment on them, which left them in their naturally hardened and obstinate state. He hardened their hearts by removing His hand of restraint, but their sin is their responsibility, not God’s.

Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14)

God endures with long suffering (patience) the restraining of man, and then ends His patience and releases His restraint as judgment on man so that He might be glorified in that. It’s God’s sovereign right to restrain sin in the lives of whoever He wants to save, taking away our stony heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and giving us a heart of flesh. It’s called grace, or His sovereign right to have mercy on whomever He wants. Likewise, it’s His sovereign right not to take away our stony hearts or to remove His hand of softening power, that our hearts might grow even harder and as deceitfully wicked as we, by nature, want it to be. For man’s wrath against God and his wickedness in this world is used to glorify God.

Satan Will Never Leave Us Alone So We Must Expect Trouble

The following is adapted from the Morning and Evening Devotionals of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 Job 3:8)

The devil will make life hard for the faithful in the world. The closer we grow to God, the more Satan will try to tempt us, for he desires no less than the damnation of our souls (Luke 22:31, 1 Corinthians 5:5). Satan will rage against us in all his fury—we must expect this.

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Persecution so hotly follows God’s people as to leave us nothing to care for but the soul. We may have no houses, no land, no money, no goods, no life, and no liberty left to care for—all may be gone but the soul. The devil may rob us of worldly things but not the soul, for the soul is not in his power to touch without the leave of God, of Him whose soul it is. Let them that suffer, even to the loss of goods, liberty or life, “commit the keeping of their souls to God” (1 Peter 4:19).

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich today and poor tomorrow; he may be sickly today and well tomorrow; he may be in happiness today and distressed tomorrow—but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God.

If He loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is “my strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort.” I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God; in the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation.

That those things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Hebrews 12:27)

Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. You are standing at the foot of His cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus’ precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. You are a child of God and God is your Father: no change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Although by losses you are brought to poverty and stripped bare, you can say: “He is my Father still. In my Father’s house are many mansions; therefore will I not be troubled.”

You have another permanent blessing; namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He, who is God and Man, loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature—nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom and the flocks may cease from the field, yet it matters not to the man who can sing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose. Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happens in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is above the sky; therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean, we will see the wreck of everything earth-born and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

Even Spiritually-Minded People Have Dreadful Thoughts and Temptations

The following is adapted from the Morning and Evening Devotionals of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him. (Mark 1:13)

A holy character does not avert temptation—the devil tried to tempt Jesus, who could not be tempted, so of course he will never cease to try to tempt us.

When Satan tempts us, his sparks fall upon tinder; but in Christ’s case, it was like striking sparks on water... yet the enemy continued his evil work. Now, if the devil goes on striking when there is no result, how much more will he do it when he knows what inflammable stuff our hearts are made of. Though you become greatly sanctified by the Holy Ghost, expect that the great dog of hell will bark at you still.

In the haunts of men we expect to be tempted, but even seclusion will not guard us from the same trial. Jesus Christ was led away from human society into the wilderness and was tempted of the devil. Solitude has its charms and its benefits, and may be useful in checking the lust of the eye and the pride of life, but the devil will follow us into the loveliest retreats.

Do not suppose that it is only the worldly-minded who have dreadful thoughts and blasphemous temptations, for even spiritually-minded people endure the same; and in the holiest position we may suffer the darkest temptation. The utmost consecration of spirit will not ensure you against Satanic temptation.

Christ was consecrated through and through; it was His meat and drink to do the will of Him that sent Him: and yet He was tempted! Your hearts may glow with a seraphic flame of love to Jesus, and yet the devil will try to bring you down to Laodicean lukewarmness.

If you will tell me when God permits a Christian to lay aside his armor, I will tell you when Satan has left off temptation. Like the old knights in wartime, we must sleep with helmet and breastplate buckled on, for the arch deceiver will seize our first unguarded hour to make us his prey.

He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. (Ecclesiastes 10:9)

To cleave wood is a common every day business, and yet it has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected with your calling and daily life, which it will be well for you to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort. Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet the devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm laborer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from temptations to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do you damage.

Those who dwell at home, and do not mingle with the rough world, may yet be endangered by their very seclusion. Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself so. Pride may enter a poor man’s heart; avarice may reign in a cottager’s bosom; uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger and envy and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural abode. Even in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a little purchase at a shop may be the first link in a chain of temptations; the mere looking out of a window may be the beginning of evil.

O Lord, how exposed we are! How shall we be secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only the Lord is able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Lord, spread your wings over us, and we, like little chicks, will cower down beneath you and feel ourselves safe!

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