Quest for Joy

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By John Piper

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Did you now that God commands us to be glad? "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).

1. God created us for His glory
"Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth...whom I created for my glory (Isaiah 43:6-7). God made us to magnify his greatness--the way telescopes magnify starts. He created us to put his goodness and truth and beauty and wisdom and justice on display. The greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is. This means that God gets the praise and we get the pleasure. God created us so that he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

2. Every human should live for God's glory
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). If God made us for his glory, it is clear that we should live for his glory. Our duty comes from his design. So our first obligation is to show God's value by being satisfied with all that he is for us. This is the essence of loving God (Matthew 22:37) and trusting him (1 John 5:3-4) and being thankful to him (Psalm 100:2-4). It is the root of all true obedience, especially loving others (Colossians 1:4-5).

3. All of us have failed to glorify God as we should
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). What does it mean to "fall short of the glory of God?" It means that none of us has trusted and treasured God the way we should. We have not been satisfied with his greatness and walked in his ways. We have sought our satisfaction in other things, and treated them as more valuable than God, which is the essence of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23). Since sin came into the world we have all been deeply resistant to having God as our all-satisfying treasure (Ephesians 2:3). This is an appalling offense to the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13).

4. All of us are subject to God's just condemnation
"The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23). We have all belittled the glory of God. How? By preferring other things above him. By our ingratitude, distrust and disobedience. So God is just in shutting us out from the enjoyment of his glory forever. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

The word "hell" is used in the New Testament twelve times--eleven times by Jesus himself. It is not a myth created by dismal and angry preachers. It is a solemn warning from the Son of God who died to deliver sinners from its curse. We ignore it at great risk.

If the Bible stopped here in its analysis of the human condition, we would be doomed to a hopeless future. However, this is not where it stops...

5. God sent his only son Jesus to provide eternal life and joy
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance; Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." (1 Timothy 1:15). The good news is that Christ died for sinners like us. And he rose physically from the dead to validate the saving power of his death and to open the gates of eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). This means God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just (Romans 3:25-26). "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Coming home to God is where all deep and lasting satisfaction is found.

6. The benefits purchased by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust him
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19). "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). "Repent" means to turn from all the deceitful promises of sin. "Faith" means being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus. "He who believes in me," Jesus says, "shall never thirst" (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a free gift (Romans 3:24). We will have it if we cherish it enough to receive it and treasure it above all things (Matthew 13:44). When we do that God's aim in creation is accomplished: HE is glorified in us and we are satisfied in him--forever.

Does this make sense to you?
Do you desire the kind of gladness that comes from being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus? If so, then God is at work in your life.

What should you do?
Turn from the deceitful promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from the guilt and punishment and bondage. "All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sins' promises by faith in the superior satisfaction of God's promises. Begin reading the Bible to find his precious and very great promises, which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible-believing church and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7).

The best news in the world is that there is no necessary conflict between our happiness and God's holiness. Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus magnifies him as a great Treasure.

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11).

LESSONS ON GIVING FROM THE MACEDONIANS

Preaching on giving is one of the topics that some preachers often avoid but is nonetheless included in Scripture. Many churches and pastors have various ways of approaching this topic, and today, we will discuss one of the most popular approaches, while at the same time discussing some fundamental New Testament principles about giving.

The first recorded example of giving in the Christian church is found in Acts 2:44-46, where believers in Jerusalem had all things in common, selling all their possessions and belongings, distributing them to all, according to need. This has led some commentators to note that the Jerusalem church had practices some form of primitive communism. There is no evidence, however, that this model was ever implemented as a norm in the subsequent congregations elsewhere.

The two letters of Paul to the Corinthians have several references on giving, and from these, we can derive some basic principles about Christian giving as it applies today.

Before we go to Corinthians, let us first learn the background of our story.

In Acts 11:27-30, we can read of a prophecy of Agabus about a great famine.

27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:27-30)

Part of this effort included Paul’s encouragement of Gentile Christian churches, particularly those he has founded, to help send relief to the Jewish Christians. Among the churches he approached were those in the provinces of Macedonia and Achaia, and one of the richest churches in Achaia was the church in Corinth.

In the book of Romans, Paul mentioned that he was taking to Jerusalem the collection made from the Gentile churches:

25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. (Romans 15:25-27)

The churches in Macedonia were mentioned by Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. From this letter, we shall learn something from the Macedonian Christians and seek lessons in giving by observing: how they gave, what they gave, and what they did first.

First, let us have background on the Macedonians.

Edwin A. Judge (1982) describes Macedonia as a splendid tract of land, centered on the plains of the gulf of Thessalonica. It was a prosperous area. Running up the great river valleys into the Balkan Mountains, it was famous for its timber and precious metals. The churches of Macedonia had been planted by Paul on his second missionary journey--Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea.[1]

Two of these churches have received letters from Paul, and the third is commended in the book of Acts (17:11) for their devotion to the Scriptures. The Bereans did not simply believe what Paul proclaimed to them, but they searched the Scriptures to find out if what he said was true. This, brethren, is something we should always do.

Now let us examine our passage for today:

1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)

§ POINT 1: HOW THEY GAVE: need is not an excuse not to give

2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. (V.2)

The Macedonian churches had their own problems. The term “severe test of affliction” is “commonly used of the harassment that God's people experience at the hands of the world.”[2] This may mean persecution, both at the hands of unbelieving Gentiles and perhaps, Jewish communities that were hostile to the gospel. In fact, in Acts 17, Luke records a riot led by Jews against Paul and Silas, forcing Christians to send the two of them to Berea, where the Jewish synagogue was more welcoming. While the verses are not explicit on the nature of their affliction, Paul writes of their extreme poverty. In Greek, this literally translates into “down-to-the-depth” or “rock-bottom poverty.” They were not only poor: they were very, very poor.

Despite their poverty and their own needs, brethren, the Macedonian churches did not hesitate to give. Rather, it was from their own affliction that their great generosity came. Perhaps they were living out what James said and what was preached last Sunday.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

They found joy in the middle of their troubles, and their faith grew stronger even in the middle of their trials. This joy was expressed through their generosity and manifested in their willingness to share what they had to the church in Jerusalem.

This is one point we should observe: the Macedonian Christians did not use their need as an excuse to not give.

§ POINT 2: WHAT THEY GAVE: ACCORDING TO THEIR MEANS, & EVEN BEYOND IT

3For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will (v.3)

As implied by verse 3, the Macedonian Christians first determined what their means were. By doing so, they sought to find out just exactly what they were able to give. As Paul reminds us later in verse 12:

12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. (2 Corinthians 8:12)

Giving must always take into consideration our means. It would be totally unrealistic, and even cruel, to demand, for example, that each one of us should give $100,000.00. We simply do not have that! Christians are first to determine what they are able to give. This implies purposeful planning. We cannot give what we do not have.

The Macedonians Christians, remember, were facing severe affliction and extreme poverty. It would have been justified if they excused themselves, since they too were suffering. Paul does not tell us how much they actually gave, but considering their situation, they gave much more than what was expected. Not only that, but the Macedonians were begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints (v.4).

Brethren, can you imagine someone giving something to the church and insisting that his contribution is received? Most of the time today, it is the other way around: churches, ministries and pastors soliciting for support, preaching on giving, and asking the believers to give. They use many methods, including some that are little more than blackmail. I have read of radio and television ministries using blackmail, appeals to emotion, and even threats to compel supporters to give. This, brethren is completely unscriptural and goes against the heart of Christian grace giving.

Christian giving must come from the heart. Brethren, observe that the Macedonian churches gave of their own free will. They were not compelled or threatened to give. They gave because they wanted to give, and this is something that Paul also encouraged the Corinthian Christians to do in chapter 9: Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

At the heart of this passage is the example of GENEROUS GIVING. The second point I would like us to observe: the Macedonian Christians gave freely and generously.

§ POINT 3: WHAT THEY DID FIRST: THEY GAVE THEMSELVES FIRST TO THE LORD

Paul did not expect the Macedonians to give as generously as they did, but he also tells us why they were able to give so much: they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us (v.5).

Christian giving must come from the heart, as I said earlier. Before this is possible, one must first GIVE HIS HEART TO GOD. God must first own the heart. Of course, this means that the person must be a genuine born-again Christian who has repented and trusted Christ as Lord and Savior (Acts 20:21).

This also means that the person must be right with God. Psalm 66:18 tells us that if a person has hidden or cherished sin in his heart, the Lord will not hear. 1 John 1:8-10 also tells us:

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)

To give oneself to God is to acknowledge the sovereignty of God, to submit ourselves to His will and purpose, and to have the glory of God as our highest purpose, our greatest joy, and our ultimate meaning in life. The Reformers described this as Soli Deo Gloria, or giving all the glory and honor to God alone.

This, brethren, must be true in our hearts first and foremost. God deserves, and yes, God demands, no less than our total surrender to His will and purpose. This is the third point from the example of the Macedonians: The Macedonian Christians gave themselves first to God before they gave.

§ WHY SHOULD A CHRISTIAN GIVE?

Brethren, before we ask how much to give, let us reflect on our relationship with the Giver Himself. Paul reminds the Corinthians that:

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

This does not mean that Jesus was a beggar, but more than that, it means that Jesus Christ freely chose to leave His heavenly glory and walk the earth as a human being, like you and me, and more, He humbled Himself even to the point of dying on the cross for our sins (cf. Philippians 2:8, Romans 5:6-8). Christ gave His all so sinful, unworthy, ungodly, unrighteous, rebellious people like you and I would be saved. While many psychologists today will tell us that man is basically good, brethren, the Bible will tell us straight that we are sinners! Sinners! Habakkuk 1:13 tells us that God is too holy to look at sin! As sinners, we are, by nature and by choice, everything that God abhors, and yet, out of His great love, He chose to be one of us so that unworthy sinners might be saved.

Some people say that when we give, we are merely returning the part that belongs to God. But what really belongs to God? Is it 10% of our income?

No! The Bible says that Christians are purchased or ransomed with His blood (Revelation 5:9). To the Colossians, Paul writes:

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)

The NIV uses the word “rescued us” but in all cases, there is a clear transfer of ownership. All that we are, all that we have, and our very selves are God’s property. God owns it all, and God owns us all. Until we realize the full import of this fact, brethren, we will miss the heart of what it is to be a Christian.

The Bible is full of descriptions of what Jesus Christ has done for those whom He saved. One passage and the longest sentence in Greek in the entire New Testament, Ephesians 1:3-4, is overflowing with promises for those who are in Christ. Let us review some of them:

§ Verse 3 says we are blessed with every spiritual blessing
§ Verse 4 says that we were chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless
§ Verse 5 says we were predestined for adoption as sons
§ Verse 7 says we have redemption for his blood and forgiveness
§ Verse 9 says we have received from Him knowledge of His will
§ Verse 11 says we have obtained an inheritance
§ Verse 13 says we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit

Brethren, the point is clear: if you have a living and real relationship with God in Christ, you have many, many blessings already. This generosity of God, this recognition of God as the gracious giver should motivate us to give. We can never out-give God, and we cannot repay God, but for someone to whom so much undeserved grace has been given, surely gratefulness should follow. Brethren, Christians have so much to be grateful for. We can only thank God for His graciousness, and likewise, as imitators of Christ, seek to reflect the same kind of generosity.

§ How shall A CHRISTIAN give?

In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul laid down how the Christians there were to prepare for his coming:

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)

This sets several points on giving. J. Hampton Keathley, in his book Financial Faithfulness, notes on this passage:

(1) Regularly: “On the first day of every week” helps promote diligence and disciplined giving. This creates a consistency and regularity that translates good intentions into actions (1 Cor. 16:2).

(2) Personally: “each of you” brings out the need for every believer to take giving as a personal responsibility for which God holds us each responsible (1 Cor. 16:2).

(3) Systematically: “put something aside and store it up” brings out the need to have a method or system whereby money for the Lord’s work is specifically set aside, stored up for giving, so that it is not used for other things (1 Cor. 16:2).

(4) Proportionately: In the New Testament, set amounts of compulsory giving (as in the tithe) have been replaced by the grace principle of voluntary, purposeful, and proportionate giving. The new standard for today is “as He may prosper” (1 Cor. 16:2).[3]

§ HOW MUCH SHALL A CHRISTIAN GIVE?

We finally come to the question of “how much.” Many Christian churches would automatically answer this question by saving: 10%. They tell us to tithe to the church, and some also say that those who do not tithe are robbing God.

Brethren, let me assure you that NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE CHRISTIANS EVER COMMANDED TO TITHE. In fact, the often-quoted verses in Malachi 3:8-10 are not addressed to Christians but to Jews. Malachi 1:1 alone shows that, as does Malachi 3:6. The practice of systematic tithing is part of the Old Covenant made by God with Israel, and it was mainly a means of supporting the tribe of Levi, which had no inheritance in the Promised Land. This tribe was responsible for duties in the Temple, and the book of Leviticus describes their many responsibilities. Today, we do not have a physical temple, but we ourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). We do not have a Levitical priesthood, but rather, we ourselves are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) with Jesus Christ as our High Priest (Hebrews 5:10).

There are other references often quoted to support the practice of tithing, but almost all of these are used out of context and without regard for the differences between the Old and the New Covenants. The clearest verse that should guide Christians on this subject is this:

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

What can we learn here?

§ Each one must give - First, the privilege of giving is for everyone. Some with more resources can give much, and some with less can give little, but in all instances, Christians are expected to give

§ as he has decided in his heart – Second, the decision to give and how much to give must come from the heart. It must be planned and purposeful: it must be because you want to give.

§ not reluctantly or under compulsion - We should not give grudgingly our out of obligation. We should not be forced and we should not force anyone on how much to give. This must be a personal decision for each person. If it were compelled, then it would not be giving anymore but taxation.

§ for God loves a cheerful giver. – David Guzik notes in his commentary the following: The Greek word for cheerful (hilaros, used only here in the New Testament) is the rot for our English word hilarious. God wants us to give happily, because that is how God Himself gives![4]

As children under the New Covenant, let us give ourselves willingly first to God, and ask Him to give us both the means and the desire to give. We can all see the needs of our church, so we do not need to be reminded that our support, which includes our time, our talent, and our treasure, can be put to good use to serve God through this church, His church. Let us close with the admonition from Paul:

7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (2 Corinthians 8:7, NIV)

[PRAYER]

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[1] IVP New Testament Commentary, 2 Corinthians

[2] Ibid.

[3] J. Hampton Keathley III, Financial Faithfulness

[4] David Guzik’s Commentary, 2 Corinthians

A CALL TO BATTLE

The following is a speech written by David Anthony B. Chan, a theologian, apologist and a good friend. It was inspired by a forum he attended at the Asian Theological Seminary. Since it's so good to see a person who uses the grey stuff between his ears for the glory of God, I am reposting it here, with his permission of course:

My friends, my fellow believers, greetings.

Satan does the work of a theologian. He possesses knowledge of God. He has ministered before the Throne since time immemorial. The knowledge of God is what Satan uses to deceive. We, as believers, must be armed by the Wisdom of God. Experiencing God for all His goodness could only go so far. We are in a war. There is no time to slack, to rest, or to give way to foolish complacency. Each and every believer, regardless of what God's call is in his or her life, must do the work of a theologian, for there is no greater pursuit than to knowing God through His Holy Word.

Theology will define our beliefs, for we can not live out what we can not even define. Theology will help us declare our faith. We can not declare what we can not define. And lastly, we are in a war not against flesh and blood but against supernatural forces. This is a fight of faith, a battle of beliefs. We can not defend what we can not define. Theology is not limited to the mind. It is experienced, lived out, fought for, and died for.

The days are evil, my friends, for we see before us a generation of Christians who are uninformed. Unprepared. Unequipped. We see before us a generation of Christians marching to the front lines only to be slaughtered. Devoured. Why? Because the crucial importance of theology has been replaced by a feel-good-Christianity. The flocks we see in churches come to church for the goose bumps, the emotional highs, the uncontrollable tears, the self-help therapeutic teachings, the entertaining preachers who tell them what they would like to hear, and the mushy feelings that deceive them into thinking that these experiences are all that Christianity is about. My friends, my fellow soldiers, we are in a war. Satan will not show mercy. Satan will not show compassion. Satan’s desire is to see you torn from the protection of God, killed before his eyes, utterly destroyed. This is our enemy.

And as I look at the men and women whom God has called to be bearers of Truth, my heart breaks. Only so few have come to realize, to grasp the ever-growing need for the renewing of the mind. The rest read their Bibles as they would a devotional, self-help, how-to pocket book. The Scriptures were meant to teach us how to destroy the works of the devil and to set his captives free! The Scriptures were never meant to give us a “feeling” Christianity!

My dear friends, I have perused many surveys and many polls on what so-called Christians believe about their faith. A catastrophic majority of people who claim to be Christians live as the world lives, BECAUSE they think as the world thinks! These Christians love the emotional uproar and seek revivals in their hearts, forgetting that greater joy awaits in the renewal of the mind! Yes, there is a time to feel. There is a time to relish God’s love and I pray that we do so everyday. But just as important is the study of the Word. Have we become so comfortable with the false teachers of today who tell us what our itching ears want to hear?

The time has come for us take a look at the past few years of Christianity, of our Christian walk, and re-assess ourselves. The call of God is to renew our minds. Have we been renewing our minds through the Word? Or have we been complacent? The time is coming and has now come. The battle cry is heard in the heavens. The blasts of the trumpets of God’s angels resound in the very ends of the Earth. We are called to take arms now. Now, people. Are we ready? Are we prepared? I say again. This is a fight of faith, a battle of beliefs. We can not live out what we can not define, can't declare what we can't define, and we can't defend what we can't define. Theology is more than just the work of the few, but the duty of all.

My friends, before you is the army of the devil, seeking entrance into your minds. Are we prepared to take captive every thought and to make bend every knee to the Lordship of the Almighty? Or are we ill-equipped?

My friends, welcome to Christianity.

IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO INVEST IN BOOKS

But why do they have to be so expensive!!! Well, not all, if you're matiyaga in looking for bargains at Booksale and RSO (this is a second-hand bookstore in Cebu). I actually got most of my books second-hand, while others were either brand new but discounted, and some of my best ones were given by friends and relatives, including friends I've never met in person. Thank God for generous people!

My old and not-so-old friends would testify that I often lug around a book wherever I go. It's a lifelong passion, I guess, ever since I learned how to read. We didn't have television when I was a kid, so books were one source of learning. They also helped me a lot by building up my vocabulary, broadening my mind to many ideas, and enabling me to find refuge from a cruel world (this sounds so escapist, eh?).

Most of the books I purchase nowadays are of the theological sort. Call it catching up from my decade-long hiatus as an self-absorbed agnostic. Shown here are some of the books that I've accumulated in the past 2 1/2 years. I haven't read through a lot of them, but they've served as priceless sources of wisdom: informing me, correcting me, and equipping me to be of better service to other people. Accumulated information that finds no application is simply wasted space between the ears, after all.

Now perhaps you might ask what book in my shelf is the most significant to me. Well, perhaps you need not ask, if you've been checking around my blog. It's pretty obvious, after all.

The Bible isn't really some outdated tome or collection of tales from a bygone era. It isn't even a collection of sayings, advice and airy-fairy stories. It is so much more than that, but don't take my word for it. I'm a believer, so I'm apt to be a biased source. Pick it up and read it for yourself. Don't dismiss it without examining it; that's intellectual dishonesty. Don't take a scholar's word, a skeptic's argument, or even a theologian's treatise for or against it.

Read it.

Get to know the Man behind the Book.

TRIBUTE

I am of a new brotherhood
Where blood was paid for my entry
A death was required for my life
And new life obtained by sacrifice

A body was bruised for my passage
A back laid bare by thonged whips
A head battered by thorns
And hands, and feet by nails

Payment was made on my behalf
A price that I could never afford
At the expense of another
I have become a brother

Sacrifice was made on my behalf
Loyalty I owe Him now
Obedience to the One who commands
Service He rightly demands

Empty are the brotherhoods made by man
Flimsy bonds of lies and blood
Promises lie empty and unfulfilled
Sealed by a cold and dark grave

I seek a new brotherhood
Where blood not mine was spilled
Where vows are true and enduring
Uttered by a Mouth that cannot lie.

_______________________________

"My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water."
(Jeremiah 2:13)

________________________________

"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

...

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
(Isaiah 55:1-3,6-7)

MORE PICTURES

MORE PICS

Our baby Aeon Hizki was six months old last July 18, 2007. He likes to stand up no (of course, aided), look around and has started to eat semi-solid foods. He likes Cerelac.

CONFRONTATIONS

The gospel call is not some lame invitation to "simply accept Jesus into your heart." It is first and formost a confrontation with who we are:

Repent and believe in the gospel!(Mark 1:15), Jesus declares. The same is echoed by Paul in his farewell to the Ephesians elders: I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:21, NIV).

Why repentance? Because we are sinners, enemies of God. We have offended Him tremendously, and we deserve nothing but His justice. True repentance is a gift from God (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25), and involves a realization of our great offense and inability to make restitution to God.

The gospel is also a confrontation with who God is. God is holy, and is infinitely offended by sin. God is just, and therefore must sentence sin, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The gospel reveals that God has graciously sent His son to die for sinners who cannot save themselves. He permitted His son to die on their behalf amidst their rebellion and sin (cf. Romans 5:6-8) and to all who trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God promises eternal life.

Why faith? Having nothing else to offer God, we can only come to Him at His terms, trusting in His gracious offer of forgiveness to those who come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:6). As Paul said to the jailer, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household. (Acts 16:31)

The Agreement of Salvation by Grace with Walking in Good Works

sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them"—Ephesians 2:9, 10.

I shall call your attention to the near neighborhood of these two phrases, "Not of works," and "Created in Christ Jesus unto good works." The text reads with a singular sound; for it seems strange to the ear that good works should be negatived as the cause of salvation, and then should be spoken of as the great end of it. You may put it down among what the Puritans called "Orthodox Paradoxes," if you please; though it is hardly so difficult a matter as to deserve the name.

Not long ago, I tried to handle the point of difference supposed to exist between the doctrine of faith—"Believe, and thou shalt be saved," and the doctrine of the new birth and its necessity—"Ye must be born again." My method was on this wise: I did not explain the difficulties which appear to the logician and the doctor of metaphysics; but I tried to show that, practically, there were none. If we deal only with difficulties which block up the way to salvation, there are none. As for those matters which involve no real hindrance, I leave them where they are. A rock which is in nobody's way may stand where it is. He that believes in Jesus is born again. These two things are equally true: there must be a work of the Spirit within, yet he that believeth in the Lord Jesus hath everlasting life.

Now, there is a contention always going on about the doctrine of good works: and instead of taking one side or the other, we shall try to see whether there really is anything to quarrel over if we keep to the Scriptures. We insist upon it, with all our might, that salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast." But, on the other hand, we freely admit, and earnestly teach, that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Where there are no good works, there is no indwelling of the Spirit of God. The faith which does not produce good works is not saving faith: it is not the faith of God's elect: it is not faith at all in the Scriptural sense. I have just taken these two points, to bring them forward for the help and comfort of beginners. I seek not to instruct you who are well-taught already; but my aim at this time is to instruct beginners on this important subject. Salvation is not of works; but, at the same time, we, who are the subjects of divine grace, are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." This is plain to the enlightened believer; but babes in grace have weak eyes, and cannot at once perceive.

Before, in the gracious providence of God, Luther was raised up to preach the doctrine of justification by faith, the common notion among religious persons was, that men must be saved by works; and the result was that, knowing nothing of the root from which virtue springs, very few persons had any good works at all. Religion so declined that it became a mere matter of empty ceremony, or of useless seclusion; and, in addition, superstition overlaid the original truth of the gospel, so that one could hardly find it out at all. The reign of self-justification and priestcraft led to no good result upon the masses of religious people. Indulgences and forgivenesses of sins were hawked through the streets, and publicly sold. So much was charged for the pardon of one sin, and so much for another, and the exchequer of "his holiness" at Rome—who might better have been called "his unholiness"—was filled by payments for abating penalties in a purgatory of Rome's inventing Luther learned from the sacred Volume, by the Spirit of the Lord, that we are saved by grace alone through faith; and, having found it out, he was so possessed by that one truth that he preached it with a voice of thunder. His witness on one point was so concentrated that it would be too much to expect equal clearness upon all other truths. I sometimes compare him to a bull who shuts his eyes, and goes straight on at the one object which he means to overthrow.

With a mighty crash, he broke down the gates of Papal superstition. He saw nothing—he did not want to see anything—except this, "By grace are ye saved through faith." He made very clear and good work upon that point, faulty as he was upon certain others. The echoes of his manly voice rang down the centuries. I note that nearly all the sermons of Protestant divines, for long after Luther, were upon justification by faith; and, whatever the text might be, they somehow or other brought in that article of a standing or falling church. They seldom finished a sermon without declaring that salvation is not by works, but that it is by faith in Jesus Christ. I do not censure them for a moment; far rather do I commend them—better too much than too little upon the central doctrine of the gospel. The times needed that point to be made clear to all comers; and the Reforming preachers made it clear. Justification by faith was the nail that had to be driven home, and clinched; and all their hammers went at that nail. They were nothing like so specific and clear upon many other doctrines as they were upon this; but then it was a foundation-stone, and they were occupied in laying it, and they did lay it, and laid it thoroughly, and laid it for ever.

Still, they would have more fully completed the circle of revealed truth if sanctification had been as fully apprehended and as clearly explained as justification. It had been as well if the legs of the gospel of the Reformation had been equal, for one was a little longer and a little stronger than the other, and therefore there was a limp—a halting like that of victorious Israel, as he came from Jabbok—but still a limp, which it would be well to cure. We have passed beyond the stage of dwelling too much on the cardinal doctrine, and I greatly fear that in these times we do not have enough preaching of justification by faith. I could wish the Lutheran times back again, and that the old thunders of Wittenberg could be heard once more; and yet I shall be glad if everything that is practical in the gospel shall also have its full sphere allotted to it. Imputed righteousness, by all means; but let us hear of imparted righteousness also; for both are precious boons of grace. The duties—let me rather say, the high and holy privileges—which come to us as children and servants of God—these should be maintained and fully preached, side by side with the blessed truth embodied in those lines—

"There is life in a look at the Crucified One:
There is life at this moment for thee."
I shall dwell, first of all, upon the first point of the text, which is this, "Not of works," or the way of salvation. "Not of works" is negative description, but within the negative there lies very clearly the positive. The way of salvation is by something other than our own works. Secondly, I shall speak about the walk of salvation. We who are saved walk in holiness; for we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." It is a decree of the sovereign Lord that his chosen should be led to walk in holiness.

I. First, then, THE WAY OF SALVATION is negatively described as "Not of works." To this many take exception; but that we cannot help; the Scripture is plain enough. We are told that we ought not, on any occasion, to allow persons to sing—

"Sinner, nothing do,
Either great or small,
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago."
Great exception has been taken to that expression; but I believe that, if the same truth had been expressed in any other words, the same objection would have been raised, for it is the truth that is objected to, rather than the words in which it is set forth. My text itself would be, to such persons, very objectionable—"Not of works." They are ready to rail at Paul for speaking thus evangelically. They hate the doctrine of salvation all of gift, and not in the least of merit—a doctrine which we love. We preach salvation "not of works"; we repeat the teaching again and again, and mean to repeat it continually, till we die. Salvation is of the Lord's mercy, and not by works of the law.

If we were to preach that salvation is of works, we should please many fine folk; but as we do not know that it would be at all to their benefit that they should be pleased, we shall not brush one hair of our head in a different way from that in which it grows, to please them; much less shall we keep back, or explain away, the fundamental truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and that for several reasons.

If we were to preach to sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, that salvation would be by their own works, we should be setting aside the way of salvation by grace. There cannot be two ways of salvation for the same people. If we take to the one, we practically deny the other. It cannot be questioned that a guilty man, if saved at all, must be saved through the mercy of God. It cannot be denied, also, that our Savior and his apostles taught that we are saved by faith. A man must shut his eyes if he does not see this to be their teaching. If, then, I teach men that they can be saved by works, I have practically told them that salvation by grace is a myth, a mistake, a mischievous error. I have set it aside; for, as I have said before, there cannot be two ways to heaven: there cannot be more than one. If I set up the way of works, I shut up the way of grace. If salvation be of merit, it is not of mercy. But if there be no salvation of men by the pure mercy of God, what an unhappy case are we in! To deny grace is really to deny hope. Where, then, would there be any gospel, or glad tidings, or good news?

The way of salvation by works is not "news." It is the old way of man's devising, which is the general and well-known error of all the ages. Moreover, it is not "good news," or glad news; for there is nothing good or glad in it. That we shall be rewarded for our works, is nothing more than the heathens taught. Justification by religious performances, and meritorious deeds, is nothing better than the old Pharisaism with a Christian name stuck upon it. It is not worth revealing by the Spirit of God, for it is to be seen by the light of man's own candle. That doctrine makes the Lord Jesus Christ to be practically a nobody; for if salvation be of works, then the way of salvation through faith in a Savior is superfluous, and even mischievous.

Next, to preach the way of salvation by works is to propose to men a way in which they have already failed. If you are to be saved by works, you must begin very early: you must begin before you sin, since one sin decides the matter. But already you have commenced to break the law of God. I am not addressing persons who have yet to start upon the way, for they have started already. You are a good way on the road, one way or other; and since you began in the way of works, what a failure you have made of it already! Is there anyone here who can claim that he is already saved by works, as far as he has gone? Has anyone among you been without sin? Look at your lives; examine your consciences; observe your words, your thoughts, your imaginations, your motives; for all these come into the account. Is there a man here that doeth good, and sinneth not? Scripture declares that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." The way of salvation cannot, therefore, be by following a road from which we have already so sinfully and steadily departed. If you were perfect as Adam was before he sinned, you might follow the way of works, and be safe; but you are not in that condition. If I could be sent to an Adam and an Eve altogether unfallen, I might propose to them the way of salvation by obedience to the law; but you have fallen, and your nature is inclined to forsake the right way. The very garments that you wear show that you have discovered your shame. The daily labors which weary you prove that you are not in paradise. The very preaching of the gospel implies that you are in a sinful world. You are not possessed of a will unbiassed, or inclined to that which is good: you have chosen the evil, and still continue to choose it; and therefore I should only be proposing to you a road in which you have already stumbled, and I should be setting you a task in which you have already broken down.

And, next, I think it will be admitted by all, that the way of salvation by good works would be self-evidently unsuitable to a considerable number. I will take a case. I am sent for on an emergency, and it is the dead of night. A man is dying, smitten suddenly by the death-blast. I go to his bedside, as requested. Consciousness remains; but he is evidently in mortal agony. He has lived an ungodly life, and he is about to die. I am asked by his wife and friends to speak to him a word that may bless him. Shall I tell him that he can only be saved by good works? Where is the time for works? Where is the possibility of them? Almost while I am speaking, his life is struggling to escape him. He looks at me in the agony of his soul, and he stammers out, "What must I do to be saved?" Shall I read to him the moral law? Shall I expound to him the Ten Commandments, and tell him that he must keep all these? He would shake his head, and say, "I have broken them all; I am condemned by them all." If salvation be of works, what more have I to say? I am of no use here. What can I say? The man is utterly lost. There is no remedy for him. How can I tell him the cruel dogma of "modern thought" that his own personal character is everything? How can I tell him that there is no value in belief, no help for the soul in looking to another—even to Jesus, the Substitute? There is no whisper of hope for a dying man in the hard and stony doctrine of salvation by works.

If salvation had been by works, our Lord could not have said to the thief, dying at his side, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." That man could do no works. His hands and feet were fastened to the cross, and he was in the agonies of death. No, it must be of grace, all-conquering grace; and the modus operandi must be by faith, or else for dying men the gospel is a mockery. The man must look, and live. The expiring sinner must trust the expiring Savior. As life ebbs out, the penitent must find life in Jesus' death. Is it not clear that the gospel of works is unsuitable in such a case as that? Now, a gospel which is unsuitable to anybody is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I put it plainly. A gospel that does not suit everybody does not suit anybody; and if it suits any class and condition really and truly, it must suit all classes.

I think I have told you that, on one occasion, I had a letter which was intended to be very irritating to me, from some rather eminent, aristocratic gentleman, who said that he had read some of my sermons when he was out on the coast of Africa, and he found that certain black fellows out there—certain "niggers"—delighted in them very much. He wrote to inform me that I was a very competent preacher for "niggers." I accepted the assurance at once as a very high compliment. I felt that, if I could preach to "niggers," I could preach to anybody; and that, if the gospel that I preached was suitable to the natives on the coast of Africa it would certainly suit the people in London; if those who are afar off could understand it, you, who are near, could also understand it.

The gospel was not sent into the world to be a patent medicine that could only be purchased by the wealthy, or a spell that could only be uttered by Latin scholars. It is a gospel for all ranks and conditions of men; and if I prove that what you call the gospel is unsuitable for the dying, or is unsuitable for the ignorant, it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of salvation by grace, through faith, is suitable for every class of persons that we have to deal with. Sinful habit has bound in iron fetters many of our fellow-citizens, and the gospel can free them. Be the habit drunkenness, or profanity, or what it may, the habit holds them fast; and the prophet says, concerning habit, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." To what purpose, then, do I cry to the leopard, "Change your spots," or to the Ethiopian, "Change your skin"? I must bring a superior force to bear upon the leopard or the Ethiopian, before this can be accomplished; and there is no force in mere exhortation. You may exhort a blind man to see as long as you like; but he will not see. You may exhort a dead man to live as long as you like; but he will not live through your exhortation alone. Something more is wanted. The forces of natural depravity, and the acquired habits of sin in many cases—I think you will grant it—put the doctrine of salvation by works out of court; and if out of court as to one, it is gone as to all; for there can be but one gospel. Go through your convict settlements; go through your jails; and just see what you can do with a doctrine of salvation by good works. You will come home disappointed, however earnest may be your address. But go there, and tell of free grace and dying love, and pardon bought with blood, and eyes that stream with tears, confessions of sin, and cries for pardon, will tell you that you have not spoken in vain.

Further, dear friends, if we go and preach to men salvation by works, we are preaching to them a way of salvation impossible to all because of the perfection of the law. What are the good works that can merit heaven? What are the good works that can ensure eternal life? These are not the easy things which some seem to imagine. They must be perfectly pure, continuous, and unspotted. "The law of the Lord is perfect." It condemns a thought, and even the glance of an eye, as an act of criminality. "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." The law of God in ten commands means much more than the bare words would imply: it deals with the whole range of moral condition, motive, and thought. Dream not that its sweep includes only external acts: it does include externals, but, in very deed, the ten commands are spiritual, they go right through the heart, and search the inward parts of the spirit. The more a man understands the law, the more he feels condemned by it, and the less does he indulge the dream that he, as he is, shall ever be able to keep it intact. With such foul hands as ours, how can we do clean work? With hearts so polluted, how can we be "undefiled in the way"? Nature rises no higher than its source, and that which comes out of the heart will be no better than the heart, and that is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

The law of God is one; and if you break it in any one point, you break it altogether. If, in a chain of one hundred links, ninety-nine should be perfect; yet if a single link, anywhere in the chain, should be too weak for the weight placed upon it, the load will fall to the ground quite as surely as if twenty links were snapped. One breakage of the perfect law of God involves transgression against the whole of it. In order to be saved by works, there must be absolutely perfect, continuously perfect obedience to it, in thought, and word, and deed; and that obedience must be rendered cheerfully, and from the heart, for this is the pith of the first table—"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Can you keep that? Vain-glorious man, have you measured your moral strength against requirements so great, and yet so just? Have you hitherto proved yourself equal to the task? Here is the pith of the second table—"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Have you ever tried to do that—to love your neighbor as yourself? You have been a little kind, and sometimes generous; but the standard of loving your neighbor as yourself—have you ever reached to that? Has your charity been equal to your self-love? I do not believe that it has ever gone even half the way. Now, "What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law;" and if it saith all this to you, and you cannot answer to its demands, how can you hope that you shall live by it? When a man fails to keep the law, it condemns him; and its penalty—in other words, its curse—falls on him as justly his due. He that is under the law is under the curse. All that the law has to say to you is—"Thou hast broken me; and thou must die for it." Read the curses written in the Book of Deuteronomy, and remember that all these are pronounced over your head.

"Look to the flames that Moses saw,
And shrink, and tremble, and despair."
And again, dear friends, if we preach salvation by works, we shall take the minds of men away from a sense of their great need. Here is a person who has a terrible disease. He can be cured. The knife must be used; but if, instead thereof, I lay down for him rules of cleanliness, and of general hygiene, I may do him some sort of good; but meanwhile he will neglect the chief evil, his disease will spread, and will become fatal. What am I to do, if I am a surgeon? Must I not impress him, first, with the conviction that a serious operation is required, and that it must be submitted to? All the rest will be proper enough, and even necessary, in due time; but I must do nothing to take his mind away from the great master-evil that is destroying his life. The sinner must be told that he must be born again, that his nature is corrupt, that this corrupt nature must be destroyed, that a new nature must be created in him: to this his mind must be turned. He must be made "a new creature" in Christ Jesus; and if I stir him up to eternal action, with a view to his salvation by it, I shall be taking his thoughts away from the inward evil of sin, which is the very essence of the matter.

O sirs, if you had committed an offense against the government of your country, and you were found guilty, and condemned to die, my first business with you would be to entreat you to ask pardon of your queen. I might come into your cell, and say that I would have you dressed more respectably; would have you read such a book, or learn such a science; and this might be all very well; but the first thing you need is to have the sentence of death repealed. I will exhort you, my dear hearers, to do everything that is honest, and right, and good; but there is something needed even more than this. You need to be cleansed from sin by the precious blood of Christ. You need to be renewed in heart by the Holy Spirit, and you must turn your thoughts to these things. You first and most of all need the Lord Jesus. Look to him, I pray you. I dare not exhort you to this work, or to that, lest I distract your mind from Christ.

The preaching of legal justification has no power over men. Congregations thus instructed are usually careless, worldly, and devoted to carnal amusements. Those who hear about works feel as if they had now done enough, and did not need to practice them. There is nothing in such doctrine to arouse anxiety, or move desire, or stir the depths of the soul. It has nothing divine about it, nothing supernatural, nothing which can really raise the fallen, cheer the faint, or inspire the gracious. Without unction, life, or fire, a legal ministry is mere fiddling a tune to lame men, or setting forth a course of living action for a vault full of corpses. This point we know to be fact, and therefore we shall not repeat the experiment.

I am afraid that, if we began to preach salvation by works, we should encourage pride in some, and create despair in others. Many would think that they had done pretty well, as compared with other people; they would, therefore, right speedily wrap themselves up in a false hope. But others, knowing that they had not done well, as compared with other people, would think that there was no hope for them, and so would sit down in despair. What practical purpose could this serve—to be making some more proud, and others more wicked, through the influence of despair upon them?

But the very worst matter is, that it would be taking them off from Jesus. Our business, my brethren, is to hold up Jesus Christ. To what end did he die, if men could be saved by their own works? It was a superfluity that he should hang upon the cross if our own merits can open a way of salvation. How could the great God permit and even ordain such a death if we could be saved by our own merits? Why that bloody sweat? Why that nailing of the hands and feet? Why that, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" if of yourselves you can be saved? But it is not so.

You cannot save yourselves by efforts of your own, and hence we have to come to you, shutting you up to this one thing only—that you must be saved by faith in him whom God has set forth to be a propitiation for sin. You need the love of God; you need the power of the Holy Ghost; you need to be quickened into newness of life; you need to be helped to run in the ways of righteousness: in a word, you need everything until you come to Christ, and everything that you want you will find in him, and in him alone. Within yourselves there is nothing that you want. You may search, and look, and turn the dunghill of your nature over and over again, but you will never find the jewel of salvation there. That pearl of great price is in the Lord who assumed human nature, and lived, and loved, and died, and rose again, that he might redeem men from the fall, and all the sin consequent thereon. Oh, that you would look away from self once for all! God forbid that the preacher should ever hold up anything else before you except the crucified Savior, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, bidding men look and live.

To talk to unbelieving men about the possibility of salvation by their own works would keep them from eternal life. All that the life of nature can do will never suffice to produce a higher nature. Let the natural exert itself as it may, it will never rise to the spiritual. The best-working horse does not thereby become a man: the best-living unregenerate man cannot thereby become regenerate. There must be a new birth; and that comes by faith, and not by works. To believe in Jesus is the entrance gate of the new life, and there is no other door. If we, in any way, set you hunting about for another way, we shall cause you to miss the one only entrance, and that will be to your soul's eternal loss. As we dread this, we more and more resolve to hold up the cross, and the cross alone, and again and again we cry, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." God forbid that, by our essays upon virtue, or "the enthusiasm of humanity," we should distract you from hastening to the Lord Jesus, that he may give you rest, life, and holiness! We want you to let your thoughts run, all of them, to Calvary, and to that wondrous Person, whose wounds upon the tree bleed healing for the wounds of sin, and whose death is for believers the death of the great evil power which once held them in bondage.

Thus much upon a topic which we shall never wear threadbare, and which we shall always continue to insist upon while life or breath remains, because it will always be needed while sinners remain on earth needing salvation.

II. But now we come to this second most important part of the subject, namely, THE WALK OF SALVATION.

Those who have believed in Christ, and have been the subjects of the Spirit's work, are now "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them." God desires that his people should abound in good works. It is his great object to produce a people fit to commune with himself: a holy people, with whom he can have fellowship in time and in eternity. He wishes us not only to produce good works, but to abound in them; and to abound in the highest order of them. He would have us become imitators of himself as dear children, possessing the same moral attributes as the Father in heaven possesses. Is it not written, "Be ye perfect, even as your rather which is in heaven is perfect"? Oh, that we came within measurable distance of this blissful consummation!

Note in the text, first, that there is a new creation. One of the poets said of old that "an honest man is the noblest work of God." That is not true, unless we put upon the word "honest" an emphatic spiritual sense. A Christian man, however, is the noblest work of God. He is the product of the second creation. At first man fell, and marred his Creator's work; but, in the new creation, he that makes all things makes us anew. Now, the object of the new creation of our race is holiness unto the glory of God. You are not new-made in the image of the fallen Adam, but in the likeness of the second Adam. You are not new-created to sin—this cannot be imagined. The new creature sinneth not, for it is born of God. The new life is a living and incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth for ever. The old nature sins, and always will sin; but the now life is of God, and it strives daily against the sin of the old nature, and perseveres, and pushes forward towards everything that is holy, upright, and perfect. Its instincts all run towards perfect holiness. The old nature does not care to pray; but the new nature prays as readily as we breathe. The old nature murmurs, but the new nature sings and praises God from an impulse within. The old nature goes after the flesh, for it is fleshly; but the new nature seeks the things of the Spirit, for it is spiritual. If you have been born again at all, you have been born unto holiness. If you have been new-created, you have been created unto good works. If this be not so with us, our religion is a mere pretence.

This new creation in connection with Christ, for we read in the text, "Created in Christ Jesus." We are the branches; he is the Vine out of which we grow. Your life, and all your fruit-producing power lie in your union to Christ. You are not merely new-created, but you are created in Christ Jesus. It is not merely a change from a lower nature to a higher, but from separation from Christ to union with him. What a wonderful thing that is—that you and I should not only be creatures in the world, but new creatures in Christ Jesus! Creatures we were in the first Adam; but our new-creatureship is in the second Adam. Beloved, if you are what you profess to be, you are one with Jesus by that vital union which cannot be dissolved; and good works follow upon that union. Joined to Jesus by faith in him, love to him, and imitation of him, you walk in good works. Your creation to holiness is your creation in Christ Jesus. As you become one with the anointed Savior, his anointing ordains you to service, and his salvation leads you into obedience. There cannot but be fruit on that blanch which is vitally joined to that fruitful stem, Christ Jesus, who did always those things which pleased the Father.

Our good works must flow from our union with Christ by virtue of our faith in him. We depend upon him to make us holy. We depend upon him to keep us holy. We overcome sin by the blood of the Lamb. We reach after holiness by the constraining love of Jesus. Love to Christ is the impelling cause of putting away, first one evil, and then another; and the energy enabling us to follow after one virtue, and then another. Love to Christ burns like a fire in the breast that has conceived it; and, as it burns, it makes the heart to glow, and to become transformed to its own nature. You have seen a piece of iron put into the fire, all black or rusty, and in the fire it has gradually become red with heat; and, as it has reddened, it has thrown off the scales of rust, until at last it has looked to be itself a mass of fire. The effect of the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is to burn off the rust and scales of sin and depravity, and we become pure love to God through the force of the love of God, which takes possession of our being.

Moreover, that love moves us to patient imitation of Christ. Do you know what that means? "The Imitation of Christ" is a wonderful book upon the subject, which every Christian should read. It has its faults, but its excellences are many. May we not only read the book, but write it out anew in our own life and character by seeking in everything to be like to Jesus! It is a good thing to put up in your house the question, "What would Jesus do?" It answers nine out of ten of the difficulties of moral casuistry. When you do not know what to do, and the law does not seem very explicit upon it, put it so—"What would Jesus do?" Here, then, stands the case: by your creation in Christ you come to exhibit faith in him, love to him, and imitation of him; and all these are the means by which good works are produced in you. You are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works."

Notice, that creation unto these good works is the subject of a divine decree: "Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This is God's decree. Am I ordained to eternal life? Answer the other question: "Am I ordained to walk in good works?" If I am ordained to good works, then I do walk in them, and the decree of God is manifestly carried out in me. But if I make a profession of being a Christian, attend a place of worship, and compliment myself upon my safety, while I am living in sin, then evidently there is no decree that I shall walk in good works, for I am living otherwise than that decree would have caused me to live. O beloved, it is the eternal purpose of God to make his people holy! Agree with that purpose, with the freedom of your renewed will, and with the delight of your regenerated heart! Concur in the will of God. Yea, vehemently desire, heartily pant after, perfect holiness in the fear of God. Then may you, in the midst of severe struggles against temptation from without and from within, fall back upon the decree of predestination. Since it is God's decree, that, as being new-created in Christ, I should be full of good works, I shall be so despite my old nature, and despite my spiritual weakness. The decree, in the new creature of God, will be carried out despite my surroundings, despite the temptations of my circumstances, despite the opposition of the devil. God has before ordained that we should walk in good works; and walk in them we shall, sustained by his holy Spirit.
So, then, dear friends, these good works must be in the Christian. They are not the root, but the fruit of his salvation. They are not the way of the believer's salvation; they are his walk in the way of salvation. Where there is healthy life in a tree, the tree will bear fruit according to its kind; so, if God has made our nature good, the fruit will be good. But if the fruit be evil, it is because the tree is what it always was—an evil tree. The desire of men created anew in Christ is to be rid of every sin. We do sin, but we do not love sin. Sin gets power over us sometimes to our sorrow, but it is a kind of death to us to feel that we have gone into sin; yet it shall not have dominion over us, for we are not under the law, but under grace; and therefore we shall conquer it, and get the victory.

The outcome of our union with Christ must be holiness. "What concord hath Christ with Belial?" What union can he have with men that love sin? How can they that are of the world, who love the world, be said to be members of the Head who is in heaven, in the perfection of his glory? Brothers, we must, in the power of the text, and especially in the power of our union to Christ, seek to make daily advances in good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them; for walking means not only persevering but advancing. We should go from strength to strength in holiness: we should do more, and do better. What are you doing for Jesus? Do twice as much. If you are spreading abroad the knowledge of his name, work with both hands. If you are living uprightly, seek to put away any relics of sin that abide in your character, that you may glorify the name of God to the utmost.

And, lastly, this should be our daily exercise:—"That we should walk in them." Good works are not to be an amusement, but a vocation. We are not to indulge in them occasionally: they are to be the tenor and bent of our lives. "Oh," says one, "that is a hard saying:" Do you say so? Well, then, this displays, and sets in clear light, the first part of my subject. You see how impossible it is that you should be saved by these good works; do you not? But if you are saved—if you have obtained a present salvation, if you are now a child of God, if you are now assured of your safety, I charge you, by the love you bear to God, by the gratitude you have to his Christ, give yourself wholly to everything that is right, and good, and pure, and just. Help everything that has to do with temperance, and righteousness, and truth, and godliness; and "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

May the Spirit of God seal this sermon upon the hearts of his people, for Christ's sake! Amen.