I know this is a bit lengthy, but I just could not post a portion of it.  The whole thing is worth reading in its entirety.  This is extracted from his excellent book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (available here online):

DEVICE 6. By persuading the soul that the work of repentance is an easy work; and that therefore the soul need not make such a matter of sin. Why! Suppose you do sin, says Satan, it is no such difficult thing to return, and confess, and be sorrowful, and beg pardon, and cry, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me!’ and if you do but this, God will forgive your debt, and pardon your sins, and save your souls.

By this device Satan draws many a soul to sin, and makes many millions of souls servants of sin, or rather slaves to sin.

Remedy (1). The first remedy is, seriously to consider, That repentance is a mighty work, a difficult work, a work that is above our power. There is no power below that power which raised Christ from the dead, and which made the world—which can break the heart of a sinner, or turn the heart of a sinner! You are as well able to melt adamant, as to melt your own heart; to turn a flint into flesh, as to turn your own heart to the Lord; to raise the dead and to make a world, as to repent. Repentance is a flower wich does not grow in nature’s garden! ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.’ (Jer. 13:23). Repentance is a gift that comes down from above. Men are not born with repentance in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: (Acts 5:31): ‘Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior—to give repentance.’ Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26) It is not in the power of any mortal to repent at pleasure. Some ignorant deluded souls vainly conceit that these five words, ‘Lord! have mercy upon me,’ are efficacious to send them to heaven; but as many are undone by buying a counterfeit jewel, so many are in hell by mistake of their repentance. Many rest in their repentance, which caused on to say, ‘Repentance damns more than sin!’ It was a vain brag of king Cyrus, that caused it to be written upon his tombstone, ‘I can do all things!’ So could Paul, too—but it was ‘through Christ, who strengthened him.’

Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider of the nature of true repentance. Repentance is some other thing, than what vain men conceive. The Hebrew word for repentance signifies to return, implying a going back from what a man had done. It denotes a turning or converting from one thing to another, from sin to God. The Greeks have two words by which they express the nature of repentance, one signifies to be careful, anxious, solicitous, after a thing is done; the other word denotes after-wisdom, the mind’s recovering of wisdom, or growing wiser after our folly. True repentance is a thorough change both of the mind and life. Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from sin. “If you repent with a contradiction,” says Tertullian, “God will pardon you with a contradiction; if you repent and yet continue in your sin, God will pardon you, and yet send you to hell—there is a pardon with a contradiction. Negative goodness serves no man’s turn, to save him from the axe.”

Repentance is sometimes taken, in a more strict and narrow sense, for godly sorrow; sometimes repentance is taken, in a large sense, for amendment of life. Repentance has in it three things, namely, the act, subject, and terms.

(1) The formal ACT of repentance is a changing and converting. It is often set forth in Scripture by turning. ‘Turn me, and I shall be turned,’ says Ephraim; ‘after I was turned, I repented,’ says he (Jer. 31:18, 19). It is a turning from darkness to light.

(2) The SUBJECT changed and converted is the whole man; it is both the sinner’s heart and life: first his heart, then his life; first his person, then his practice and lifestyle. ‘Wash, be clean,’ there is the change of their persons; ‘Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well’ (Is. 1:16, 17); there is the change of their practices. ‘Cast away,’ says Ezekiel, ‘all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed;’ there is the change of the life; ‘and make you a new heart and a new spirit’ (18:31); there is the change of the heart.

(3) The TERMS of this change and conversion, from which and to which both heart and life must be changed; from sin to God. The heart must changed from the state and power of sin, the life from the acts of sin—but both unto God; the heart to be under his power in a state of grace, the life to be under his rule in all new obedience; and the apostle speaks, ‘To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God’ (Acts 26:18). So the prophet Isaiah says, ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord’ (55:7).

Thus much of the nature of evangelical repentance. Now, souls, tell me whether it be such an easy thing to repent, as Satan does suggest. Besides what has been spoken, I desire that you will take notice, that repentance does include turning from the most darling sin. Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ (Hosea 14:8). Yes, it is a turning from all sin to God (Ezek. 18:30): ‘Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.’

Herod turned from many—but turned not from his Herodias, which was his ruin. Judas turned from all visible wickedness, yet he would not cast out that golden devil ‘covetousness’, and therefore was cast into the hottest place in hell. He who turns not from every sin, turns not aright from any one sin. Every sin strikes at the honor of God, the being of God, the glory of God, the heart of Christ, the joy of the Spirit, and the peace of a man’s conscience; and therefore a soul truly penitent strikes at all, hates all, conflicts with all, and will labor to draw strength from a crucified Christ to crucify all sins. A true penitent knows neither father nor mother, neither right eye nor right hand—but will pluck out the one and cut off the other. Saul spared but one Agag, and that cost him his soul and his kingdom (1 Sam. 15:9).

Besides, repentance is not only a turning from all sin—but also a turning to all good; to a love of all good, to a prizing of all good, and to a following after all good (Ezek. 18:21): ‘But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.’ Mere negative righteousness and holiness is neither true righteousness nor true holiness. The evil servant did not use his one talent in debauchery (Matt. 25:18). Those reprobates (Matt. 25:41-45), did not rob the saints—but merely did not help them. For this they must eternally perish.

David fulfilled all the will of God, and had respect unto all his commandments, and so had Zacharias and Elizabeth. It is not enough that the tree does not bear bad fruit; but it must bring forth good fruit, else it must be ‘cut down and cast into the fire’ (Luke 13:7). So it is not enough that you are not thus and thus wicked—but you must be thus and thus gracious and godly, else divine justice will put the axe of divine vengeance to the root of your souls, and cut you off forever. ‘The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’ (Matt. 3:10). Besides, repentance does include a sensibleness of sin’s sinfulness—how opposite and contrary sin is to the blessed God. God is light, sin is darkness; God is life, sin is death; God is heaven, sin is hell; God is beauty, sin is deformity.

Also true repentance includes a sensibleness of sin’s destructiveness; how it cast angels out of heaven, and Adam out of paradise; how it laid the first cornerstone in hell, and brought in all the curses, crosses, and miseries, that are in the world; and how it makes men liable to all temporal, spiritual and eternal wrath; how it has made men Godless, Christless, hopeless and heavenless.

Further, true repentance includes sorrow for sin, contrition of heart. It breaks the heart with sighs, and sobs, and groans—that by sin—a loving God and Father is offended; a blessed Savior afresh crucified, and the sweet Comforter, the Spirit, grieved and vexed.

Again, repentance does include, not only a loathing of sin—but also a loathing of ourselves for sin. As a man does not only loathe poison—but he loathes the very dish or vessel that has the smell of the poison; so a true penitent does not only loathe his sin—but he loathes himself, the vessel that smells of it; so Ezek. 20:43: ‘And there shall you remember your ways and all your doings, wherein you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.’ True repentance will work your hearts, not only to loathe your sins—but to loathe yourselves.

True repentance is a sorrowing for sin, as it is an offence to God and against God. Repentance both comes from God, and drives a man to God, as it did the church in the Canticles, and the prodigal.

Again, true repentance does not only work a man to loathe himself for his sins—but it makes him ashamed of his sin also: ‘What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed?’ says the apostle (Rom. 6:21). So Ezekiel: ‘And you shall be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God’ (16:63). When a penitent soul sees his sins pardoned, the anger of God pacified, the divine justice satisfied, then he sits down and blushes, as one ashamed. ‘So much the more God has been displeased with the blackness of sin, the more will he be pleased with the blushing of the sinner’ (Bernard). Those who do not burn now in zeal against sin must before long burn in hell for sin.

Yes, true repentance makes a man to deny his sinful self, and to walk contrary to sinful self, to take a holy revenge upon sin, as you may see in Paul, the jailor, Mary Magdalene, and Manasseh. This the apostle shows in 2 Cor. 7:10, 11: ‘Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.’

Now souls, sum up all these things together, and tell me whether it would be such an easy thing to repent as Satan would make the soul to believe, and I am confident your heart will answer that it is as hard a thing to repent as it is to make a world, or raise the dead!

I shall conclude this second remedy with a worthy saying of a precious holy man: ‘Repentance,’ says he, ’strips us stark naked of all the garments of the old Adam, and leaves not so much as a shirt behind.’ In this rotten building it leaves not a stone upon a stone. As the flood drowned Noah’s own friends and servants, so must the flood of repenting tears drown our sweetest and most darling sins.

Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is seriously to consider, That repentance is a continued act. The word repent implies the continuation of it. Anselm confesses, that all his life was either damnable for sin committed, or unprofitable for good omitted; and at last concludes, “Oh, what then remains, but in our whole life—but to lament the sins of our whole life.” True repentance inclines a man’s heart to perform God’s statutes always, even unto the end. A true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; he must never stand still nor turn back. Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation as well as other graces. True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing: ‘My sin is ever before me’ (Psalm 51:3). A true penitent is often casting his eyes back to the days of his former vanity, and this makes him morning and evening to ‘water his couch with his tears.’ ‘Remember not against me the sins of my youth,’ says one blessed penitent; and ‘I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man,’ says another penitent.

Repentance is a continued act of turning, a repentance never to be repented of, a turning never to turn again to folly. A true penitent has ever something within him to turn from; he can never get near enough to God; no, not so near him as once he was; and therefore he is still turning and turning that he may get nearer and nearer to him, who is his chief good and his only happiness, optimum maximum, the best and the greatest. They are every day a-crying out, ‘O wretched men that we are, who shall deliver us from this body of death!’ (Rom. 7:24). They are still sensible of sin, and still conflicting with sin, and still sorrowing for sin, and still loathing of themselves for sin. Repentance is no transient act—but a continued act of the soul.

And tell me, O tempted soul, whether it be such an easy thing as Satan would make you believe, to be every day a-turning more and more from sin, and a-turning nearer and nearer to God, your choicest blessedness. A true penitent can as easily content himself with one act of faith, or one act of love, as he can content himself with one act of repentance.

A Jewish Rabbi, pressing the practice of repentance upon his disciples, and exhorting them to be sure to repent the day before they died, one of them replied, that the day of any man’s death was very uncertain. ‘Repent, therefore, every day,’ said the Rabbi, ‘and then you shall be sure to repent the day before you die.’ You are wise, and know how to apply it to your own advantage.

Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is solemnly to consider, That if the work of repentance were such an easy work as Satan would make it to be, then certainly so many would not lie roaring and crying out of wrath and eternal ruin under the horrors and terrors of conscience, for not repenting! Yes, doubtless, so many millions would not go to hell for not repenting, if it were such an easy thing to repent. Ah, do not poor souls under horror of conscience cry out and say, Were all this world a lump of gold, and in our hand to dispose of—we would give it for the least particle of true repentance! And will you say it is an easy thing to repent?

When a poor sinner, whose conscience is awakened, shall judge the exchange of all the world for the least particle of repentance to be the happiest exchange that ever a sinner made; tell me, O soul, is it good going to hell? Is it good dwelling with the devouring fire, with everlasting burnings? Is it good to be forever separated from the blessed and glorious presence of God, and saints, and to be forever shut out from those good things of eternal life, which are so many, that they exceed number; so great, that they exceed measure; so precious, that they exceed all estimation? We know it is the greatest misery that can befall the sons of men; and would they not prevent this by repentance, if it were such an easy thing to repent as Satan would have it?

Well, then, do not run the hazard of losing God, Christ, heaven, and your soul forever, by hearkening to this device of Satan—that is, that it is an easy thing to repent. If it be so easy, why, then, do wicked men’s hearts so rise against those who press the doctrine of repentance upon them in the sweetest way, and by the strongest and the choicest arguments that the Scriptures afford? And why do they kill two at once: the faithful laborer’s name and their own souls, by their wicked words and actings, because they are put upon repenting, which Satan tells them is so easy a thing? Surely, were repentance so easy, wicked men would not be so much enraged when that doctrine is, by evangelical considerations, pressed upon them.

“If you be backward in the thoughts of repentance, be forward in the thoughts of hell, the flames whereof only the streams of the penitent eye can extinguish” (Tertullian). “Oh, how shall you tear and rend yourself! how shall you lament fruitless repenting! What will you say? Woe is me, that I have not cast off the burden of sin; woe is me, that I have not washed away my spots—but am now pierced with my iniquities; now have I lost the surpassing joy of angels!” (Basil).

Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is seriously to consider, That to repent of sin is as great a work of grace, as not to sin. (Yet it is better to be kept from sin than cured of sin by repentance; as it is better for a man to be preserved from a disease than to be cured of the disease.) By our sinful falls—the powers of the soul are weakened; the strength of grace is decayed; our evidences for heaven are blotted; fears and doubts in the soul are raised (will God once more pardon this scarlet sin, and show mercy to this wretched soul?); the corruptions in the heart are more advantaged and confirmed; and the conscience of a man after falls is the more enraged or the more benumbed. Now for a soul, notwithstanding all this, to repent of his falls—this shows that it is as great a work of grace to repent of sin as it is not to sin.

Repentance is the vomit of the soul; and of all purgatives, none so difficult and hard as it is to vomit. The same means that tends to preserve the soul from sin, the same means works the soul to rise by repentance when it is fallen into sin. We know the mercy and loving-kindness of God is one special means to keep the soul from sin; as David spoke, ‘I am constantly aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked.’ (Psalm 26:3-5). So by the same means the soul is raised by repentance out of sin, as you may see in Mary Magdalene, who loved much, and wept much, because much was forgiven her (Luke 7:37-39). So those in Hosea: ‘Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence.’ (Hos. 6:1, 2); as the Hebrew has it, ‘in his favor’. Confidence in God’s mercy and love, that he would heal them, and bind up their wounds, and revive their dejected spirits, and cause them to live in his favor, was that which worked their hearts to repent and return unto him.

I might further show you this truth in many other particulars—but this may suffice: only remember this in the general, that there is as much of the power of God, and love of God, and faith in God, and fear of God, and care to please God, zeal for the glory of God (2 Cor. 7:11) requisite to work a man to repent of sin, as there is to keep a man from sin; by which you may easily judge, that to repent of sin is as great a work as not to sin. And now tell me, O soul, is it an easy thing not to sin? We know then certainly it is not an easy thing to repent of sin.

Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That he who now tempts you to sin upon this account, that repentance is easy, will, before long, to work you to despair, and forever to break the neck of your soul, present repentance as the most difficult and hardest work in the world; and to this purpose he will set your sins in order before you, and make them to say, ‘We are yours, and we must follow you.’ Bede tells of a certain great man that was admonished in his sickness to repent, who answered that he would not repent yet; for if he should recover, his companions would laugh at him; but growing more and more sick, his friends pressed him again to repent—but then he told them it was too late, for now, said he; I am judged and condemned.

Now, Satan will help to work the soul to look up, and see God angry; and to look inward, and to see conscience accusing and condemning; and to look downwards, and see hell’s mouth open to receive the impenitent soul: and all this to render the work of repentance impossible to the soul. What, says Satan, do you think that that is easy which the whole power of grace cannot conquer while we are in this world? Is it easy, says Satan, to turn from some outward act of sin to which you have been addicted? Do you not remember that you have often complained against such and such particular sins, and resolved to leave them? And yet, to this hour, you have not, you cannot! What will it then be to turn from every sin? Yes, to mortify and cut off those sins, those darling lusts, which are as joints and limbs, which are as right hands and right eyes? Have you not loved your sins above your Savior? Have you not preferred earth before heaven? Have you not all along neglected the means of grace? and despised the offers of grace? and vexed the Spirit of grace? There would be no end, if I would set before you the infinite evils that you have committed, and the innumerable good services that you have omitted, and the frequent checks of your own conscience that you have condemned; and therefore you may well conclude that you can never repent, that you shall never repent.

Now, says Satan, do but a little consider your numberless sins, and the greatness of your sins, the foulness of your sins, the heinousness of your sins, the circumstances of your sins—and you shall easily see that those sins that you thought to be but motes, are indeed mountains; and is it not now in vain to repent of them? Surely, says Satan, if you should seek repentance and grace with tears, as Esau, you shall not find it! Your sand has run through the hour-glass, your sun has set, the door of mercy is shut, the golden scepter is withdrawn; and now you that have despised mercy, shall be forever destroyed by justice. For such a wretch as you are to attempt repentance is to attempt a thing impossible. It is impossible that you, that in all your life could never conquer one sin, should master such a numberless number of sins; which are so near, so dear, so necessary, and so profitable to you, that have so long bedded and boarded with you, that have been old acquaintance and companions with you. Have you not often purposed, promised, vowed, and resolved to enter upon the practice of repentance—but to this day could never attain it? Surely it is in vain to strive against the stream, where it is so impossible to overcome; you are lost and cast off forever; to hell you must go, to hell you shall go! Ah, souls! he who now tempts you to sin, by suggesting to you the easiness of repentance, will at last work you to despair, and present repentance as the hardest work in all the world, and a work as far above man as heaven is above hell, as light is above darkness. Oh that you were wise, to break off your sins by timely repentance. Repentance is a work that must be timely done, or utterly undone forever.

Tags: easy work, Precious Remedies, repentance, Satan's Devices, Thomas Brooks, True Repentance

Barabbas

Tags: Barabbas, Barrabas, corrupt, eternal punishment, Gospel, grace, is that justice?, proud, rebellious, sinful, ungodly, unholy, video, wicked, youtube

DEATH IS NOT DYING – RACHEL BARKEY

My wife and I watched this video last night.  If you have not seen it yet, watch it.  It is just a little under an hour long, and is not only an amazing testimony to God’s grace in our suffering, but is a clear presentation of the gospel.  Her four points are:

1) Know God.

2) Know yourself.

3) Know the gospel.

4) Know your purpose.

From her web site:

Rachel’s story is not unlike what thousands of women around the world have experienced. A diagnosis that changes a woman’s life and inevitably takes from her what we consider to be most precious.

After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that’s why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.

Please take an hour and watch and listen to what Rachel has to say.  Watch it with a loved one.  Watch it with an unbeliever.  And see the power of the gospel in action, the life of faith lived out. 

Thank you, Lord, for the testimony of your saints and for Your Light in the darkness.

Tags: Barkey, breast cancer, cancer, darkness, death, Death is not Dying, deathisnotdying.com, dying, essence, essence of life, faith, four points, God's grace, hour, Jesus, know god, know the gospel, know your purpose, know yourself, life, Light, light in the darkness, Rachel, Rachel Barkey, saints, suffering, terminal cancer, Testimony

If I wear a wedding ring and carry a picture of a woman in my wallet, and tell you that I’m married, would you believe me?  Does that mean that I really am – beyond a shadow of a doubt – married, as I say I am?  What if I just bought the ring at a pawn shop, got a photo of a woman I may or may have never met, and made up the rest?  Does just the ring, the picture, and the story make me a husband?

If I wear a uniform and carry a weapon on my belt, and tell you that I am a soldier, would you believe me?  Does that mean that I really am – beyond a shadow of a doubt – enlisted, as I say I am?  What if I just bought the uniform at a used clothing store, and the weapon at a pawn shop, and simply made up the rest?  Does just the uniform, the weapon, and the story make me a soldier?

Could I, in the same way, impersonate a parent, a teacher, and a priest?  Carrying a child’s picture and telling stories does not necessarily make me a father.  Nor does carrying a grade book and a stack of books necessarily make me a teacher, although I sure might look like one.  And carrying a Bible and dressing a certain way may help me look like a minister, but aside from appearances, really it means nothing.

And here’s the thing.  This world is full of impersonators… deceivers… liars!  What is really scary is that people often get so used to their own fabrications that they mostly believe it themselves.  But what is that *really* makes a person a soldier, a spouse, a parent, a teacher, or a pastor?  What is the key ingredient that moves the profession from something I say to something I really am?

In a word: Service.

One is not really a soldier unless he truly serves his country.

One is not really a husband unless he truly serves his bride.

One is not really a father unless he is truly serving his children.

One is not really a teacher unless he is truly serving his students.

One is not really a pastor unless he is truly serving his congregation.

(As a note, this is not a gender-specific message.  I tried writing that in a more gender-neutral way but it came out very awkward and wordy, so please feel free to restate them for your own gender.  Thanks!)

The thing that makes a real soldier, a real husband, a real father, a real teacher, a real pastor… is service.  The same is true of what makes a real Christian.  And who is the real Christian serving?  The answer should be obvious:  One is not really a Christian unless he is truly serving Christ.

Perhaps the best question we can ask is, “What exactly is service?”

First, it is outward in its focus.  It focuses on the one being served.

Second, it is specific.  It renders whatever is necessary to satisfy the needs of the one being served.

Third, it is sacrificial.  It is not selfish or superficial, but seeks what is best for the one being served.  It is, in essence, a giving away of oneself to the one who is being served.

If the key ingredient, then, to being genuine and not counterfeit in these roles is service… what is the determining factor of success in this endeavor, and by success I simply mean the spirit to overcome and persevere when the way is hard and the rewards are few?  It is the desire and the direction of the heart. When an individual is truly committed to the one(s) for whom he is serving – regardless of his sacrifice, irrespective of his gain – then he has assurance in his own heart the desire and direction thereof; his conscience is clean and his service is pure. It is when one has been called to a role of service, however, and they do not serve outwardly, specifically, and sacrificially — and when the desire and the direction of their heart is not for the one they serve but for themselves — that every manner of dissatisfaction will manifest itself in the servant, hindering their joy in serving and rendering their service unsavory.

Take heed!  If you claim to be a Christian, but are not consumed with serving Christ and finding joy in serving Him, then you need to ask yourself what is it that your heart is *really* desiring and directed toward?  And while your soul’s eternal destiny is important, yes, I think it is far more important that we serve our glorious King with a joyful heart and humble obedience.  Our motivation should be our love for Him.  The Great Exchange (our sin for His righteousness, our eternal death for His eternal life) is glorious indeed!  But our focus should not be so much on what we have obtained, for we are not worthy of what we have received.  Our focus should be on Him who called us out of darkeness, for He is absolutely worthy and deserving of at least your heart, and your service to Him is the supreme act of worship, the testament of your love.

Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…

Deuteronomy 11:13
“And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul…

Deuteronomy 13:1-4
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 30:6
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Joshua 22:5
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

1 Kings 8:23
and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

2 Chronicles 6:14
and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

Matthew 22:37
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Mark 12:30
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

2 John 1:6
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

Tags: Am I really a Christian?, belt, Christian, clothing store, counterfeit, desire, direction, Father, genuine, heart, husband, impersonator, Jesus, minister, parent, pastor, pawn shop, ring, Service, shadow of a doubt, soldier, spouse, stories, teacher, uniform, wallet, weapon

What if you signed up for the military but did not show up for boot camp?  Or how about if you showed up, but were insubordinate and refused to participate?  What if you made it through boot camp, but refused to go on any missions or deployments… basically refused to serve however your commanders saw fit?  What would happen?  (And what if everyone who signed up was like that?)

What if you were hired for a job, but you refused to work?  Or maybe you decided you would just show when you felt like it, wouldn’t call in, and wouldn’t answer calls from the office?  Would you expect to keep your job?  (And what if everyone who was hired worked like that?)

What if you were a student, but you never went to class?  Refused to take notes, study, take tests, etc.?  Would you expect to pass and get a degree?  (And what if everyone who went to school studied like that?)

What if you were a husband (or a wife) and decided that after you got married, you would continue to pursue other people?  Or only go home when you felt like it?  Would it affect your marriage?  (And what if everyone who got married acted like that?)

What if you were a parent and decided that raising your kids was just too difficult and time consuming, so you just checked out (either emotionally or physically) and let someone else take care of it?  Would it make a difference to your kids?  (And what if everyone who had children did the same?)

Now, what if you were the commander, the employer, the teacher, the spouse, or the child of such a one?  Would you be satisfied with this sort of lack of commitment?  I doubt it.  What are some things you might hear (or have heard) people who shirk their responsibilities and obligations like that called?  And yet, our society is filled – FILLED – with people who call themselves Christians, but who show the same lack of commitment, lack of respect, lack of reverence, and lack of obedience as every one of the examples above.  They do not show up for service, they reject every form of training, they selfishly pursue their own interests, have no desire for knowledge, reject the house of the bridegroom, and live in adultery rather than in covenant… they do not obey, listen to, or desire to hear the voice of the Lord.  They may claim to belong to God with their words, but everything about their life testifies against them. 

What do you say to such a one?  If you truly belong to the Lord and are in covenant with Him, you will live like it.  You will not live selfishly to yourself, a heart full of vain conceit – NO!  You will live for the very God who gave you life if you have any understanding at all.  You will read your Bible, repent over sin, pray to your Father, talk about Christ, live in the body that our Lord gave His life for, renounce worldly things, despise evil, and cry bitter tears for the lost and the dead that surround you.  If you are not doing these consistently, then you should have no confidence that you belong to Him at all.  If you are not living your life for Him, you have no assurance that His death was for you. 

I do not say these things judgmentally, but beloved I urge you as the apostles of old urged that with fear and trembling you examine yourself before the Lord and judge yourself rightly before you stand before the living God in judgment.  Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.  And is not the conduct the more telling declaration that shows someone to be a soldier, a teacher, a spouse, a worker?  Why should you think any differently about your conduct in Christ?  If you find that the truth is not in you, throw yourself upon Christ and weep and wail for His mercy.  For if you do not have that, you do not have anything.

Tags: Christ, Christian, Dead, Deadbeat, Deceiver, Deserter, Isaiah 59, marriage, parent, spouse, student, teacher

I was reading a really good article yesterday by Nicholas Batzig entitled “God’s Obedient Son”. This paper is worth reading in its entirety, but here I will only include a snippet.

<snip>

There are several defining moments in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ that deserve the deepest and most serious consideration. His baptism at the Jordan, His temptation in the wilderness, His transfiguration, His agony in Gethsemane and His sufferings on the cross are the most significant points in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The baptism and temptation are singular in their importance because of the representative character which they portray. In order to fully understand any subsequent act in the life of Christ the central importance of these two inaugural events must first be discerned.

Matthew, Mark and Luke each collectively bear witness to the fact that the wilderness temptation occurred immediately after Jesus was baptized. His baptism was nothing less than identification with those for whom He came to die. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus needed no repentance, but He underwent it to show that He was the sin-bearing representative of His people. It was most likely also the Messianic anointing with which His public ministry was inaugurated. This event, for the first time in human history, led to the unfolding of the mystery of the Trinity. There at the Jordan, the Father pronounced his declaration of delight over the Son, as the Spirit descended upon Him. The readers’ mind must reach back to the first manifestation of the Spirit, where, at the creation of the world, He is said to have hovered over the waters that the Father and Son spoke into existence. The declaration of the Father at Jesus’ baptism was meant to carry the Son through His entire ministry, especially through the atoning death He was to endure on the cross. The declaration that Jesus was the Father’s beloved Son, is put both to Jesus and to those who were present at the baptism. Jesus was obeying the Father by undergoing a baptism of repentance–a “repentance” that He alone, of all mankind, did not need. As the representative of His people, Jesus was obeying what His Father had commanded Israel to do, and was therefore well pleasing to Him. He was, in brief, the second Adam doing all that the Father commanded His people to do.

</snip>

For some reason when I read that, what really just jumped out and grabbed my attention was the statement, “This event, for the first time in human history, led to the unfolding mystery of the Trinity.”  This got me to thinking about something I remember from my college days.  I remember from physics something about sound does not exist in a vacuum.  I looked this up and sure enough, this is what I found:

Why can’t sound travel in the vacuum of space?

Answer

Sound travels in waves by making molecules vibrate within the environment they are emitted (water/air). There must be something for molecules to travel through causing the vibrations necessary to stimulate the structures within your ears. Since there are no molecules to vibrate in space, sounds have no way to be transfered from the source of the sound. Even if “sound” could exist in space, we would not be able to “hear” it.

Sound is mechanical energy.

Mechanical energy, generated by whatever means (a vibrating string, a hammer blow, a rock falling into water), travels in a medium. The actual energy is transferred into the medium in order to move away from the source. The medium actually carries the mechanical energy of the sound after it is “put into” that medium. If there is no medium into which to transfer the energy, the sound cannot exist. A string could vibrate in the vacuum of space, and the “source energy” would be there, but the energy would not “go anywhere” because of the lack of a medium.

(from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_can%27t_sound_travel_in_the_vacuum_of_space)

Now, I’m not a physicist and science was not exactly my strong suit, but I thought that this was very interesting.  Sound cannot exist in a vacuum… there must be some “substance” or “atmosphere” to carry the sound.  Now, the Hebrew word for Spirit is Ruach, which can also mean “wind” or “breath”.  We know, also, that to speak words, we ourselves need not only atmosphere, but air from our very lungs to carry the sound from our throats.  We also need some intelligence, so that the sounds we make with our throats and airways get shaped correctly by our lips and tongues so that instead of just making unintelligible sounds that mean nothing to another person, they carry meaning.  When I form the sounds for “banana” and speak that word aloud, anyone who speaks English at a basic level probably makes several associations with that sound.  One might think of the color yellow, of fruit, the smell and the taste of a banana… that is because the “hearer” of the word has some knowledge of the thing being spoken of, and the abstract term “banana” carries with it a whole set of substantiating ideas and elements of knowledge.  When I say the word “banana” to you and you know what I’m talking about, I am not speaking into a void.  However, if someone were to say “banana” in another language to me, it is very unlikely any of those associations would come to my mind.

Now, I know that is a bit abstract, and I do not intend to get into cognitive theories of language or anything like that.  The main principle I wish to keep in mind here is that there really are three basic units involved in the speaking process, and I mean that independently of the hearing and understanding process.  First, there must be the idea.  This exists before the sound emission.  It is “a priori”.  Second, there must exist the “medium” (or the “substance” or ‘atmosphere” for lack of a better term to my unscientific mind) to carry the sound.  And then, the sound itself.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:2  The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Gen 1:3  Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Is this at all reflected in these first three passages of Genesis?  It seems to me that it is.  Now, let us reflect again on the nature of the Trinity regarding the baptism of Christ when the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and the voice spoke from Heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  Mr. Batzig said, “This event, for the first time in human history, led to the unfolding mystery of the Trinity.”  I think he is absolutely right, and yet the mystery was present even “In the beginning.”

Now, I think it is also worth noting what John says in the beginning of His gospel.  The first five verses of the gospel of John say this:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Joh 1:4  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
Joh 1:5  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Who was this Word?  Who was this Light?  It would be hard to mistake the Apostle here; it is none other than Jesus Christ.  “He was in the beginning with God.”  He was not a created being, but is the very revelation of the mind of God.  We know that God the Father is Spirit, invisible, eternal; and as we study our Bible and our favorite systematic theologies we learn about some of His great communicable (and incommunicable) attributes.  But all of our knowledge of God is but a drop in the ocean, or a grain of sand in the desert.  Anything we know about God is purely a gift of grace… the outworking of the revelation of the Son by the Father through the means of the Holy Spirit.  Without the work of the Spirit, our minds are like a vacuum — the Word is neither heard nor understood.  And without Christ, there is neither Word nor Light to see or comprehend.  God the Father would be completely unknowable were it not for the Triune interaction in revelation.

And implicit in what I just said in that last paragraph is the means of understanding.  For understanding to occur, there must be a means to understand.  When you and I speak, there must be agreement between us on the sounds and syllables and meanings conveyed or no real communication takes place.  If the words that I use or the language that I speak are unintelligible to you, then the lack of knowledgable agreement in the transmission of the message renders the content of the communication as worthless.  If you can understand nothing of which I wish to communicate, then you receive no benefit from the attempt to communicate.  And such, unfortunately, is the state of the unbeliever, in whom the Holy Spirit does not dwell and who is unable to understand (or comprehend) “the Word”.

As Paul states so perfectly in his first epistle to the Corinthians:

1Co 2:1  And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
1Co 2:3  I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
1Co 2:4  and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1Co 2:5  so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
1Co 2:6   Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
1Co 2:7  but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
1Co 2:8  the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
1Co 2:9  but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1Co 2:10  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
1Co 2:11  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
1Co 2:13  which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
1Co 2:14   But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
1Co 2:15  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
1Co 2:16  For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

“The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  No one may understand the mind of the Lord; unless the Spirit has opened their eyes and “breathed” new life into them, they are as dead to the things of the Spirit of God as a room full of corpses would be to a Physics lesson no more how gifted the teacher might be.  Yet our Lord Jesus Christ came to give life, to call it forth from death itself, to reveal the mind and the glory of God, to die the death for His chosen and suffer God’s wrath in their place, and to deliver the gift of the Spirit so that those things may be understood.  What a great SAVIOR we have in Christ!  Listen to Him speak as He explains these things to His disciples just before He prays His great prayer on their behalf just prior to His betrayal:

Joh 16:3  “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
Joh 16:4  “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Joh 16:5   “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
Joh 16:6  “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
Joh 16:7  “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
Joh 16:8  “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
Joh 16:9  concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
Joh 16:10  and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
Joh 16:11  and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
Joh 16:12   “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
Joh 16:14  “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
Joh 16:15  “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

If God has granted you the Spirit by which to understand the revelation of His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, then praise Him and follow Him.  HE is the eternal life.  If, however, the things of the Spirit are confusing to you, and difficult to discern, then seek His mercy.  Cry out to Him and plead with Him for understanding.  Beg for Him to reveal Himself to you through the person of the Son, by the power of the Spirit.  Call out to Christ.

Act 4:8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people,
Act 4:9  if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,
Act 4:10  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead–by this name this man stands here before you in good health.
Act 4:11  “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone.
Act 4:12  “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is no other name under heaven that has been given by which we MUST be saved!

Amen.

Tags: Acts, agony in Gethsemane, Alfred Edersheim, baptism, communication, Corinthians, Gethsemane, God's Obedient Son, Gospel, John, knowledge, Nicholas Batzig, Peter, physics, salvation, sin-bearing, Sound in a Vacuum, Spirit, temptation, things of the Spirit of God, Trinity

I read this choice little exposition from Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark and thought it was worth sharing.

Mark chapter 4

Mark 4:1-20

These verses contain the parable of the sower. Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable.

The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, “it needs application, not exposition.” Let us now see what it teaches.

We are taught, in the first place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the wayside in a field.

These are they who hear sermons, but pay no attention to them. They go to a place of worship, for form or fashion, or to appear respectable before men. But they take no interest whatever in the preaching. It seems to them a mere matter of words and names, and unintelligible talk. It is neither money, nor food, nor drink, nor clothes, nor company; and as they sit under the sound of it, they are taken up with thinking of other things. It matters nothing whether it is Law or Gospel. It produces no more effect on them than water on a stone. And at the end they go away, knowing no more than when they came in.

There are myriads of professing Christians in this state of soul. There is hardly a church or chapel, where scores of them are not to be found. Sunday after Sunday they allow the devil to catch away the good seed that is sown on the surface of their hearts. Week after week they live on, without faith, or fear, or knowledge, or grace–feeling nothing, caring nothing, taking no more interest in religion, than if Christ had never died on the cross at all. And in this state they often die and are buried, and are lost forever in hell. This is a mournful picture, but only too true.

We are taught, in the second place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel whose hearts are like the stony ground in a field.

These are they on whom preaching produces temporary impressions, but no deep, lasting, and abiding effect. They take pleasure in hearing sermons in which the truth is faithfully set forth. They can speak with apparent joy and enthusiasm about the sweetness of the Gospel, and the happiness which they experience in listening to it. They can be moved to tears by the appeals of preachers, and talk with apparent earnestness of their own inward conflicts, hopes, struggles, desires, and fears. But unhappily there is no stability about their religion. “They have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time.” There is no real work of the Holy Spirit within their hearts. Their impressions are like Jonah’s gourd, which came up in a night and perished in a night. They fade as rapidly as they grow. No sooner does “affliction and persecution arise for the word’s sake,” than they fall away. Their goodness proves as “the morning cloud, and the early dew.” (Hosea 6:4.) Their religion has no more life in it than the cut flower. It has no root, and soon withers away.

There are many in every congregation which hears the Gospel, who are just in this state of soul. They are not careless and inattentive hearers, like many around them, and are therefore tempted to think well of their own condition. They feel a pleasure in the preaching to which they listen, and therefore flatter themselves they must have grace in their hearts. And yet they are thoroughly deceived. Old things have not yet passed away. There is no real work of conversion in their inward man. With all their feelings, affections, joys, hopes, and desires, they are actually on the high road to destruction.

We are taught, in the third place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the thorny ground in a field.

These are they who attend to the preaching of Christ’s truth, and to a certain extent obey it. Their understanding assents to it. Their judgment approves of it. Their conscience is affected by it. Their affections are in favor of it. They acknowledge that it is all right, and good, and worthy of all reception. They even abstain from many things which the Gospel condemns, and adopt many habits which the Gospel requires. But here unhappily they stop short. Something appears to chain them fast, and they never get beyond a certain point in their religion. And the grand secret of their condition is the WORLD. “The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things,” prevent the word having its full effect on their souls. With everything apparently that is promising and favorable in their spiritual state, they stand still. They never come up to the full standard of New Testament Christianity. They bring no fruit to perfection.

There are few faithful ministers of Christ who could not point to cases like these. Of all cases they are the most melancholy. To go so far and yet go no further–to see so much and yet not see all–to approve so much and yet not give Christ the heart, this is indeed most deplorable! And there is but one verdict that can be given about such people. Without a decided change they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Christ will have all our hearts. “If any man will be a friend of the world, he is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4.)

We are taught, in the last place, that there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the good ground in a field.

These are they who really receive Christ’s truth into the bottom of their hearts, believe it implicitly, and obey it thoroughly. In these the fruits of that truth will be seen–uniform, plain, and unmistakable results in heart and life. SIN will be truly hated, mourned over, resisted, and renounced. CHRIST will be truly loved, trusted in, followed, loved, and obeyed. HOLINESS will show itself in all their life, in humility, spiritual-mindedness, patience, meekness, and charity. There will be something that can be seen. The true work of the Holy Spirit cannot be hidden.

There will always be some people in this state of soul, where the Gospel is faithfully preached. Their numbers may very likely be few, compared to the worldly around them. Their experience and degree of spiritual attainment may differ widely, some bringing forth thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred-fold. But the fruit of the seed falling into good ground will always be of the same kind. There will always be visible repentance, visible faith in Christ, and visible holiness of life. Without these things, there is no saving religion.

And now let us ask ourselves, What are we? Under which class of hearers ought we to be ranked? With what kind of hearts do we hear the word? Never, never may we forget, that there are three ways of hearing without profit, and only one way of hearing aright! Never, never may we forget that there is only one infallible mark of being a right-hearted hearer! That mark is to bear fruit. To be without fruit, is to be in the way to hell.

Tags: exposition, Expository Thoughts, Gospel of Mark, Mark, Mark 4:1-20, ryle, seed, simple mann, simplemann, sower

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up – Like the Serpent

a message preached by John Piper on April 5, 2009

John 3:1-15

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Today is the beginning of Holy Week—a time when we mark the most sacred week in human history—which includes Jesus’ final meal with his apostles when he instituted the Lord’s Supper, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial before Annas and Caiaphas and Pilate, the crucifixion and death of the Son of God, and the resurrection.

In keeping with what’s coming this week—especially Maundy Thursday—I am picking up where we left off in the Gospel of John in chapter three. Only I am jumping forward to verses 14-15 because of how suitable they are. We will go back and deal later with what we are passing over. What we are going to see is one of the most shocking and wonderful pictures that Jesus ever painted of his own death.

Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

Let’s get the flow of thought in our minds. Nicodemus a leader of the Jews comes to Jesus under the cover of night. He says in verse 2 that Jesus is a teacher come from God. Jesus bluntly responds in verse 3 that “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus wonders whether a man can enter into his mother’s womb again and be born.

Jesus answers in verse 5-8 that he is talking about a spiritual birth and that unless you experience it, you will never enter the kingdom of God—you will never be reconciled to God and forgiven and on your way to heaven. Then he adds that the Spirit of God is the one that causes the new birth, not man. And the Spirit is as free as the wind in the way he does it. In verse 9, Nicodemus is still at a loss, and asks, “How can these things be?”

Jesus Marvels

Jesus marvels in verse 10 that a teacher in Israel doesn’t understand this. Then he says in verse 11 that the problem Nicodemus has is that, even though he is hearing reliable testimony from Jesus and others, he doesn’t “receive” the testimony. He is not among the number described in John 1:12—“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Then in verse 12, Jesus says, I have taken you as far as I can, by way of explanation. You can’t go any higher. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” In effect, he is saying, “You keep pressing me for deeper and higher explanations of the new birth. But a heart of unbelief, an unregenerate heart, can’t ascend to the kinds of truth that I have to give you about the new birth.”

Jesus Shifts

Now verse 13 is pivotal. What is Jesus going to do with Nicodemus? What would you do? Is he going to say, “Well, since you don’t get it, Nicodemus, I don’t have any more to say to you”? Come back after you have been born again, and I will give you the explanations you want.

That’s not what Jesus says or does. What he does is hugely important for us to see—important for our own faith and for those we desperately want to see born again. Verse 13 is a shift. Jesus shifts. Before verse 13 he is talking like a witness, a teacher—talking about the new birth like any born-again person might do. And with verse 13, he starts talking about himself not a witness or a teacher who tells people to be born again, but as the Son of Man from heaven who came to do something that makes the new birth possible.

The Basis of the New Birth

Or another way to say it would be that before verse 13 Jesus is talking about the process of the new birth—it’s spiritual, it happens by the work of the Spirit, it comes like the wind, and you can’t explain it. And after verse 13, he is talking about the basis of the new birth in what the Son of Man has come to do. And what is so incredibly helpful is that in this he also tells Nicodemus how to receive the Spirit’s work of the new birth.

Let’s read verse 13. Remember, Jesus has just said in verse 12, “I could give you heavenly explanations, but you can’t receive them.” Then he says, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” In other words, the reason I could give you heavenly explanations is that I have come down from heaven. No man has gone into heaven so that he can do what I do. I was in heaven with the Father, and I have come down. And now I am going tell you what I came to do. And this is the key to answer your question how you can be born again. I will tell you how you can enter the kingdom of heaven (verse 5).

What the Son of Man Came to Do

There are more obstacles to your entering the kingdom than merely your need to be born again, Nicodemus. Something has to happen to remove the wrath of God so that he will release the power of the Spirit to cause you to be born again (see John 3:36). That’s what the Son of Man came to do.

Now Jesus picks an analogy to explain what he came to do that Nicodemus would be familiar with, but it is shocking that he would pick it to describe his own work. Let’s read verses 14-15,

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Like a Snake?!

Comparing himself with a snake is shocking. Let’s go back and read the story that Jesus is referring to (Numbers 21:4-9):

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Notice a few things: 1) The serpent on the pole is not preventative. It is for bitten people (verse 8). The poison is in them, and without divine intervention they will die. 2) The snakes in the camp are from the Lord. He sent them (verse 6). The wrath of God is on this people for their sin of ingratitude and murmuring and rebellion. 3) The means God chooses to rescue the people from his own curse is a picture of the curse itself. 4) All they have to do in order to be saved from God’s wrath is look at his provision hanging on a pole.

We know that Jesus read the Old Testament believing that it was all pointing to him. There were pointers and types and foreshadowings everywhere. But we might expect him to skip this one. It is shocking to compare the Son of Man to a snake. But Jesus doesn’t skip this one. He goes out of his way to choose it to help Nicodemus. So he says (verses 14-15),

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Five Observations

1) Jesus Is the Son of Man

Jesus is the Son of Man who is lifted up on the cross the way the snake was lifted up. He identifies himself as the Son of Man in John 9:35-37—“‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ [he asks the man he had healed.] He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.’” So when Jesus speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up, he is talking about himself, and his own crucifixion.

2) Jesus Is the Source of Rescue

Jesus, in the place of the snake, is the source of healing, the source of rescue from the poison of sin, and the wrath of God. Jesus is the source of eternal life. Moses lifted up the snake, but Moses is not the rescuer in the way Jesus sets up the comparison. Who lifts up the Son of Man on the cross? “The Son of Man must be lifted up”—by whom?

There is only one place where the lifters are identified in John’s Gospel. They are the Pharisees. John 8:28 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he.’” Who is you? According to John 8:13, it’s the Pharisees. The Pharisees stand in the place of Moses. So Moses is not being treated as a rescuer, a savior. In Numbers, the one who saves is God by means of the snake. And in John, the one who saves is God by means of Jesus.

3) Jesus Is Portrayed as a Curse

Jesus in the place of the snake is portrayed as evil and a curse. This is what is so shocking. The snake is evil. The snakes were killing people. The snake on the pole is a picture of God’s curse on the people. So it was with Jesus. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:2, “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” And in Galatians 3:13, he said, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” In becoming like the snake, he was the embodiment of our sin, and the embodiment of our curse. And in becoming sin and curse for us, he took ours away.

4) Jesus Gives Eternal Life

What he gives us from the cross is eternal life. Verse 14-15: “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” When our sin and God’s wrath are taken away, God is for us totally. And if God is for us, we will never die, but live forever with him in joy.

5) Jesus Crucified Is the One We See

All of this he is saying to Nicodemus, who was very confused about the new birth and how it happens. This is what you say to a person who is not born again. Why? They are dead and blind. Because God ordains to open the eyes of the blind when they have something to see—namely a compelling picture of Jesus crucified for sinners. And what should you do, Nicodemus? What you do today?

Believe in him. Verse 15: “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” What does that mean? What does it involve? What, in this comparison with the snake on a pole, does believe in him mean? It means look to him. The grace of the new birth is our seeing Christ lifted up.

Look!

Do you recall that I have said that John 1:14-16 are functioning like a compass as we trek through this Gospel. Notice how it relates to this story. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . and from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” We behold his glory as he is lifted up on the cross, and in that look we receive grace. Nicodemus, do you want the grace of the new birth? Look!

I don’t know of any better way to make plain the importance of this or the meaning of it than to tell you the story of Charles Spurgeon’s conversion. Here it is in his own words. The day was January 6, 1850. Spurgeon was not quite 16 years old.

I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. . . . The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. . . . He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth [Isaiah 45:22].”

He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus: “My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, ‘Look.’ Now lookin’ don’t take a deal of pain. It ain’t liftin’ your foot or your finger; it is just, ‘Look.’ Well, a man needn’t go to college to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn’t be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look.

“But then the text says, ‘Look unto Me’. . . . Many of ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. Ye will never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the father. No, look to him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Some of ye say, ‘We must wait for the Spirit’s workin’.’ You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, ‘Look unto Me.’”

Then the good man followed up his text in this way: “Look unto Me; I am sweatin’ and great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin’ on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin’ at the Father’s right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! Look unto Me!”

When he had gone to about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I dare say, with so few present he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart he said, “Young man, you look very miserable.” Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, “and you always will be miserable—miserable in life, and miserable in death—if you don’t obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.”

Then lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a primitive Methodists could do, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live.” I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said—I did not take much notice of it—I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, “Look!” What a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could have almost looked my eyes away.

There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to him. . . . And now I can say—

E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And Shall be till I die.

(C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography, Volume 1, 87-88)

Tags: Easter, fiery serpents, John Piper, Lifted Up, Like the Serpent, Methodists, Nicodemus, Piper, sermon, serpent, Son of Man, Spurgeon, teacher

I came across this sermon by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. a couple of weeks ago while looking for some more sermons on Gethsemane.  I found some good ones by Spurgeon, but as Dr. Hymers points out, there is a relative dearth of good, solid sermons regarding the Garden of Gethsemane.  I thought it worth posting what he had to say in its entirety here.  By the way, I apologize for the poor formatting.  I have given up trying to make this look better than it does.  I must here concede my ignorance with the tools I have to work with, but it is still worth the read.