The Love Of God To Us # 1

 The Love Of God To Us # 1

By "us" we mean His people. Although we read of the love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39), Holy Writ knows nothing of a love of God outside of Christ. "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9), so that He provides the ravens with food. "He is kind unto the unthankful and to the  evil" (Luke 6:35), and His providence ministers unto the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:45).

But His love is reserved for His elect. That is unequivocally established by its characteristics, for the attributes of His love are identical with Himself. Necessarily so, for "God is love." In making that postulate it is but another way to say God's love is like Himself, from everlasting to everlasting - immutable.

Nothing is more absurd to imagine that anyone beloved of God can eternally perish or shall ever experience His everlasting vengeance. Since the love of God is "in Christ Jesus," it was attracted by nothing in its objects, nor can it be repelled by anything in, of, or by them. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). The "world" in John 3:16 is a general term used in contrast with the Jews, and the verse must be interpreted so as not to contradict Psalm 5:5, 6:7; John 3"36; or Romans 9:13).

The chief design of God is to commend the love of God in Christ, for Heis the sole channel through which it flows. The Son has not induced the Father to love His people, but rather was it His love for them which moved Him to give His Son for them.

Ralph Erskine said: "God has taken a marvelous way to manifest His love. When He would show His power, He makes a world. When He would display His wisdom, He puts it in a frame and form that reveals its vastness. When He would manifest the grandeur and glory of His name, He makes a Heaven, and puts angels and archangels, principalities and powers therein. And when He would manifest His love, what will He not do? God has taken a great and marvelous way of manifesting it in Christ; His person, His blood, His death, His righteousness."

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ" (2 Colossians 3:3) - so we are beloved in Him, "the love of God which is in Christ Jesus" - in Him as our Head and Husband, which is why nothing can separate us therefrom, for that union is indissoluble.

Nothing so warms the heart of the saint as a spiritual contemplation of God's love for him. As he is occupied with it, he is lifted outside of and above his wretched self. A believing apprehension fills the renewed soul with holy satisfaction, and makes him as happy as it is possible for one to be this side of Heaven. To know and believe the love which God has toward me, is both a pledge and a foretaste of Heaven itself.

Since God love His people in Christ, it is not for any amiableness in or attraction about them: "Jacob have I loved." Yes, the naturally unattractive, yes, despicable, Jacob, "worm Jacob." Since God loves His people in Christ, it is not regulated by their fruitfulness, but is the same at all times. Because He loves them in Christ, the Father loves them as Christ. The time will come when His prayer will be answered, "that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me" (John 17:23). Only faith can grasp those marvelous things, for neither reasoning nor feelings can do so. God loves us in Christ. What infinite delight the Father has as He beholds His people in His dear Son! All our blessings flow from that precious fountain.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). It is clear from those words that God loved His people while they were in a state of nature, destitute of all grace, without a particle of love towards Him or faith in Him; yes, while they were His enemies (Romans 5:8-10).

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

The Scriptures And Sin # 4

 The Scriptures And Sin # 4

This is what each of us is required to do: "Accept instruction from His mouth and lay up His Words in your heart." (Job 22:22). It is particularly the commandments, the warnings, the exhortations - which we need to make our own and to treasure. We need to make our own and to treasure. We need to memorize them, meditate upon them, pray over them, and put them into practice. The only effective way of keeping a plot of ground from being overgrown by weeds, is to sow good seed therein; "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21). So the more Christ's Word dwells in us "richly" (Colossians 3:16), the less room will there be for the exercise of sin in our hearts and lives.

It is not sufficient merely to assent to the veracity of the Scriptures - they require to be received into the affections. It is unspeakably solemn to note that the Holy Spirit specifies as the ground of apostasy, "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." (2 Thess. 2:10). "If truth lies only in the tongue or in the mind, only to make it a matter of talk and speculation - it will soon be gone. The seed which lies on the surface, the birds in the air will pick up. Therefore hide it deeply; let it get rom the ear into the mind, from the mind into the heart;  let it soak in further and further. It is only when Scripture has a prevailing sovereignty in the heart, that we receive truth in the love of it - when it is dearer than our dearest lust, then it will stick to us." (Thomas Manton).

Nothing else will preserve from the infections of this world, deliver from the temptations of satan, and be so effective a preservative against sin - as the Word of God received into the affections, "The law of his God is in his heart - none of his steps shall slide." (Psalm 37:31). As long as the truth is active within us, stirring the conscience, and is really loved by us - we shall be kept from falling.

When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he said, "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9). The Word was in his heart, and therefore had prevailing power over his lusts. Joseph loved the ineffable holiness, and the mighty powr of God, who is able both to save and to destroy.

None of us knows when he may be tempted, therefore it is necessary to be prepared against it. Yes, we are to anticipate the future and be fortified against it, by storing up the Word in our hearts for coming emergencies. "I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11).

Here is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves. Are my thought being formed, my heart controlled, and my ways and works regulated by God's Word? This is what the Lord requires: "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" (James 1:22). This is how gratitude to and affection for Christ are to be expressed: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15).

For this, Divine assistance is needed. David prayed, "Make me to walk in the path of Your commandments" (Psalm 119:35). "We need not only ilight to know our way, but a heart to walk in it. Direction is necessary because of the blindness of our minds; and grace is necessary because of the weakness of our hearts. It will not answer our duty to have a mere notion of truths, unless we embrace and pursue them" (Manton). Note the path of Your commandments." Not a self-chosen course, but a definitely marked-out one. 

Has your study of the Bible made you more humble, or more proud? Has it raised you in the esteem of your fellow men, or has it led you to take a lower place before God? Has it produced in you a deeper abhorrence and loathing of self, or has it made you more complacent?

"Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." (1 Timothy 4:15).

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Supremacy Of God # 2

 The Supremacy Of God # 2

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!" (Revelation 19:6). note, "reigns" now, not "will do so in the millennium." O Lord God of our fathers, are not You God in Heaven? and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one (not even the devil himself) can stand against You!" (2 Chronicles 20:6). Before Him presidents and popes, kings and emperors, are less than grasshoppers.

But He stands alone, and who can oppose Him? He does whatever He pleases" (Job 23:13). Ah, my reader, the God of Scripture is no make-believe monarch, no mere imaginary sovereign, but King of kings, and Lord of lords! "I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2): or, as another has translated it, "no purpose of Yours can be frustrated." All that He has designed He does. All that He has decreed He performs. "Our God is in Heaven; He does whatever He pleases." (Psalm 115:3). And why? Because "there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord" (Proverbs 21:30).

God's supremacy over the works of His hands is vividly depicted in Scripture. Inanimate matter and irrational creatures, all perform their Maker's bidding. At His pleasure the Red Sea divided and its waters stood up as walls (Exodus 14); the earth opened her mouth, and guilty rebels went down alive into the pit. (Numbers 16). When He so ordered, the sun stood still (Joshua verse 10); and on another occasion the sun went backward ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz (Isaiah 38:8). God made ravens carry food to Elijah, iron to float on top of the waters, lions to be tame when Daniel was cast into their den, fire to burn not when the three Hebrews were flung into its flames. Thus "the Lord does whatever He pleases in Heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths." (Psalm 135:6).

But, it may be objected, do we not read again and again in Scripture how that men defied God, resisted His will, broke His commandments, disregarded His warnings, and turned a deaf ear to all His exhortations? Certainly we do. And does this nullify all that we have said above? If it does, then the Bible plainly contradicts itself. But that cannot be. What the objector refers to, is simply the wickedness of man against the external Word of God; whereas what we have mentioned above is what God has purposed in Himself. The rule of conduct He has given us to walk by, is perfectly fulfilled by none of us. His own eternal "counsels" are accomplished to their minutest details.

The absolute and universal supremacy of God is affirmed with equal plainness and positiveness in the New Testament. There we are told that God "works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11) - the Greek for "works" means "to work effectually." For this reason we read, "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things; to whom be glory forever: Amen" (Romans 11:36). Men may boast that they are free agents, with a will of their own, and are at liberty to do as they please, but Scripture says to those who boast, "Now listen, you who say, "today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will - we will live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15).

Here then is a sure resting-place for the heart. Our lives are neither the product of blind fate, nor the result of capricious chance. Every detail of them was ordained from all eternity, and is now ordered by the living and reigning God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without His permission. "A man's heart devises his way - but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). What assurance, what strength, what comfort this should give the real Christian! "My times are in Your hand" (Psalm 31:15). Then let me "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7).

~A. W. Pink~

(The End)

The Supremacy Of God # 1

 The Supremacy Of God # 1

In one of his letters to Erqasmus, Luther said, "Your thoughts of God are too human." Probably that renowned scholar resented such a rebuke, the more so, since it proceeded from a niner's son; nevertheless, it was thoroughly deserved.

We too, though having no standing among the religious leaders of this degenerate age, give the same charge against the majority of the preachers of our day, and against those who, instead of searching the Scriptures for themselves, lazily accept the teaching of others.

The most dishonoring and degrading conceptions of the rule and reign of the Almighty are now held almost everywhere. To countless thousands, even among those professing to be  Christians, the God of the Scriptures is quite unknown.

Of old, God  complained to an apostate Israel, "You thought I was just like you." (Psalm 50:21). Such must now be His indictment against an apostate Christendom. Men imaging that the Most High is moved by sentiment, rather that actuated by principle. They suppose that His omnipotence is such an idle fiction that satan is thwarting His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power God possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man's "free will" and reduce him to a "machine." They lower the all-efficacious atonement, which has actually redeemed everyone for whom it was made, to a mere "remedy," which sin-sick souls may use if they feel disposed to; and they enervate the invincible work of the Holy Spirit to an "offer" of the Gospel which sinners may accept or reject as they please.

The God of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ, than does the dim flickering of a candle resembles the glory of the midday sun. The God who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of mushy sentimentality.

The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form gods out of wood and stone - while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a God out of their own carnal mind! In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. A God whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated - possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nothing but contempt!

The supremacy of the true and living God might well be argued from the infinite distance which separated the mightiest creatures from the almighty Creator. He is the Potter, they are but the clay in His hands, to be molded into vessels of honor, or to be dashed into pieces (Psalm 2:9) as He pleases. Were all the citizens of Heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth to combine in revolt against Him, it would occasion Him no uneasiness, and would have less  effect upon His eternal and unassailable Throne than has the spray of Mediterranean's waves upon the towering rocks of Gibraltar. So puerile and powerless is the creature to affect the Most High. Scripture itself tells us that when the Gentile heads unite with apostate Israel to defy Jehovah and His Christ, "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh!" (Psalm 2:4).

The absolute and universal supremacy of God is plainly and positively affirmed in many Scriptures. "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. In Your hand are power and might, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all." ( 1 Chronicles 29:11-12).

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)

The Scriptures And Sin # 3

 The Scriptures And Sin # 3

4. An individual is spiritually profited, when the Word produces in him a deeper hatred of sin. "You who love the Lord, hate evil" (Psalm 97:10). "We cannot love God without hating that which He hates. We are not only to avoid evil, and refuse to continue in it - but we must be up in arms against it, and bear towards it a hearty indignation" (Spurgeon). One of the surest tests to apply to the professed conversion, is the heart's attitude towards sin. Where the principle of holiness has been implanted, there will necessarily be a loathing of all that is unholy. If our hatred of evil is genuine, we are thankful when the Word reproves even the evil which we suspected not.

This was the experience of David: "Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104). Observe well, it is not merely "I abstain from," but "I hate". Not only "some" or "many", but "every false way." And not only "every evil," but "every false way."Therefore I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128).

But it is the very opposite with the wicked: "Seeing you hate instruction, and cast My Words behind you" (Psalm 50:17). In Proverbs 8:13, we read, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil," and this godly fear comes through reading the Word. Rightly has it been said, "Until sin is hated - it cannot be mortified. You will never cry against it, as the Jews did against Christ. Crucify it, Crucify it! - until sin is really as abhorred as He was!

5. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word causes a forsaking of sin. "Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). The more the Word is read with the definite object of discovering what is pleasing and what is displeasing to the Lord, the more will His will become known, and if our hearts are right with Him the more will our ways be conformed therein. There will be a "walking in the truth" (3 John 4).

At the close of 2 Corinthians 6 some precious promises are given to those who separate themselves from unbelievers. Observe there, the application which the Holy Spirit makes of them. He does not say, "Since we have these promises - be comforted and become complacent thereby" - but "Since we have these promises - let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 2:1).

"Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." (John 15:3). Here is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves: Is the reading and studying of God's Word producing a purging of my ways? Of old the question was asked, "How shall a young man cleanse his way?" and the Divine answer is "by taking heed thereto according to Your Word." Yes, not simply by reading, believing, or memorizing it, but but by the personal application of the Word to our "way." It is by taking heed tosuch exhortations as flee from sexual immorality, flee from odolatary, flees these things - a covetouslove for money, flees also youthful lusts - that the Christian is brought into practical separation from evil; for sin has not only to be confessed, but forsaken. (Proverbs 28:13).

6. An individual is spiritually profited, when the Word fortifies against sin. The Holy Scriptures are given to us not only for the purpose of revealing our innate sinfulness, and the many, many ways in which we come short of the glory of God - but also to teach us how to obtain deliverance from sin, and how to be kept from displeasing God. "Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 4)

The Scriptures And Sin # 2

 The Scriptures And Sin # 2

2. An individual is spiritually profited, when the Word makes him sorrow over sin. Of the stoney-ground hearer it is said that he "hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away. (Matt. 13:20-21). But of those who were convicted under the preaching of Peter, it is recorded that they were cut to the heart. (Acts 2:37).

The same contrast exists today. Many will listen to a flowery sermon, or an address on "prophecy" that displays oratorical powers exhibits the intellectual skill of the speaker - but which, usually contains no searching application to the conscience. It is received with approhbation, but no one is humbled before God or brought into a closer walk with Him through it.

But let a faithful servant of the Lord (who by grace is not seeking to acquire a reputation for his "brilliance" bring the teaching of Scripture to bear upon character and conduct, exposing the sad failures of even the best of God's people - and though the crowd will despise the messenger, the truly regenerate will be thankful for the message which causes them to mourn before God and cry, "Oh, what a wretched man that I am!"

So it is in the private reading of the Word. It is when the Holy Spirit applies it in such a way that I am made to see and feel my inward corruption, that I am really blessed.

What a word is that in Jeremiah 31:19: "After I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even confounded." Do you, my reader know anything of such an experience? Does your study of the Word produce a broken heart and lead to a humbling of yourself before God? Does it convict you of your sins in such a way that you are brought to daily repentance before Him? The paschal lamb had to be eaten with "bitter herbs" (Exodus 12:8); so as we really feed on the Word, the Holy Spirit makes it "bitter" to us before it becomes sweet to our taste.

Note the order in Revelation 10:9. "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will be bitter in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." This is ever the experimental order: there must be mourning, before comfort (Matt. 5:4); humbling, before exalting (1 Peter 5:6).

3. An individual is spiritually profited, when the Word leads to confession of sin. The Scriptures are profitable for "reproof" (2 Timothy 3:16), and an honest soul will acknowledge its faults. Of the lost it is said, "For everyone who loves evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:20). "God be merciful to me a sinner!" is the cry of a renewed heart, and every time we are quickened by the Word (Psalm 119) there is a fresh revealing to us and a fresh owning by us of our transgressions before God. "He who covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). There can be no spiritual prosperity or fruitfulness while we conceal within our hearts our guilty secrets; only as they are freely owned before God, and that in detail, shall we enjoy His mercy.

There is no real peace for the conscience and no rest for the heart, while we cherish unconfessed sin. Relief comes when it is fully unbosomed to God. Mark well the experience of David. "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer (Psalm 32:3-4). Is this figurative but forcible language unintelligible upon you? Or does your own spiritual history explain it? There is many a verse of Scripture which no commentary but that of personal experience can satisfactorily interpret. Blessed indeed is the immediate sequel here: "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" - and You forgave the guilt of my sin." (Psalm 32:5).

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 3)

The Scriptures And Sin # 1

 The Scriptures And Sin # 1

There is grave reason to believe that much Bible reading and Bible study of the last few years has been of no spiritual profit to those who engaged in it. Yes, we go further; we greatly fear that in many instances it has proved a curse rather than a blessing. This is strong language , we are well aware, yet no stronger than the case calls for. Divine gifts may be misused, and Divine mercies abused. That this has been so in the present instance, is evident by the fruits produced. Even the natural man may (and often does) take up the study of the sciences. Where this is the case, his store of knowledge is increased, and so also is his pride. Like a scientist engaged in making interesting experiments, the intellectual searcher of the Word is quite elated when he makes some discovery in it; but the joy of the latter is no more spiritual than would be that of the former. Again, just as the successes of the scientist generally increase his sense of self-importance and cause him to look with disdain upon others less knowledgeable than himself- so alas, is it often the case with those who have investigated Bible numerics, typology, prophecy, and other such subjects.

The Word of God may be taken up from various motives. Some read it to satisfy their literary pride. In certain circles it has become both the respectable and popular thing to obtain a general acquaintance with the contents of the Bible, simply because it is regarded as an educational defect to be ignorant of them. Some read it to satisfy their sense of curiosity, as they might any other book of note. Others read it to satisfy their sectarian pride. They consider it a duty to be well versed in the particular tenets of their own denomination and so search eagerly for proof-texts of their own denomination and so read it for the purpose of being able to argue successfully with those who differ from them. But in all this, there is no thought of God, no yearning for spiritual edification - and therefore no real benefit to the soul.

Of what, then, does a true profiting from the Word consist? Does not 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 furnish a clear answer to our question? There we read, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Observe what is here omitted: the Holy Scriptures are given us not for intellectual gratification or carnal speculation, but to furnish unto "every good work," and that by teaching, reproving and correcting us. Let us endeavor to amplify this by the help of other passages.

1. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word convicts him of sin. This is the first office to reveal our depravity, to expose our vileness, to make known our wickedness. A man's moral life may be irreproachable, and his dealings with his fellows may be faultless; but when the Holy Spirit applies the Word to his heart and conscience, opening his sin-blinded eyes to see his relation and attitude to God, he cires, "Woe is me, for I am undone!" It is in this way that each truly saved soul is brought to realize his deed of Christ" (Luke 5:31). Yet it is not until the Spirit applies the Word in divine power, that any individual is made to feel that he is sin-sick, sick unto death.

Such conviction that brings home to the heart that the awful ravages which sin has wrought in each person, is not to be restricted to the initial experience which immediately precedes conversion. Each time that God blesses His Word in my heart, I am made to feel how far, far short I come from the standard which He has set before me, namely, "But just as He who called you is holy - so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:15).

Here, then is the first test to apply: As I read the woeful failures of different ones in Scripture, does it make me realize how sadly like unto them I am? As I read of lthe blessed and perfect life of Christ, does it make me recognize how terribly unlike Him I am?

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 2)