Soli Deo Gloria

Why is it that the majority of the church today simply refuse to do this:

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep you eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.” Romans 16:17-18

“‘Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”

- William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army

“The New Testament quite clearly refuses to endorse a carnal Christian experience as a legitimate status quo. It envisions the Christian life as simultaneously one of dying and one of living – of dying more and more unto sin and of living more and more unto righteousness.”

- Dr. Robert Reymond (From his New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith)

“And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!” For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “ It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him. A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee; and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.” Mark 6:14-29

We move to a scene that illustrates the terrible destructive power of sin. The name Herod is synonymous with being an enemy of the gospel. This Herod is the son of Herod the Great who went on a killing rampage of male children in the early gospel accounts. Herod the Great’s grandson is the one who held such great pride and arrogance that he was struck dead by an angel of the Lord. This Herod in Mark is described to us as one who is captivated by sexual sin. Mark gives us background information on John the Baptist’s bold stance against Herod because he had married the wife of his brother. We learn of John’s boldness to proclaim repentance and Herod just simply could not handle that proclamation. He would rather have his sin. We learn that Herod had John imprisoned but yet still had some fear of John knowing that he was a prophet. However, Mark’s account tell us that Herod simply enjoyed being entertained by John and he simply would not heed the words of God to come to repentance. We later see this same Herod also seek to be entertained by Christ with such a hardened heart that Christ would not return a single word. God had nothing to say to Herod!

We also see here that when Herod heard about Jesus his conscience was bearing witness against him since Herod’s first response was that he believed John the Baptist had been resurrected. Oh to see the danger of hanging on to sin! Sinclair Ferguson sums this account up well in saying, “the lesson is crystal clear – unless we silence sin, sin will silence conscience. Unless we heed God’s Word, the day may come when we despise God’s Son – and then God will have nothing more to say to us.” Oh to see the danger of sin and how it can absolutely bring a person to utter ruin and destruction. As one great theologian puts it, “be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

This is exactly what happens to Herod. Herodias and her daughter Salome knew good and well the sexual sin of Herod and used that sin to further trap him. Put before his wicked friends in the midst of a drunken orgy he caves in to his own sinful lusts and pride and murders the very prophet who has heralded the call to repentance. Sadly, the very One John heralded will also stand before Herod while he and his cohorts mock the King of kings. Yet, as Ferguson put it God will not have anything to say to Him. What a terrible and tragic position. Do not be like Herod. Embrace and run to the very One who can forgive your sins and relieve your conscience before God. Run to Christ the Lord! He is mighty to save!

Soli Deo Gloria!

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:8-12

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”

Hebrews 13:20-21

I’ve been meditating much lately on the life of Christ – specifically how settled and perfect the gospel narratives of Christ’s life are. From the moment our Savior was born incarnate every moment of His life was sure. Nothing was in question – there was never a moment in reading any of the narratives that there might be an inkling of a moment of even the hint of failure. As I think about the life of Christ time and time again the leaders wanted to trap Him in a saying and to kill Him and time and time again with absolute surety the gospels tell us that He slipped out of their reach “because His time had not yet come”. There was no touching the King of kings.

It was not until Christ willingly gave up His life into the hands of wicked men that we see His time coming and even then they are able to do nothing more to Him than was was predetermined by God before time began. There was also absolutely nothing coming in the way of His atoning, sacrificial death. What God promised before the foundation of the world and what He promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses and all the great prophets came to absolute perfection without even a hint of something possibly causing the plan to fail.

Now we come to the promise of Christ’s second advent. We come to scenes of comfort even in martyrdom knowing that the souls of those in Christ who die are safe and secure in Him. And yes, a promise just as secure as the very promise of His atoning death and resurrection. We also see later on in Revelation how the world led by Satan tried with all its might to destroy the very Prince of Peace – the very King of kings and in one small verse we read that Christ slaughters the very world that is trying so desperately to kill the Lamb and His bride. (Rev. 17:14)

There is no shifting sand in Christ. He truly is the Rock that does not move, nor sleep nor shake. The world is constantly in flux – turning here and there in desperate attempts to satisfy the flesh and the lusts of the mind and heart. The soul happy in Christ is satisfied with His very presence. He is everything. Just like the feeding of the multitudes who were satisfied the very Bread from heaven is our true sustenance and food that fully satisfies and causes us to see the world as it is – a passing vanity fair able to give nothing but pain, disappointment and death.

I am amazed at the absolute perfection and surety of God in Christ. May we cling to these promises setting our minds on things above and not on things of the earth. May we rejoice in knowing that our God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and that He is faithful and true and everything He says will take place in His perfect timing. This allows us to truly understand the importance of being anxious for nothing does it not? (Philippians 4:6) What a joy to have our eyes opened to these glorious truths and to give all glory to God for shining in our hearts the knowledge of His glory in the face of His precious Son by the power of the Holy Spirit of truth and grace. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Soli Deo Gloria