Is the Lord Jesus Christ a stumbling stone and a rock of offense to you? He is to many. Hear the Word of God. - "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." Christ crucified is the precious, foundation stone upon which all believers rest their souls, upon which all believers are built; but to you who believe not, the Lord Jesus Christ is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. What is Christ to you?

There are many who do not believe the testimony of Scripture regarding the death of Christ. Rather than believing on the Son of God unto life everlasting, trusting him alone for redemption and righteousness, the vast majority of religious people in this world stumble over the gospel doctrine of limited atonement, effectual, accomplished redemption, and perish in their sins. They willingly trample the precious blood of Christ under their feet and despise the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29; 1 Pet. 2:6-8).

As he is revealed in Holy Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ is to reprobate, unbelieving, self-righteous men a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense;and this is by divine arrangement. God has so written his Word that reprobate men will get tripped up by it and stumble over the Scriptures asstumbling stones to hell.

God has fixed it, so that those who are determined to cling to their own righteousness, who are determined not to submit themselves to the righteousness of God established by, revealed in, and found in Christ alone, will stumble over him and fall into hell. This is exactly what happened to those Jews described in Romans 9:31-33. Those very same Scriptures which, by the blessing of God the Holy Spirit, are as stair steps to God's elect, are stumbling stones to the reprobate and unbelieving. There are numerous texts of Scripture which are often pointed to, quoted,twisted, and perverted by dishonest blasphemers, by those who are confused by their teachings, to refute the blessed gospel doctrine of Limited Atonement.

Sometimes, when we try to teach people the gospel, explaining passages like John 3:16 and 1 John 2:2, they respond by saying, "'All' means all, 'world' means world, and 'every' means every. When the Bible uses the words 'all' and 'every,' it means everyone, every human being, without exception. When the Bible uses the word 'world' it means everyone, every human being without exception." But that simply is not the case. And the fact that that is not the case is obvious to any one who cares to look. Let me give you one example.

Luke 2:1-3 "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decreefrom Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city."

Obviously, the words "all," "world," and "every," as they are used in this text refer to all within a specific, limited range, a specific group. They refer only to all the world and everyone in it, which was under Caesar's dominion. They have absolutely no bearing upon or reference to you and me.

So, too, when those words are used in reference to the saving purpose of God the Father, the redemptive work of God the Son, and the blessed call of God the Holy Spirit, the words "all," "every," and "world" must be defined by the context in which they are found. It is utterly dishonest to tear them from their context and pervert them into a doctrine that blasphemes the triune God and would rob him of the glory of his grace.

Grace For Today Radio Message #675

I want to tell you the best thing I have ever heard. I know that this word of grace will help you, if you will just listen to me for five minutes. Listen to this word from God himself, "I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isa.43:25). God said that! The Holy, Righteous, and Just God declares that he is a God who forgives sin! My soul, here in good news for me! What a precious word of grace! The God of heaven forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin! He really does. It in written, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psa. 103:12).

Perhaps some of you are right now heavily burdened with the oppressive load of guilt and sin. You think that there in no hope for a sinner so black, so vile, so loathsome an you are. Yes, there is hope for sinners like you and me. Maybe you think to yourself, "How can God forgive my sin?" Let me tell you how it is that God forgives sin.

The Lord God forgives the sins of his people JUSTLY. "He in faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (I John l:9). By the substitutionary sacrifice of his own Son in the place of sinners, imputing our sins to Christ and punishing him for our sins, God has satisfied his own justice for us. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who know no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Cor. 5:21). Now, through the sacrifice of Christ, God is both just and the Justifier of every believer. God forgives sin freely. He requires nothing from us, either by way of punishment or retribution. The sinner in not required to suffer anything, or to do anything, or to give anything to obtain this forgiveness. It is the free gift of God. The Lord God has FULLY forgiven all the sins of all his people through the merits of Christ's blood and righteousness. All of our sins, past, present, and future, sins of the heart sins of the mind and sins of outward action are fully atoned for and put out of God's sight by the blood of Christ which he poured out at Calvary. And the Lord God forgiven all the sins of all his people ETERNALLY. God will never impute iniquity to any believer. He will never remember our sins against us. He will never treat us any the less graciously because of our sins. He will not punish us for our sins in this life, or in the life to come. And he will not refuse to give us any of the blessings of eternal glory because of our sins. You see, so far an the law and justice of God in concerned, IN CHRIST WE HAVE NO sin! The blood of Christ washed it all away. And God cannot punish us for what we do not have.

Would you have this DIVINE FORGIVENESS? Come to Christ by faith. HE IS THE FOUNTAIN OPENED FOR CLEANSING AND FORGIVENESS. To all of you who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I say take these blessed words of comfort to your hearts, rejoice in them, and give all praise to the Lord our God. With him there is forgiveness! With David we say - "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom. 4:7-8).
AMEN.

---

 

A man can find rest and peace for his heart and soul when he walks in the old paths of the faith. This is what God says to his people through the prophet Jeremiah - "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls" (Jer. 6:16). Listen to me, children of God, and I will show you the old paths of gospel truth. I know that if you will walk in these paths which are plainly laid before you in the Word of God, your heart and soul shall find rest and peace. I know it, because these things give me peace.

Here is an old, well-beaten path, upon which the saints of all ages have walked and found rest - "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginnings and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. 46:9-10). NOTHING IS MORE COMFORTING TO MY HEART THAN THE FACT THAT THE GOD WHOM I TRUST IS TOTALLY SOVEREIGN. There is nothing in this universe which is not governed and controlled by my heavenly Father. All that is in heaven above in the earth beneath, and in all below is under the sovereign rule of the eternal God in whom I trust. What shall I therefore fear? If I did not know that my God is gloriously sovereign in all things, I would soon lose all sanity. I will walk in this old path of Divine sovereignty, because it gives me peace.

Throughout the ages God's people have found his electing love to be a path of comfort and peace to their hearts. It is written, "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you ... hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondman" (Deut. 7:7-8). GOD'S ETERNAL LOVE GIVES MY SOUL REST. From all eternity God's heart of love has been set upon his people Children of God, doesn't your heart rejoice in the peace of God's eternal love by which he chose you to be an object of his grace in eternity?

The old paths of the gospel are blood-stained paths. They are marked by the crimson of Immanuel's precious blood. It is written, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 2:7). Do you walk in the blood-stained way? This is the sweet comfort of my soul, I AM WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. To be washed in the blood is to be cleansed, pardoned, justified, and accepted with God. God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Ex. 12:13). The eye of Divine justice is on the blood of my Substitute, Jesus Christ.- and there it is satisfied. So God's justice passes over and refuses to punish me.

And certainly an old path of peace for the Lord's people is THE PROMISED SECURITY OF GOD'S ELECT. My heart rejoices to believe the Word of Christ himself, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH" (John 10:27-28). What on earth do those words mean? Well, they mean just exactly what men say they do not mean. They mean that no true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ shall ever perish!

Come, my brothers and sisters in Christ, walk in these old paths of gospel truth. God says that in doing so, "Ye shall find rest for your souls."

AMEN.
Pastor Don Fortner

---

The Jews had been up to the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem. They had gone through all the rites and ceremonies of their now empty religion. They had done all that they knew to do. They had done all that their religious leaders told them to do. But their religion had left them thirsty. And "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him COME UNTO ME and drink" (John 7:37). Has your religion left you thirsty? Come to Christ this day, and drink of the life-giving Fountain.

PATIENCE HAD HER PEFECT WORK IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Until the last day of the feast, he pleaded with those unbelieving Jews, even as on this, the last day of the week he pleads with us, and waits to be gracious to us. Truly he is a longsuffering Savior to bear with sinners, week after week, year after year, inspite of their provocations, rebellions, and willful unbelief. Wonder of wonders that you are still in this land of mercy!

PITY EXPRESSED ITSELF MOST PLAINLY. We are told that "Jesus cried", which implies not only the loudness of his voice, but also the tenderness of his tones. He entreats us to be reconciled to God by him. "We pray you", says the Apostle, "In Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God". What earnest, tender, urgent terms these are! How deep must be that love and compassion which makes the Son of God weep over sinners, and like a mother woos his children to his heart. Surely at the call of such a cry our hearts will be made willing to come to him.

PROVISION IS MADE MOST GRACIOUSLY. All that a man can need to quench his soul's thirst is abundantly provided in Christ. To his conscience the atonement brings peace. To his understanding the gospel brings the richest instruction. To his heart the Person of Christ brings the noblest object of affection. To the whole man, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus brings the purest nutrition. Though your soul is utterly famished with thirst, Christ can restore it.

PROCLAMATION IS MADE HOST FREELY. Every thirsty soul is welcome. Come, oh come and welcome to Jesus, weary, thirsty sinner. It is not your goodness, but your sinfulness that makes you fit to come. Are you weary with sin, weary with empty religion? Are you thirsty for life? Whoever you are, wherever you are, the invitation is to you. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink."

PERSONALITY IS DECLARED MOST FULLY. You must come to Christ, not to works, not to priests, not to soul-winners, not to the church, not to the ordinances, not to doctrine. These things will all leave you empty and thirsty. You must come to Christ himself. You must come to that personal, living Redeemer, who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, risen Savior is the only Star of hope for perishing sinners. Oh, may God give you grace now to come and drink this very day.

No waiting or preparation is even hinted at. Anyone can drink who will drink. A fool, a harlot, a thief, a murderer can drink. The sinfulness of your character does not bar you from this gracious invitation. It only enhances your need. My friend, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Fountain of hope for your soul. Hear the blessed Redeemer's loving voice as he speaks to each of us, and obey it. Are you thirsty? The Son of God says, "IF ANY MAN THIRST, LET HIM COME UNTO ME AND DRINK." AMEN

Pastor Don Fortner

---

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isaiah 61:1

 The Son of God came to make sinners free, "to proclaim liberty to the captive!" What a word that word "liberty" is. Nothing in all the world can be compared to it. Social, economic, and political liberty are great privileges; but spiritual liberty is an indescribable boon of God's free grace in Christ. Those who have this liberty are "free indeed" (John 8:31), and shall be free forever! This liberty that Christ gives to all believers is fourfold.

 LIBERTY FROM THE LAW - All believers are totally free from the curse, penalty, dominion, and terror of God's holy law in Christ. Read the Book of God (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:1-4; 8:1-4; 10:4; Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:14-23), and ignore those work mongers who would bring you back under the yoke of bondage. The law of God has absolutely nothing to do with a believer (I Tim. 1:6-10). And we who are dead to the law and married to Jesus Christ by faith have no more to do with the rule of the law than a woman does the rule of her dead husband, after being married to another man (Rom. 7:1-4).

 LIBERTY FROM SIN - The liberty which Christ proclaims to and produces in redeemed souls is liberty and freedom from sin (Rom. 6:6, 18, 20, 22; I Pet. 4:1; I John 3:5). By his blood atonement, Christ has delivered us from the penalty of sin. By the application of his atonement to our hearts, by the efficacious grace of God the Holy Spirit, our consciences are purged from the guilt of sin. In regeneration, we are delivered from sin's dominion. When we drop these robes of flesh in death, we shall be freed from the body and being of sin. And in resurrection glory we shall be freed from all the consequences of sin forever. This is what Paul calls, "the glorious liberty of the sons of God" ( Rom. 8:23).

 LIBERTY FROM HUMAN RELIGION- When the Son of God sets men free, he frees them from the customs and traditions, practices and labors of human religious inventions (Col. 2:20-23; I Tim. 4:1-6; II Tim. 3:1-5). No man, no pastor, no church has the right to impose practices and behavioral rules upon men that God has not specifically revealed in Holy Scripture. We are not, and must never try to be, lords of other men's consciences. And we must never allow ourselves to be brought into bondage by others.

 LIBERTY OF LOVE - The Lord Jesus Christ gives regenerate souls a happy, delightful liberty of love and marriage (Rom. 7:1-4). A good marriage is a marriage held together by love, free of law. I pity the man whose wife serves him because it is her duty! While believers recognize their duty to serve Christ, they do not serve him because it is their duty. Our service to Christ arises from deep gratitude and free, loving devotion. We need no other law to regulate our lives.

Pastor Don Fortner - Radio Message 632

---

Paul was accused of heresy by all the religious world around him. The fundamentalists and the liberals, the Jews and the Gentiles, all with one voice said he was a pestilent thing, a mover of sedition, a cause of strife, division, and anarchy, and a heretic.   When he stood before Felix to answer their charge, the apostle Paul boldly and plainly declared, "After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers." I declare the same thing to you.   "They" are the entire religious world which is set in opposition to the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. It matters not what denominational name they take. Their religion is essentially the same. They all teach that to some degree salvation depends upon and is determined by man: his will, his works, his decision, his choice, his baptism, etc.   "THE WAY" - There are just two ways of religion: the broad way and the narrow way, the way of Cain and the way of Abel, the way of Babel and the way of Noah, the way of works and the way of grace, the way of man and THE WAY. "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man." It seems right to all men by nature that what a man is and does, by which he vainly imagines that he distinguishes himself from other men, must count for something with God. All the religions of this world, all the religions of "the great whore," Babylon, adhere to this way. Arminian, freewill, works religion is the wine of Babylon’s fornications, by which the nations of the world are intoxicated and deceived. "But the end thereof are the ways of death." It does not matter which of Babylon’s roads you take, all her ways are the ways of death.   There is only one way to God, only one way to heaven, only one way to life, only one way of salvation. The Son of God, our all-glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ says, "I am THE WAY. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Christ is the way. He alone can put us in the way. And he alone can keep us in the way. If you would be saved you must be saved in this way. You must trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as all your Wisdom before God, all your Righteousness (imputed and imparted), all your Sanctification, and all your Redemption (by blood at Calvary, by grace in regeneration, and in resurrection glory). If you look to yourself, in any way, to any degree, for any of these things, you are not in THE WAY (Gal. 5:2,4).

The god of this apostate generation no more resembles the God of the Bible than a gnat resembles an angel. The puny, pigmy, frustrated god of our earthly fathers is an idol carved from the trees which grow wild in the dark forests of their depraved minds. The God of our spiritual fathers, the God of the Bible is infinitely and indescribably above the gods of man’s imagination.

 
• The God of the Bible makes his worshippers (Isa. 43:7,14,15, 21); whereas the worshipers of idols make their gods .

 

 

• The God of the Bible is known by his self-revelation of the truth in his Word by the power of his Spirit (Matt. 11:25-27); whereas all the gods of men are known by teachers of lies, and their character changes from age to age, place to place, and circumstance to circumstance.

 

 

• The God of the Bible inspires and causes chosen sinners to worship him ("From me is thy fruit found" Hos. 14:8; Phil. 2:13); whereas all worshippers of idols inspire and cause themselves to worship their gods.

 

 

• The God of the Bible commands his position of sovereign supremacy and universal dominion by the might of his own power; whereas the breathless idols of men are manipulated by the hands and wills of men (Hab. 2:18-20).

 

 

• The God of the Bible performs all his mighty deeds by his own mighty hands, and commands his worshippers to be still (Ex. 14:13-14); whereas the gods of men sit still while their worshippers busy themselves with religious commotion.
Do you see the difference? The God I worship, "the God of my fathers," the Lord who is THE GOD cannot even be compared to the gods of Arminian, freewill, works religion (Isa. 46:9-11). That God who truly is God has distinct attributes which set him apart from all the gods of men, four distinct attributes which specifically set him apart from the imaginary god of this apostate generation.

Sovereignty -Our God truly is God. He rules all things, everywhere, at all times absolutely. A god who wants or desires, or wills what he does not have, or what does not come to pass is no God at all (Isa. 45:7; 46:9-11; Psa. 115:3; 135:6). Holiness - "Holy and reverend is his name." When Isaiah saw the Lord in his holiness, sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up, when he heard the seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory," he fell on his face and confessed his sin before the thrice holy God (Isa. 6:1-8). Justice - The God of the Bible is, unlike all the gods of men, just and true. He always deals with all his creatures upon the basis of strict justice. He will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7). Yet, this great sovereign, holy, and just God is infinitely and indescribably… Gracious. - He says, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." He found a way to deliver his chosen from going down to the pit (Job 33:24). That way is the satisfaction of justice by the substitutionary sacrifice of his own dear Son (Isa. 53:4-6, 8, 9-11; 2 Cor. 5:21).   "SO WORSHIP I THE GOD OF MY FATHERS." I do not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob my physical fathers (Phil. 3:4-8). Flesh and blood have nothing to do with the knowledge and worship of God. I worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, my spiritual fathers. Like them, I bow to, believe, worship, adore, and praise the one true and living God. "We are the circumcision, (the true Israel of God, his true covenant people), which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." 

---

By Your burial confessing
Don Fortner(Tune: Brethren, We Have Met To Worship 87.87D)


 
  All who seek the Lord’s salvation
Trough Christ’s sin-atoning blood,
Heed His Word, His Revelation,
Voice of their Shepherd and God.

Trusting Christ, your only Savior,
Leaning on the Crucified,
Follow Him in your behavior,
Make His Word your only guide.
   
Has the blessed Shepherd called you?
Have you heard His gracious voice?
Then, arise, whate’er befall you,
Make His humble ways your choice.

He commands that each believer
Be baptized, bearing His name,
As He once, in Jordan’s river,
Was immersed beneath the stream.    

By your burial confessing -
"We were crucified with Christ.
Rising from the grave, we’re pledging,
We will walk with Him in life.

To Him we our all have given.
Let us leave this world below.
Crucified and buried, risen,
We belong to Jesus now!"

Following this morning’s message Sandy Gladfelter will confess her faith in Christ by believer’s baptism. This blessed ordinance of the gospel was established by our Lord as a clear line of separation between his church and the world. By our immersion in the watery grave, believers confess their faith in the substitutionary sacrifice (his death, burial, and resurrection in our place) as our only basis of hope before God. Rising out of the watery tomb, we confess our hope of the resurrection and our consecration to Christ, our resolve to walk with him in the newness of life. Thus confessing Christ as our Lord, we declare that all our former religion and religious works were but the uncleanness of idolatry, identifying ourselves with Christ, his people, and his gospel.

When confronted by reprobate religious men, the apostle Paul did not back up an inch. He knew nothing of cowardice or compromise. Being concerned more for the souls of men, the glory of God, and the gospel of his grace than for his own well being, this faithful servant of God stood firm. Pointing to his accusers, knowing that it might cost him his very life, he said…

  "This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men."   If you and I would have hope toward God, we must worship the one true and living God, whom Paul worshipped, and we must worship him as Paul worshipped him.   We must worship the God of our fathers, "believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets." I bow to the Word of God. There are many good creeds, confessions, and catechisms written by men, clearly setting forth the gospel of the grace of God; but I do not pen my faith to the writings of any man, or any group of men, no matter how much I may admire them. The Word of God alone is my rule of faith and practice. I bow my will and my reason, my experience and my feelings, to the Word of God. I do not understand all that is written in the Scriptures; but I believe it all. I bow to the authority of Holy Scripture. I do so unreservedly. Let me call it bigotry, ignorance, or whatever they may, I am not even open to the consideration of any thought, idea, or evidence which contradicts the Book of God.   Believing all things written in the Word of God, I "have hope toward God." Living in the prospect of eternity, in the face of eternity, the resurrection of the dead, and the great white throne judgment, I have hope toward God because, "after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers…"

As A Sinner. I am convinced of my sin. I am a sinner by birth, by nature, by choice, and by practice (John 16:8-11; Ps. 51:5; 58:3; Rom. 3:9-19; 5:12).

As A Sinner Chosen Of God (Eph. 1:3-6; Gal. 1:15-16; 2 Thess. 2:13-14).

As A Sinner Redeemed By The Precious Blood Of Christ (Gal. 2:20-21). The Son of God purchased me, atoned for all my sins, and made me righteous by his obedience to God as my Representative and Substitute, obedience even unto death! As A Sinner Saved By God’s Irresistible Grace (Ps. 65:4; Eph. 2:1-10). I am saved by the grace of God alone. "By the grace of God I am what I am." It was God the Holy Spirit who sought me out when I would not seek him, came to where I was when I could not come to him, called by almighty grace when I refused to call to him, raised me from the dead when I had no desire to be raised from the dead, and loosed me when I loved my bondage. As A Sinner Sealed And Preserved By His Grace (John 10:27-30; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; 1 Pet. 1:5). Grace put me in the way. Grace leads me in the way. And grace keeps me in the way. I am kept in the hands of Christ my covenant Surety and good Shepherd., kept by the seal of God the Holy Spirit, and kept in the hands of God my Father, kept in the omnipotent hands of the triune God, and none can pluck me from those hands! As A Sinner Living In Hope Of The Resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13-18). I do not know when Christ shall appear; but I do know that soon my Lord Jesus will come in power and great glory. When he does, he will raise me up, transform me into his glory, and bring me into his glorious kingdom in the perfection of beauty which he has put upon me, by which I am worthy to take possession of the inheritance of the sons of God! As A Sinner Exercising Myself To Have A Good Conscience (Acts 24:16). Walking before God, trusting Christ alone as my Savior, I strive always to have a good conscience before God (Col. 2:6), seeking his will, endeavoring to honor him, serving his people. I also strive to have a conscience void of offence toward men, living honestly and showing mercy. Grace makes men both honest and gracious.

  I put before you the same ultimatum that God’s servant Elijah put before Israel on Mt. Carmel. The issues are exactly the same. "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal (the god of your own making), then follow him." Regardless of what you do I avow with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

---

WITNESSING
Pastor Henry Mahan

In these two verses of Inspiration the Holy Spirit shows us that the Lord our God is the God who can be trusted. Here is a glaring contrast between the God of the Bible and the gods of men. The gods of religion want to do things, desire to do things, and try to do things, but are unable to accomplish them because of the works of the devil and the wills of men. The God of the Bible, the only true God, our God and heavenly Father never wants what to do, desires to do, or tries to do anything except what he does. He is a God in whom we can be confident, a God who can be trusted implicitly, because he always has he way and does as he will.
 
 

In these first two verses of ark 14, we have a very clear example of God’s total sovereignty and omnipotent power to accomplish his will. He who truly is God over all and blessed forever always has his way. Here we see our great God disappointing the plans and designs of wicked men, overruling their wills and decisions to accomplish his own eternal purpose of grace in predestination. Our Lord’s enemies did not want his death to be a public spectacle. Repeatedly, they tried to stone him to death, throw him off a cliff, or in some other way murder him without the common people being aware of what they had done. Notice the words of our text - "The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death." But that was not what God had purposed. Therefore, in his wise and adorable providence, he simply overruled their schemes. God defeated their counsel and performed his own.
 
 

It was the purpose of God from eternity that the Lord Jesus Christ must be lifted up upon the cursed tree and crucified as a cursed man as our Substitute. There was no way possible for God to be both just and the Justifier of chosen sinners except by his own dear Son dying in our room and stead as our substitute. His justice must be satisfied. Else, he could not forgive sin. Christ alone, the God-man Mediator, could satisfy the justice of God for us.
 
 

Yet, in order to fulfil the Scriptures, our Savior must die "according to the Scriptures." You will recall that our Savior often said, with reference to his sin-atoning death at Calvary, "The Scriptures must be fulfilled" (v. 49). In other words, the Lord Jesus must be betrayed by his own familiar friend for thirty pieces of silver, crucified by the hands of Gentiles at the insistence of the Jews, without a single bone in his body being broken, yet having his heart pierced. He must be numbered with transgressors in his death, mocked, beaten, spit upon, and stripped in public humiliation. And the soldiers who crucified him must cast lots to see which one would get his garment. All these things were prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. But "the chief priests and scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death." That presented no problem to God Almighty! His counsel stood firm. His purpose was fulfilled. God’s will always prevails. His purpose was accomplished by these very men (Acts 2:23). Christ was crucified at Calvary exactly as God had purposed from eternity.

It is written, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." The chief priests and scribes thought they would put an end to Christ’s kingdom by killing him; but they were actually instruments in God’s hands for the erection and building of his kingdom. When they did, with vile hearts, have the Lord Jesus crucified, they thought they would vilify him and make him a laughing stock; but God used them to make his name glorious. The Jews thought they would scare his disciples into silence by killing our Master; but God used their wicked deeds to embolden his disciples in preaching the gospel.
 
 

I want you to understand that our God is in control of this world, absolutely in control of it (Ps. 76:10). That God, and that God alone, who is in absolute, total control of the entire universe, we can and should trust with implicit confidence in all things and with all things. The Word of God, the promises of God, the prophecies of Holy Scripture are all utterly meaningless unless our God is the God who rules everything, whose will is always performed, whose purpose stands fast, whose thoughts are irresistible!
 
 

Here is the basis of our faith and the foundation of our comfort - Our God is in control, as fully in control of Satan, the demons of hell, and the thoughts and deeds of wicked men as he is of the angels about his throne. We live in a world of woe. We are often tossed to and fro in this world, confused and perplexed by many things. Let us ever rest ourselves in our God. "All things are of God." All things are ordered by our heavenly Father for our good. All things are arranged by God’s infinite wisdom and omnipotent arm for his glory. Nothing is beyond his dominion.
 
 

Look to Calvary and laugh at those will worshippers who vainly imagine that the events of this world are ordered not by the will of almighty God but by the wills of puny men! I often hear preachers and others say, "God will never interfere with the will of man." Our text gives the lie to that notion. It was the will of these men that Christ be put to death secretly. But God willed that he be crucified in due time for the ungodly. Consider this and think. God would not allow these wicked men to kill his Son when they wanted to, the way they wanted to, or in the place they wanted. However, he did permit them to kill his Son exactly according to the malice of their hearts. Yet, he used their sinful malice to accomplish his purpose of grace in the redemption of his people, exactly as he had purposed from eternity. Read carefully those things written in Acts 2:22-23, 4:27-28, and 13:28-30.
 
 

If the god you trust can be controlled, hindered, or even influenced by you, by Satan, or by all the powers of earth and hell, then the god you trust is no God at all, and you are an idolater. Our God is not a spectator or even a competitor in this world. He is the Ruler of it. Salvation is knowing him, the only true and living God as he is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ his Son, the God-man, our Savior (John 17:3). He who is our God is the God, the only God you can trust.

---

Pictures and images of Christ, angels, the cross, etc. are all pieces of idolatry. Religious relics are relics of Romanism which many so dearly relish that they look upon them as things to be reverenced, just as the children of Israel kept the brazen serpent (the Old Testament type of Christ on the cross) and burned incense to it, until Hezikiah had the boldness to call it a worthless piece of brass and destroyed it with all the other idols of the land. Let us follow his example. True worship is and must be pure, spiritual worship (Phil. 3:3).
 

"Heaven and earth shall pass away." All creation, and all things connected with this present creation, all things involved in the curse, all things affected by and infected with sin, shall pass away. This present heaven and earth shall soon be dissolved, burnt up with the fire of God’s holy wrath Mark 13:24-25; 2 Pet. 3:10-14; 2 Cor. 4:18).

 We live in a world in which everything is temporal and passing away. We are all going to a world in which everything is permanent and eternal. The bliss and glory of heaven is eternal. The horrors and torments of hell are eternal.

 Our state in the unseen world of eternity depends entirely upon our relationship to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in this world of time. If you are washed in Christ’s blood and robed in his righteousness now, you will be clean and holy forever. If you trust Christ as your Savior now, he will be your Savior forever. If you are one with Christ now, you shall be one with Christ in eternity. If you love Christ and are loved of Christ now, you shall love Christ and be loved of Christ forever.

 If you meet Christ in judgment as an unbeliever, you will be an unbeliever forever. If you are unclean when you leave this world, you will be unclean forever. If you are a rebel when you draw your last breath, you will be a rebel forever. If you are cursed and damned when you go out to meet God in judgment, you will be cursed of God, hated by God, and damned by God forever!

 Your only hope for eternal life is the free, sovereign, saving grace of God in Christ, the sinners’ Substitute. "Heaven and earth shall pass away." Will you? Will you pass away into everlasting hell? Why will you die? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

 "But my words shall not pass away." "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." All those passages of Scripture referring to the immutable, absolute certainty of God’s word are applicable to God’s word in every place.

• His Words of Inspiration
• His Words of Decree
• His Words of Doctrine
• His Words of Grace
• His Words of Promise
• His Words of Wrath.

He who is the omniscient, holy, perfect, omnipotent, unchangeable God never needs to alter his word! God’s word is never yea and nay, but always yea and amen.
 

"Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." If the Lord Jesus Christ is himself God the Son, equal in all things and one with the Father and the Spirit, as the Scriptures universally assert that he is and the doctrine of the Trinity demands, if he is God all-wise, all-knowing, omniscient, before whom darkness is light, from whom nothing can be hid - How can he be ignorant of the day and hour of his second advent? The answer is both simple and obvious when we compare Scripture with Scripture.

  Here is a demonstration of the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is exactly who and what he claims to be - both God and man. As a man, our Savior was no more omniscient than he was omnipotent or omnipresent. When he hungered, it was not God who hungered, but man. When he thirsted, it was not God who thirsted, but man. When he died, it was not God who died, but man. In the four gospels, sometimes he speaks of himself as a man (as here), and sometimes he speaks of himself as God, in order to show us that he is fully both. As God he said to his disciples, "Our friend, Lazarus, is sleepeth," though no one had informed him of Lazarus’ death. Yet, when he came to Bethany, he asked as a man, "Where have ye laid him?" The same thing is true in Mark 13:32. Obviously, as the Son of God, he knew and always has known the precise second of his second advent. But as the Son of man, he was altogether ignorant of it. Three things are obvious.   1. He who is our Redeemer is and must be both God and man in one glorious person. 2. Learn this fact and learn it well. no one knows when the Lord Jesus is coming again. The language of Scripture in this regard is crystal clear (Mk. 13:32; Acts 1:4-11). No one knows, or even has a hint of an idea, when the Lord Jesus will come again to this world. Not only do the Scriptures tell us this emphatically, we have a glaring proof of he fact before us. If the perfect, holy man Christ Jesus, that man who knew the Book of God like no other man, did not know it, if he did not figure out the day or hour of his appearing, you are not about to do so! 3. No one knows when Christ is coming to take him out of this world, to meet God in judgment. I find it utterly amazing that we so blatantly ignore this fact. David said, "There is but a step between me and death." We all say we realize that; but very few people seem to live like they realize it. There is but a step between you and death. O my soul, hear the Word of God and learn - "There is but a step between me and death!" God has, from eternity, fixed the moment and the means by which he will take you out of this world. As soon as God takes you out of this world, you are going to stand before him in judgment. I know, there is a day of judgment at the end of time. Following the general resurrection, there will be a general judgment (John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:11-15). But you will meet God in judgment as soon as you draw your last breath (2 Cor. 5:10-11; Heb. 9:27). "How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?"

---

Return to top of page Return to Menu Page