principles 5

SOME POSTCARD ENGLISH SERMON NOTES 
 

A SERIES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION: 

READ: ROMANS 8:6  SPIRITUALLY MINDED ETC.,

But to be spiritually minded is life and peace

We have looked at a number of principles which are to be applied whenever we seek to interpret the Bible.  These principles can never be violated. From time to time we might come across a difficult passage to understand. This gives rise to the temptation to take short cuts for the sake of convenience and to infringe upon these principles. Avoid! Better to admit ignorance than to be guilty of wresting the Scriptures for the sake of saving face or time/effort.

Principles already looked at: 

[i] God is always sovereign. There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. (Proverbs 20:31) Never dethrone God to make a passage read easier.
[ii] Man is always responsible. This is the other side of the coin. Man cannot blame the sovereignty/God when he sins. 
[iii] The Judge/all the earth always does right. Even in the hard cases. There are many times in the Bible when we have just to rest upon this observation and remember that no one ever got a raw deal from God. All God's ways are marked by unimpeachable justice and holiness.
[iv] The flesh never profits. Anything done in the flesh will surely lead to great loss: The arm of flesh will surely fail/We dare not trust our own.  

We want to conclude this short series - far from being exhaustive - with the observation from Romans 8:6 Spiritually minded etc.,

1) DEFINE: WHAT IT IS TO BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED:
Or: How we may discover those folk in our Bible readings who qualify for such a glorious title.

A/ A spiritually minded person has the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)
Paul claimed (under inspiration) to have it. Attainable.
It is to think as Jesus would think and do what Jesus would do.
Christ rejected the world's philosophy. Even in religious circles. "Ye have heard it said" (Tradition) but I say unto you…"  

 Bible (OT/NT)is dotted with individuals who were most Christ-like in their thinking.
Many of them actually typify the Lord Jesus. 
Christ alone could say that He did always the things which pleased the Father.
Spiritually minded people, faults notwithstanding, emulate the Saviour.
So Paul, this spiritually minded man, could say: Follow me inasmuch as I follow Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

B/ A spiritual minded person has set his affections/things above. (Colossians 3:2)
Folk in Hebrews 11 lived for another world.
Declined the favour/this world. Declared that they sought another world - a heavenly i.e. a spiritual.
A spiritual man is not motivated by ambition. Cannot be bought for money/fame or influence.
Where you read of men who are ambitious, then do not think them spiritually minded.
Best seen in two men closely related:
 
[i] Lot chose the fertile plains/Sodom because his affections were earthbound. Walked by sight.
[ii] Uncle Abraham was spiritually minded. Walked by faith and readily forwent earthly advantage.
When reading/passage, we do not attribute Abraham with folly but with spirituality.
Likewise Elisha (spiritually minded) cared not for the riches of Naaman but his servant Gehazi did.

C/ Spiritual minded people are not mystics who tend to make up the rules as they go along.
Spiritual minded people are not free spirits but call themselves "bondslaves of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:1)
They are Bible people who are happy to be led by the laws/Heaven than the lawlessness of earth. Bible abounds with such.

2) HOW A SPIRITUAL MIND CAN BE ATTAINED:
As we read of such/Bible - ought/think: "How can I be one of these people?"

A/ We can never have a spiritual mind while we are still in our sins.
Not mere religion. These folk did not embrace these things as an absorbing hobby etc.,
An intellectual knowledge/Bible is not the goal. You can have all these things and still be lost at the end.
First step to a spiritual mind leading to life/peace is to be born again/Spirit!
Until we are, we possess the carnal mind which is death (v6) and is enmity against God (v7)

B/ When we are saved, we are brought into union/Christ. Spirit/God indwells His people.
Power/sin which once reigned does so no more. 
It is as natural for us to desire spiritual things as it was once natural for us to desire carnal things.
This is the evidence/New Birth. 

Empty profession if not followed up by a desire to learn more: 2 Corinthians 5:17/Acts 2:42
Illustrate: New born babe. Who instructs it to suck the milk?
Built in mechanism. Likewise/spiritual birth. Naturally the spiritual mind has to develop.
None are born spiritual giants. But the seed is there and the seed will grow as intended by God. 

C/ Our responsibility in this matter is to: 

[i] Pray for a spiritual mind. How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them/ask. (Luke 11:13) 

[ii] We are to seek the Spirit's mind in that place where it is so often recorded i.e. in the Bible.
He that hath an ear…let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches… 
Reading (as said) not as a mere hobby, but with a definite view of obedience. Letting go the carnal & taking on board the spiritual.
Blending our life into what we read. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. (119:59)
Evidently becoming more spiritually minded. 

[iii] We are to often meditate and study these things, talking with spiritual people on them.
They that feared the Lord spake often one to another.
In order to do this, we really do need to clear our minds/time tables of all unnecessary junk.
Problem with the human mind is that we have all got a pretty limited memory!
Just as we have to purge our computer hard drives frequently, so likewise our thoughts.
Am I being taken up with something that is ultimately of no profit?  

Am I sacrificing spiritual gain for carnal loss? 

[iv] Exhort others to and be exhorted ourselves etc., Very seldom is this a one man show.
Often the crackpots are on their own in this matter. Don't fellowship anywhere.
Spiritual men cannot talk to them. Beyond criticism etc., This is not the sign of spirituality.
When a spiritually minded man sins (as they do) they can be restored again. 

Seen in Paul regaining Peter (Galatians 2:11)

D/ Remember this as you read your Bible. Are you reading about a man who is walking/God?
Do not think he arrived here either by nature/chance.
He was enabled to be spiritual because of the Spirit/God in him.
Under God, he worked at attaining this position.
Made hard choices. Forwent earthly advantages.
Never interpret a passage that ignores these observations.

3) THE FRUITS OF SUCH A SPIRITUAL MIND:
life/peace Evidently in complete opposition of death/enmity (v6/7)

A/ Has such with God. Mentioned Colossians 3 (affections/above)
For ye are dead, & your life is hid with Christ in God. (v3)
Has peace with God. Been truly/fully reconciled.
Nothing to hinder the blessing. God is not compromising in blessing him. Eden revisited.

B/ Has such with himself.
Spiritual minded Paul: Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men & brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. (Acts 23:1) A spiritual man is at peace with himself.
Ever see even a dissatisfied Christian fight with himself?
Not happy because he is not spiritually minded & therefore has no life (certain in its abundance) nor peace.

C/ Has such with others. Joseph's bough went over the wall (Genesis 49:22) Affected others.
A spiritually minded man will be a blessing wherever he is.
When you study/Bible - see the good which such men were to those around them.
Who can begin/measure the blessings of Joseph? Or Daniel? Or Samuel? Or the apostles etc., 

4) HOW THIS FRUIT WEATHERS EVERY STORM:
A/ Little use having life/peace when all is going well for us.
How does it do in the open sea? How does it do when we are up against it.
Passage itself draws the conflicting forces into play.
World is not sympathetic to spiritual things and indeed rather most antagonistic. 

B/ This fruit weathers very well particularly in prison cells.
It buoyed Joseph up and Jeremiah and Peter and Paul in their incarcerations.
It shone beautifully in the den/lions and on the barren isle of Patmos. 

It buoys up the spiritually minded in the midst of greatest trial.
Read the Psalms where David complained of the bitterest trials  but ended up singing God's praises nevertheless.

C/ As you study/Bible you will see that this life/peace is maintained even in the most trying/circumstances.
Do not put such down to mere human grit/determination.
If you do, you misread the Bible. Do despite to our text.
It is the evidence that the Spirit/God is at work.

D/ The spiritually minded die well.
As foretold: Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. (Psalm 37:37)
See Peter face death in Acts 12. Slept like a log.
Read Paul's wonderful farewell letter (2 Timothy 4) I am ready to be offered etc.,
The wonderful thing is: It is on offer today!
Not a thing of the past, but a reality for the here/now. Do you want it? Seek it for yourself. 

THE END 

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principle 4

 

SOME POSTCARD ENGLISH SERMON NOTES 

A SERIES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION: 
READ: JOHN 6:63 FLESH PROFITS NOTHING

... the flesh profiteth nothing...

Principle: gleaned from one/most controversial passages/Bible. Not our intention to look at this debate (Between Rome and  Protestants on the so called Real Presence) but suffice/say: That the spiritual interpretation (Protestant) will always prevail over the RC one, because Rome wants us to take the fleshly road and our text puts the nail/coffin: Flesh profits nothing. These words/Jesus were spiritual words (v63) and intended to be taken spiritually. But this is a debate for another day. 


When we come to Scripture, we must ever remember that anything done in the flesh - even if done by an otherwise spiritual man/God - can never profit. "FAILURE" written over it, even it appears to be succeeding. Flesh can never profit. 


1) HOW THE FLESH MANIFESTS ITSELF:

The flesh is anything done without the help of the Spirit/God.
Has its origins in the heart/man and although it might appear to be acceptable (heart/man is deceitful) yet it is not so.


A/ Sometimes the flesh is very blatant: Key passage: Galatians 5:19-21 (Quote)
Ought to be pretty obvious when these things appear that they are most unprofitable.

B/ But sometimes the flesh is not so noticeable/apparent.
Devil is a deceiver and where the most blatant fails to prevail, he will rework his approach and try to be less obvious.
If he succeeds in this, then although we might not be outwardly fleshly, yet flesh it is and therefore seen or not, of no profit.
Please consider this:


[i] If you come across a passage where someone is fighting in their own strength, then you cannot interpret it as a profitable thing to do.
Do not imitate them. Examples:
Joshua/Ai (Joshua 7) Routed even with superior manpower.
David ordering the headcount despite Joab's rebuke (2 Samuel 24)
Avoided: Gideon when Lord reduced army of 30,000 to 300.

[ii] Fleshly when men seek to do something in their own wisdom: 

Distinctly told: Lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
Joshua again failed here: Asked not counsel/mouth of the Lord (9:14) & spared the Gibeonites.
Paul excelled here: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 & so a profitable ministry. "I kept back nothing that was profitable to thee" (Acts 20:20)
How was this? Avoided the flesh. He delivered not his own wisdom, although his Rabbinical training could've kept him supplied. 


[iii] Becomes fleshly when men seek their own timing. 

Hence we are told with great emphasise to "Wait upon the Lord…wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 27:14/37:7) Those men whose lives profited most were those who walked with God i.e. walked in step with God. As we read of Enoch/Noah, then interpret/passage in light of our principle: Flesh profits nothing. There was nothing fleshly in these men. 


[iv] See/flesh when we read of those who adopted their own methods. 

Never right to leave the Book. Emphasised to Moses: See that he do according to the pattern shown him/mount (Hebrews 8:5) When Uzzah helped introduce the new cart for the ark/God, he introduced a new/novel method and  was so fleshly that he died. Ultimate loss. 


[v] Flesh seen, when we read of men seeking their own glory. 

Consider men like Joab/Jehu. Men who fought on the right side, but there was ever an undercurrent of self seeking. Subsequently, Joab failed to make the list of David's mighty men. His glory was fleshly & therefore unworthy of God's praise. 


2) WHY THE FLESH IS SO UNPROFITABLE


A/ If the flesh is the outworking of the heart/man (Those things which are the works/flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 are said to flow from/heart: Mark 7:21-23) then we learn from the fruit that the heart of man is sinful. It never pays to sin. Sin is the ultimate loss maker. It costs to sin. 


B/ The flesh cannot claim the purposes/God. When a man sets out to promote the gospel and holiness etc., he can count on the help/God in this matter, because it is God's declared purpose that one day holiness will reign. Reign/holiness marks the ultimate passing away of sin/fleshiness. Purposes/God oppose the flesh and since the purposes/God always prevail, then flesh/unprofitable.


C/ Similar thought: The flesh cannot claim the support/God. Practical outworking/purposes of God. God always sustains His own work. So David is preserved while Saul perishes. David is supported/preserved while fleshly wise Ahithophel hangs himself. Greedy Judas effectively negotiates his own death. The very thing Ciaphas sought to avoid - destruction by the Romans - came to pass. Why? No support from God. 


D/ Flesh is so unprofitable because it will be burned up. Build your future on those precious stones. To build it on the imaginations of the flesh is to endure a great loss. 


3) HOW WE CAN BEST DEAL WITH THE FLESH

As apply these principles, we are forced to see how we can deal with the flesh. To what end do we interpret our Bibles? Much more than to possess mere head knowledge. As we come across the flesh in the lives/various people in the Bible, we must be forced back to the same Book for principles enabling us to deal with it in our own lives. 


A/ Recognise our proneness to the flesh. Fleshly without the least effort. The battle is to be spiritually fought. Every day, we must fight this battle again. And the next day and the next etc.


B/ Recognise & appropriate the reason why Christ came, died & rose again i.e. that He might destroy the works/Devil i.e. the flesh. We cannot fight the flesh in the flesh. The flesh must win! If you beat yourself at chess, then who won? Who lost? Yourself! By seeking to apply the victory/Calvary, we will be able to resist the flesh & seek to make our decisions etc., in the power/Spirit of God. That's when we start to profit. 


C/ Bible gives us an interesting/decisive instruction as to what to do about the flesh: Best summed up in Galatians 5:24 They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Pretty decisive is it not? It needs to be done every day. OT illustration of it was when Samuel hewed Agag in pieces. Despite Agag's heart wrenching pleas. By contrast, Saul had let him live. Fleshly and  through it Saul lost his throne. Unprofitable. 


D/ These things frighten us and we say: "I can't!" Cry to God in prayer and tell Him and He has vouched you the help you need. 


4) GOD'S ALTERNATIVE TO THE FLESH:

A/ Text: It is the Spirit that quickeneth. Galatians 5 & elsewhere all point us to the help of the Spirit/God. We are to be spirit filled etc., We are to walk in the Spirit etc., 


B/ The Spirit is there for every child/God: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)


So here is another principle/Bible interpretation. The flesh can never profit. It may appear to be most profitable. The prosperity of the wicked was a thorn to several/Bible (Job 21/Psalm 73) but ultimately the wicked died and  perished while those who ever did God's will shall never see death but reign with Him eternally. 

THE END 

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principles 3

 

SOME POSTCARD ENGLISH SERMON NOTES 

 A SERIES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION:

  THE  JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH SHALL DO RIGHT

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)

Although our text is asked as a question, yet it is a rhetorical question i.e. the answer is heavily implied  within. Of course the Judge/earth (God Himself) does right and it is a fixed Bible principle in interpretation that whatever God does in any given situation cannot be faulted. If you come to a portion/Bible and  in order to arrive at some kind/understanding, you conclude: "Well…God erred here…He shouldn't have done that!" then your interpretation is not the mind/Spirit of God. You erred. Our text was used by Abraham in prayer as he sought to almost bargain with God in sparing Sodom. Abraham's concern was for the righteous people who lived in Sodom (Lot) and he based His pleading/prayer on this thought: That the Judge of all the earth could not punish the righteous with the wicked for that would not be right. An unmoveable principle. It is unconditional. 3 thoughts: 


1) SOME CLEAR CASES WHERE THERE IS LITTLE DISPUTE:

A/ The cases of extreme wickedness. Sodom itself (context) is a good example. If were to study the perversions/Sodom - which goes beyond homosexuality - we would wonder not why God wiped it from the face/earth, but why He gave them space/opportunity to repent. This could be said of many situations in the Bible. No one challenges the thought that Adolf Hitler or Stalin is in hell or any of those depots who blot human history. Some even comment: "Hell: too good for them!" 


B/ The cases of poetic justice: Listen to David/Psalm 9:15-17 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.   Who can doubt the righteousness/God in such cases. Is there not a corresponding "Amen!" in our hearts when we see the wicked reap what they have sown? If it were known (or better still: appreciated) that God does intervene in many occasions to prevent the wicked from further inflicting others and does so in such cases of poetic justice, then would God not be glorified more in men's hearts? It is only the blindness of men to the reality that He is not. 


C/ Those cases where God rewards deeds/kindness. Not that there is merit is them, but nevertheless good often follows good. Why is this? Because Judge/all the earth does right. Them that honour me, I will honour  (1 Samuel 2:30)  Blessed are the pure/heart etc., No one doubts the Justice/God in His rewards to those who seek to do His righteous will & who are a threat to none and a blessing to all. With all his faults, Lot was basically a good man and subsequently he was rescued out of Sodom. Even his rescue and especially the aftermath was measured/balanced to reflect his basic position and yet take account of his unwarranted compromises.


2) SOME NOT SO CLEAR (TO US) CASES:

"Not so clear to us cases" This is because we have greatly limited knowledge. Our information is limited. Our understanding of why's/wherefore's is limited. Our wisdom as to how best to respond is limited. Sometimes we are too quick to judge and that even of God. Our text should be a brake on such folly on our part. 


A/ Where God withholds material benefits in some cases. Why are their 3rd world countries etc., 2 different valid viewpoints:

[i] Could blame men for the hunger etc., Although failure/crops etc., yet the hunger often stems from greed/government corruption etc., We could sit tight here & refuse to budge.

[ii] Although man is responsible, yet God allows it to happen. Again, we might trace the root cause to sin (Adam) but why do some eat quite well and others don't? Why are some areas of the world relatively safe/prosperous to live in (despite their great sins) and  others not? Ans:- The Sovereignty of God which respects His own maxim: That He must ever do that which is right. No one who argues against God judging sin one way in one place and apparently is more lax elsewhere, ever argues that we should all be judged according to the more severe measure. Underlying argument is that sin should not be judged at all! But not so (text).


B/ It is sometimes hard to understand why (both inside/Bible & outside) why infants often perish for the sins/fathers. Whole Canaanite/Amalakite families., were all to be wiped out.
Ans:- Every child born is born in sin, so strictly speaking there are no innocents. True: innocent of actual sin, but Adam's guilt is imputed to every single one born/woman.  However, it is believed, not least on the basis/text, that any human being to fails to reach the age/understanding/accountability is covered by the redeeming blood/Jesus Christ. We just have to stand back and take these words by faith. 


C/ Those passages which teach that God withheld spiritual benefits. A classic example is: Matthew 11:20-21 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But they weren't. Repentance had been withheld from these people. Not given the privileges of others. Perished in their sins. Why does God not deal with each sinner separately and equally? What if He did and damned us all as we richly deserve in Hell? No man is in Hell who does not deserve to be there. There are no innocent sufferers in hell. Wonder is not that God hated Esau… Rather: That He should ever love Jacob. 


3) WHY OUR TEXT STANDS SO FIRM:

A/ God must always do right for He is inherently righteous. High Priestly prayer: O righteous Father (John 17:25)  Again: There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is  none beside me. (Isaiah 45:21)  In God: no darkness (unrighteousness) at all. 


B/ It is not for us with our severe sin inflicted limitations to judge God as to what is/is not righteous. Israel tried that in Ezekiel 18:25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? How can sinful men sit in judgement over God? Who do we think we are? 


C/ As indicated above, such a text requires and indeed often tests our faith. That cannot be a bad thing. What must it be like then to get/Heaven and to see how even the most appalling incidents redounded to the glory/God? As they will: God makes the wrath of man to praise Him (Psalm 76:10)  Not for us to run too far ahead. Only when the final story is told can we come to a conclusion. 


D/ The wicked themselves when dealt with by God never rightly complain. True, Cain complained: My punishment is greater than I can bear but this compliant was totally unwarranted. Had God dealt with him there and then as he had dealt with Abel, then the punishment would have been ultimate and immediate. Consider: Rich man/Hell never once complained on injustice. Judas never complained of injustice. 


In closing: Our text encourages us to be content with such things as we have. None/us are worthy (as Jacob said) even of the least of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10) and yet they are new each morning. God does no man any wrong. If He should mark our iniquities, then who should stand? Heaven would be a pretty empty place. Whenever you read the Bible and you come to things hard to be understood, then never violate our text. Better to suspend an answer than to charge God with any folly/sin.  

THE END

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principles 2

 

SOME POSTCARD ENGLISH SERMON NOTES 

 A SERIES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION:

READ: JOHN 3:19 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN

  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Last study, we concentrated our thoughts on that great truth which is foundational to every other truth/Bible: Sovereignty/God.  We asked and answered a fundamental question last week: Why is God sovereign? Because He cannot be anything else. Being King/Universe is not what God does. It is what God is. To be anything else/less would mean that He is not God.  This study, we must (for the sake/balance) as eagerly proclaim the parallel truth: MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY.

 Although the doctrine/divine sovereignty is a million miles away from the pagan notion of fatalism, yet unbalanced thinking can drive us into the fatalistic camp. Avoid! If your thoughts/divine sovereignty lead you to sit back and simply wait/God to act without the use/means then you have succumbed to fatalistic thinking and you have no support from the word/God.

When we talk about man's responsibility, we refer to  the fact that he is held responsible by God for the things which he thinks/says/does. He cannot blame anyone else, least of all God, even when God displays His sovereign power. This is fast becoming a lost truth not only in doctrine but in every day life. But we want to re-establish it in this message. 


1) GOD CALLS MAN TO ACCOUNT FOR HIS ACTIONS:

A/ Here is an important truth re: fall/man. Man lost his ability through sin (again: he was responsible for his actions) to serve and please God. Unholy bent/bias towards sin captured Adam's heart when he fell which was also passed on to Adam's seed i.e. the human race.  Three verses put this sinful bias beyond dispute: Genesis 6:5/Jeremiah 17:9/Matthew 7:17-18 


B/ Even though man lost his ability (through his sinful choice) to serve God alright, yet he did not lose his responsibility: an important note. Man cannot sin himself out of responsibility towards God. God cannot surrender up His role as Judge of the Universe.  So man is locked into a situation whereby when he sins - and he always sins willingly - he must be held responsible for his actions & yet he is also a slave to sin. It is this fact which the Lord Jesus highlighted/text. No mitigating circumstances. No clever lawyer to argue man out/his responsibility. Where deeds are reckoned to be sinful, then the doer is held totally responsible.  Consider Cain/Abel: What hast thou done? (Genesis 4:10)  Cain has slain his righteous brother Abel in the field & immediately he is called to account for the fact. He is suitably punished for the deed & the whole tenor/passage is that Cain is guilty. Later testified to in 1 John 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 


C/ Not only does the Book/God testify to man's wickedness and accountability, but also his own conscience. Conscience is God's fifth columnist within your heart. True, it differs from person/person in its regularity/severity etc., but it still operates. Testifies to the wickedness/man when it is declared to be enough to damn the heathen who never hear the gospel: For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Romans 2:14-15) 


D/ The coming Day/Judgement will also bear witness to this great fact. Men will be judged on their secrets (Romans 2:16) Their words - idle/otherwise - (Matthew 12:36) - Their deeds (Romans 2:6) Not only acknowledging them, but giving a full account (Romans 14:12) and receiving punishment for them because held responsible. Just as the conscience often terrifies men here on earth to amazing lengths, what can we say of that Great Judgement Day: And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:15-17) A Christian who has his conscience purged/blood of Christ does no so fear that day. His sins are forgiven and so will not be mentioned (Ezekiel 33:16) or even remembered again (Hebrews 10:17) 


2) GOD IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY NEVER VIOLATES MAN'S FREE AGENCY:

Having now established these two great truths (God's sovereignty and man's responsibility)…what happens when they appear to clash? God and man just don't go their separate ways and never the twain shall meet. 


A/ God intervenes in the affairs/men. Indeed: According to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11) We know that these all things extend not only to good incidents ("Give us this day our daily bread") but even to wicked things. If it didn't, then Romans 8:28 wouldn't be much of a promise. 


B/ OLD CHESTNUT: How can God ordain wicked events without being the author/sin? We know the Cross was ordained/God: For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (Acts 4:27-28) Cannot be any clearer/plainer. 

God did not make the best of a bad job at Calvary. Whole event was ordained. Christ suffered as it was determined before of God that he would. And yet it would be better for Judas (who betrayed Him) had Judas never be born (Luke 22:22) Again, although Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23)  God's sovereignty and yet man's responsibility were preached with equal clarity and fervently to unsaved people. How reconciled?  Ans:- Although God ordains sinful events, making them absolute certain, yet He never coerces wicked men against their will. We know that often He restrains wicked men (Psalm 76:10) This is a mercy to all - perpetrator/victim alike - but sometimes He just takes the brake off and lets them at it. They are acting freely and so accountably and yet God is using the event for His own righteous ends. May be the same event etc., but they are working from two different standpoints & so one is holy (God) & one (man) is sinful. When Peter spoke of the God ordained betrayal of Christ by Judas, he rightly concluded: Judas by transgression fell (Acts 1:25) Put responsibility were it belonged i.e. on wicked Judas.


3) MAN IS CALLED UPON TO REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL:

A/ The gospel does something before it saves. Tacitly condemns. A man who applies for gospel help admits he cannot save himself (Luke 5:31-32) Other notions keep him from the gospel. A man who seeks/gospel is convinced of two things:

[i] His own sinfulness and accountability:
[ii] His own total and utter helplessness.

We preach both. We believe that even repentance/faith lie beyond sinful man's natural ability (Ephesians 2:1) yet we still (Apostolic succession) urge both upon men. Why?

[i] Inability does not negate responsibility. Man forfeits by his sin his spiritual eyesight etc., Willingly ignorant (2 Peter 3:5) It is not for us to forgo such preaching. God has claims on men whether they can meet them or not.

[ii] Evident that through such preaching that God uses these means to impart the very things he requires. Not for us to work out how or why. Fact: He does: Romans 10:17/James 1:18


B/ When we so preach the gospel, we do so in a way that brings man's responsibility/fore. So we plead with men as responsible beings. We reason with and seek to persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11) Not just a matter of setting forth a few truths and  let them have them if they will. Men are not robots, void of any responsibility. We seek (by the secret help/God) to galvanise men into evangelical action i.e. to strive to enter in (by faith) into everlasting life. 


4) IF MAN IS LOST…HE CAN ONLY BLAME HIMSELF:

 A/ The gospel offer cannot be any wider than it is (Romans 10:13)
No man has the right to assume/no salvation for him. Sin/unbelief holds him back.  


B/ Bible uses language that is consistent with this line/reasoning: Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11 ) 

Again: Wicked shall utterly perish in their own corruption; (2 Peter 2:12)
Why be lost? Appeal. 

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