Mourners Comforted

(Article submitted for publication the week of 10-29-2008 AD)

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4). Last week we pointed out that the mourning described here by our Lord Jesus Christ has nothing to do with mourning at a funeral or mourning because you lost your stock investment or anything like that. Our Lord is describing those who have been regenerated and granted repentance . They have been taught by the Holy Spirit that they are great sinners . They have come to love the precious Redeemer, and have seen that He was pierced for their sins (Zechariah 12:10). It is a blessing to be such a mourner for it is the evidence that one is a child of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ promises that these mourners shall be truly comforted.

First of all, the Lord Himself is their Comforter. We read in Luke chapter four an occasion when our Lord was preaching in the synagogue and He read from Isaiah 61 and said the passage was about Himself . He said He was sent “to heal the broken hearted.” Our Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21) and when a poor sinner is enabled to believe in the Dear Saviour slain for sinners, oh! What a comfort it is! Trusting in Christ Alone for your salvation is true comfort for those who have seen what terrible sinners they indeed are. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the sinners Friend, and he can comfort your soul as no other. Do I write to one whose heart is broken for sin! Look to Christ Alone poor sinner and He shall wipe your weeping eyes. “Weeping sinners, dry your tears; Jesus on the throne appears. Can you slight such heavenly charms? Flee, Oh! Flee to Jesus’ arms!

And then the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. In John 14:16 when our Lord was telling His disciples that he was going away, He promised them He would pray His Father Who would give then Another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit , who is the Third Person of the holy Trinity and Who is One with the Father and the Son, and co-equal with the Father and the Son (I John 5:7), is our Blessed Paraclete Who comes along beside us to comfort us. The Holy Spirit comforts God’s people by indwelling them (John 16:17). He is our Comforter because He teaches us and guides us into the truth of God’s word (John14:26; John 16:13). The Holy spirit is our Comforter because he testifies of Christ (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is our Comforter for He pours the love of God into our hearts (Romans 5:5). “The Blessed Spirit like the wind moves when and where He please…. He sheds abroad the Father’s love, applies redeeming love.” The blessed Holy Spirit teaches the children of God that their Heavenly Father loves them with an everlasting love which had no beginning and shall have no end. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). Only the Holy Spirit can give true assurance to us. In fact, it is wrong for us to try to assure any they are the children of God. Only the Holy Spirit can do this blessed work of assuring God’s elect experimentally that they are truly His. I pray the Holy Spirit by His indwelling and teaching and witness may give to some poor mourner blessed assurance this week.

And then the Lord has appointed the means of the gospel to give comfort to His mourning people. In Isaiah 40:1, we read, “Comfort ye , comfort ye my people saith the Lord.” It is only the Lord’s people who will derive any comfort from the gospel. The unregenerate worldling has never had his heart broken in repentance and the gospel of our Lord’s saving work is of no interest to him. And then I will tell you that only the true gospel will be of any comfort to heaven born souls. Works religion, and exhortations to human effort and lectures on sinners’ ability and psychology will never bring any comfort to those who mourn in Zion. But the good news that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification is a message that heals the wounds of those who have been pricked in their hearts by conviction. The true gospel is a comfort and blessing to those who have been born again, because it declares that Christ was a great success in the work of redemption and that He finished the work the Father gave Him. The true gospel is a comfort to mourners for it tells them not what they can do, but rather what Christ has done. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed Mourners

(Article originally published the week of 10-15-2008 AD)

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” ( Matthew 5:4). The Christian life and experience is a great paradox that the world can never understand. The word blessed in our text means “happy”. How strange that one should be a happy mourner! Yet that is what our Lord said in Matthew 5 as He describes the citizens of His Kingdom.

Now the mourning described in out text has nothing to do with sadness because of earthly concerns. Our Lord is not speaking here of those who mourn at a funeral or because of some other sad event in their life. Nor is our Lord speaking of those who may be emotional by nature and are easily stirred to tears. Our Lord is speaking of nothing of nature , but is rather speaking of those who mourn because of their spiritual poverty (MATTHEW 5:3).

When God the Holy Spirit begins the good and gracious work of regeneration in one of His elect, that sinner becomes a mourner. Regeneration is a painful work. It is called “circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28-29; Deuteronomy 30:6). When the Lord begins the good work of grace in His people’s hearts, he cuts into their very soul and it is a painful experience. In Acts 2:37 we read of those who were converted on the day of Pentecost and it says they were “pricked in their heart.” As the word of God came to them , not in word only, but in the power of the Holy Ghost they were deeply affected. They were pricked in their heart. They felt the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God like it was stabbing them in their hearts. And they began to cry out, ‘what must we do?” The Holy Spirit granted them repentance and they repented. As Peter preached to them and confronted them with their sins, they began to mourn as they looked on Him Whom they had pierced. They became keenly aware that they had sinned and come short of God’s glory. Those who are mourning as described in our text , mourn as they perceive that the Lovely Redeemer was pierced for them.

My dear friend, do you know anything of such mourning? Can you remember in your experience that day when your hard heart began to melt under the power of regenerating grace? Have you ever been pricked in your heart? All those who have been born again know something of my text. “blessed are they that mourn.”

But now our text says “Blessed Are they that mourn“, not “mourned.” those who are truly converted become continual mourners. Hear the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am!” After Paul had been a Christian for a good while he still felt himself to be a ruined wretch in and of himself. Hear him mourning in I Timothy 1:15, ‘sinners, of whom I am chief.” Those who are born again are continual mourners as they see themselves as vile, and putrid and loathsome in the sight of the Thrice Holy God. To be a child of God is to be a spiritual mourner all your days until the Lord finally wipes away all tears.

Now hear the blessing of our text. They that mourn shall be comforted. Jesus said He came to “heal the broken hearted.” (Luke 4:18). Christ has commissioned His ministers to “comfort ye my people.” The gospel is a message of comfort to those who have had their hearts broken under the power of regeneration. And here is that message of comfort. Christ has accomplished our warfare. He fought the hard battle and won. We have received double for all our sins. Our iniquity is pardoned (Isaiah 40:2). I pray that poor mourners in Zion may be comforted by the gospel of Christ.

The Lost Son

(Article originally published the week of 10-8-2008 AD)

“And the son said unto him ,’ Father I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.’ “ (Luke 15:21). Our Lord Jesus Christ illustrates repentance in Luke 15 by a parable of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Lost sinners are like a lost sheep. They have wandered out of the way and do not know how to get to God. “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6). A Sovereign and Almighty Shepherd must come and save the lost sheep. Worse than that, lost sinners are like a lost coin. They are lifeless and cold. Lost sinners are powerless to do anything to save themselves or help save themselves. But worst of all, we are like the son that we call the prodigal. We have all left the Father’s house. Lost sinners are not only wandering out of the way with no sense of direction. Lost sinners are not only dead in trespasses and sins. But lost sinners are in willful rebellion against the LORD.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most misunderstood parables in the Bible. It has been generally used in our part of the country in regards to those who are said to have “backslidden.” Actually, most of the people known as “backsliders” in our day are people who have never been truly saved, but that is a subject for another column. The Lord’s parable of the Prodigal Son is not about “backsliding” (so-called), but about lost sinners being brought to repentance. Our Lord gave this parable when He was criticized by the Pharisees and scribes for receiving sinners(Luke 15:2). Religious people who murmur against Christ and His gospel of salvation for sinners are like the elder brother who claimed he had never transgressed his father’s law. The elder brother in Luke 15:11-32 represents those who have never been brought to see that they are indeed lost rebels. The ‘prodigal’ son represents those who have “come to themselves” and felt with great pain in their souls that they have indeed sinned against the Father and Heaven and are not worthy to be called a son. The parable of the Lost Son ought to awaken our conscience that we have indeed left the Father’s House in sinful and willful rebellion against Him.

When a sinner repents it is because the Lord Jesus Christ like a Great Shepherd has gone and found that sinner. When a sinner repents it is like lost coin being found as Christ in His Sovereign Power searches diligently until He finds that sinner, gives him life, grants him repentance and draws that sinner to Himself. But a repenting sinner is also like a returning prodigal. He comes to himself and acknowledges his great sin against God. The lost sheep and the lost coin teach us the Sovereignty of God in salvation, that is that no sinner can or will repent until the Lord grants repentance. The returning prodigal teaches us that when God grants repentance, sinners really do repent.

Now my dear readers, I ask you, are you , are you like the prodigal son or like the elder son? Do you vainly imagine you have never transgressed the Law of God? Or, do you like the Prodigal son confess that you have sinned against heaven and against God and are not worthy to be called a son of God?

Now remember this. Christ only saves those who are utterly lost. If you think like the elder son, you are not lost and you are not one that Christ will save. But if you by God’s sovereign grace have come to yourself and seen that you are a lost rebel, there is hope for you. Now to you who are lost (oh1 I hope someone out there is lost!), I point you to Christ Who receives sinners. He has promised that He will cast out none who come to Him. Come to Him now awakened sinner! Come to Him like a returning prodigal. Come with your filthy rags and he will give you the best robe, the robe of His Own righteousness. Come to Him and confess that you wasted all He gave you. Come as a lost sinner to Christ. “Come Ye sinners poor and wretched, weak and wounded sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you , full of pity, joined with power. He is able; He is willing; doubt no more.”

The Lost Coin

(Article originally published the week of 10-1-2008 AD)

“Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it.”( Luke 15:8).

In Luke chapter 15 the Lord Jesus Christ gives us a parable to illustrate the truth of repentance. It is the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Each of these illustrate something very significant about repentance. Today we turn our attention to the lost coin.

Our Lord says that a lost sinner is something like a lost coin. A woman had ten coins and lost one and she sought diligently till she found it. Lost sinners are like a coin, lifeless and cold. Our Lord is illustrating for us the doctrine of total depravity by the lost coin. The Bible says that by nature we are all dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). The dead can do absolutely nothing. The only way a lifeless coin will ever be found is if someone searches diligently until it is found. Like the woman in the parable, the Lord Jesus Christ searches diligently until He finds His people that are lost. Our Lord is illustrating the truth that repentance begins with God taking the initiative in our salvation. When a sinner repents it is because God has granted repentance to that sinner (Acts 11:18). Sinners can no more come to God by their own power than a lost coin can return to a woman’s purse by its own power.

As the woman sought diligently till she found her coin, so the Lord seeks diligently until He finds His own. Repentance flows from the diligent work of the Saviour. Christ left heaven to come to this low ground of sin and sorrow on a mission to save His own and bring them to repentance. Like the woman in our parable, the Saviour never gives up until He finds the object of his search. The diligence of Christ is shown by His sufferings on the cross to make an atonement for all His elect family. Christ sends His ministers to call men to repentance by the preaching of the word. And he sends His Spirit from above into the hearts of those for whom He died granting them repentance and drawing them unto Himself.

Now here is the joy of heaven. The three part parable of Luke 15 illustrates for us the rejoicing in heaven at the repentance of a sinner. Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents because of the great success of Christ in finding lost sinners. The Father , Son and Holy Spirit rejoice as the purpose of God in salvation is worked out in the calling out of all those the Father chose, for whom the Son died, and whom the Holy Spirit calls. Angels in heaven rejoice and worship God because salvation is all of Him. Saints in heaven and on earth as the work of salvation is accomplished in the granting of repentance to all those the Saviour seeks. There is joy in heaven when a sinner is saved because all the glory of salvation belongs to God. “Salvation is of the Lord”!

The Lost and Found

(Article originally published the week of 9-24-08)

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it.” (Luke 15:4). Our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 15 illustrated evangelical repentance by use of a parable. It is a three part parable. A man had a sheep that was lost. A woman had a coin that was lost. A father had a son that was lost. In each instance, something or somebody was lost; the lost was found; and there was rejoicing when the lost was found.

Friend have you ever been lost? I ask you not if you have ever been saved, but I ask you if you have ever been lost. Mark it down , if you have never been lost, you certainly have never been saved. Herein lies the great error in modern day “evangelism” and “soul-winning”. A great effort is being made to get folk “saved”. But the challenge of our generation is to get folks lost. Multitudes think they are saved who have never had their heart broken in deep repentance. It is no trick at all to get folks to “accept Jesus”, but only the Holy Spirit can convince a poor sinner that he is utterly lost. The vast majority of religious folks in our day are exactly like the Pharisees and scribes in the beginning of Luke 15 who felt they were just persons who needed no repentance. That is the point of our Lord’s parable of the lost being found and the rejoicing when sinners repent.

Now , I am praying some of you will get the point this week and see that you are living with a false hope of salvation if you have never been lost. Most of you “church members “ have a profession of some kind and some notions in your head, but you have never had a broken heart on account of your sinful and shameful record in the sight of a thrice Holy God . Somebody , perhaps a preacher asked you if you wanted to “accept Jesus” and get out of going to hell and he told you it was quite an easy thing, and you did and you haven’t doubted your salvation since. My friend, if something like that is what you think is salvation, you are unconverted, unsaved and still on your way to hell. Some of you were brought up that you ought to be a good person and join the church. And so you thought about it some and you decided that would be a very respectable thing to be a “church member”. Why, there are some of you who are very proud of the fact that you are the fourth or fifth generation in your clan to belong to your particular church. You have your spot picked out in the church yard where you will be buried among your ancestors and you think you have it made for eternity because you joined the church and when you die you will go to heaven because you were a nice “church member.” The sad fact is that sort of thing has you comfortable on the way to hell. You joined the church, but you have never been savingly joined to Christ .

In our passage in Luke 15 (if you value your never dying soul, go read it) our Lord tells us that repentance is like a lost sheep being found. Can you identify with that? Have you ever been like a lost sheep? Have you ever realized you were so far from God that only a Sovereign Savior could save you? Have you ever wandered up and down with no sense of direction, crying and weeping that you were utterly lost? Have you ever been in such distress of soul that you felt ready to perish unless a Mighty Shepherd came and found you? Have you ever realized that you were so lost, there was no way you could ever get to Christ unless He came and saved you? Have you ever been in complete despair concerning your soul? These are the characters that Jesus goes after until He finds them. Have you been saved by Jesus like a lost sheep being found?

Oh! What joy flooded my poor soul when I was able by faith to look up into the precious face of Jesus like a lost sheep that had been found! Lost sinners are like lost sheep. They are helpless to get to the Shepherd unless He would come and find them. Oh! How wonderful the words of our text- “until He find it”! The Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven to save sinners who are like lost sheep. He is determined to seek until He finds all His lost sheep. May the Lord deal with someone this week to show you you are lost. And may you be found by the seeking Savior.

Repentance, the Cause of Joy in Heaven

(Article originally published the week of 9-17-2008 AD)

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). In recent articles, I have been labouring to set before you the Biblical doctrine of repentance. Repentance is one of the main and indispensable evidences of regeneration. All men are commanded to repent, yet God must grant repentance. Jesus began His earthly ministry calling on sinners to repent. No one is saved apart from repentance, yet repentance itself does not save. Only the atoning work of Christ can put away sin. A sinner could cry the Gulf of Mexico full of tears, and it would not be enough to wash away his sins. But the precious blood of Christ will wash away the foulest and blackest of sins.

Now here is a wonderful truth about repentance- there is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents. In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us a parable to illustrate His doctrine of repentance. Actually , it is a three part parable. The first part of the parable is the part of the man who had a hundred sheep and one was lost. Then the second part is the woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost one. And then the third part of the parable is that we call the Parable of the Lost Son. Each of these parables is teaching us something significant about repentance.

First of all let us note the occasion for which Jesus spoke this parable (or parables). At the beginning of Luke 15 we read that the publicans and sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him. Because of this, the Pharisees and Scribes murmured against Jesus. They were astounded that Jesus received sinners and ate with them. My poor sinner friend, are you not indeed glad that Jesus receives sinners? Why, here is the good news of the gospel- Jesus receives sinners! But the religious people could not rejoice in that because they did not perceive they were sinners. So Jesus began to speak the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. He illustrated His grace that brings salvation as like a man who had a hundred sheep and one was lost. The man left the ninety and nine “in the wilderness” (Note, “in the wilderness” , not in the fold), and went to find the lost sheep. And when he had found it , he called his friends to rejoice with him, for he found his lost sheep. And so he says there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, than over ninety and nine persons who “need no repentance.”

Now here is the first point we need to see from the parable. There are no “ninety and nine persons who need no repentance.” The Pharisees and scribes certainly thought they were in the category of folks who need no repentance, but they were dead wrong. And so Jesus always leaves such folks right where they are- “in the wilderness” , in their own self righteousness to go on to hell with their smug self satisfaction. But, praise be to His sovereign grace, He goes and finds those who are His lost sheep, those who are sinners and know it. The ninety and nine sheep in the parable illustrate for us all those who feel good about themselves and have no need of a Saviour because they are (as they suppose, though eternally wrongly), “just persons which have need of no repentnace. ”The one lost sheep illustrates for us those to whom Christ grants repentance and goes and finds them and saves them.

Now my dear readers, how do you see yourself? Are you a lost sheep who needs a sovereign Saviour to come and find you, or are you a “just person who needs no repentance” ? May the Holy Spirit give you the answer.

Jesus Preached Repentance

(Article originally published the week of 9-3-2008 AD )

“From that time Jesus began to preach , and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “ (Matthew 4:17). The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of preachers, began His earthly ministry calling on men to repent. There is something most significant about this, and calls for our serious consideration.

The first thing I would note is the reason stated in His call for us to repent. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The “kingdom of heaven” is a spiritual kingdom. It is contrasted with the “power of darkness” ( Colossians 1:13). Everyone is in one of two kingdoms, the kingdom of Christ, or the kingdom of darkness. To be in the kingdom of darkness is to be unconverted, unsaved, unregenerate, without Christ, and on your way to hell. Most of you are in this kingdom. Then there is the kingdom of Christ. To be in the kingdom of Christ means to be converted, saved, regenerated , in union with Christ, and on your way to heaven. The call to repentance is a call to renounce the kingdom of darkness , and embrace the kingdom of Christ. The person who is saved, comes under the rule of Christ which he loves. The call to repent is a call to admit that you have been in rebellion against Christ your lawful King, cease from that rebellion and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ will not accept anything less than a total surrender to Him. You cannot have Christ and salvation through Him and remain wedded to your sins. Mark it down neighbors and friends and kindred, if Christ is not your Lord, He is not your saviour. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The King demands that you surrender your will absolutely to His. Christ demands that you quit doing things your way and start doing things His way. If you are determined to live like you want to , then you will end up in hell. But if you love King Jesus and want to live His way, then you will be delivered from the power of darkness, be translated into the kingdom of Christ, and live with Him eternally in heaven.

The second thing I would note is that since the Lord Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry calling on us sinners to repent, it shows He is willing and able to save all those who will indeed repent of all their sins and believe in Him Alone for salvation. It would be absurd to suppose that Christ would call on you to repent, and then reject you when you do repent. Jesus said in John 6:37, “him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Coming to Christ is believing in Christ (see John 6:35). Those who come to Christ are repenting ones. The Lord Jesus Christ gladly receives all those who will repent and believe in Him. But mark it down sinner friend, if you refuse to repent, you must perish in the sins you love so much and be rejected by Christ for eternity.

But then the next thing I gather from our Lord’s call for repentance is an example for all those who preach the gospel. The man who does not continually call on people to repent is not one of Christ’s ministers. A gospel that does not include the demand for repentance is not the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The message of easy believeism that does not demand that you turn from your idols and worship the Christ that you believe in, is not the true gospel. If you value your never-dying soul, shun the “preacher” that does not call on you to repent, even as Jesus called on people to repent.

I conclude today as my Lord preached and call on you my dear readers to repent. There is no salvation for you except you repent. I press the claims of my Lord upon you again. His kingdom is at hand. It is of eternal urgency that you get out of the kingdom of darkness and get into the kingdom of God’s Dear Son. You cannot get out of the kingdom of darkness without repentance. And you cannot get out of the kingdom of darkness without being translated out by Someone more powerful than yourself. May the Sovereign Lord grant someone repentance and transfer you into His Kingdom.

The Granting of Repentance

(Article originally published the week of 8-27-2008 AD )

“…Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). Dear friends, did you know that you are helpless to repent evangelically unless the Lord grants you repentance. You cannot repent of your own “free will”, any more than you can savingly believe on Christ. Repentance unto life is a work of God’s sovereign grace as much as any other part of salvation. As further proof look at II Timothy 2:25: “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God will peradventure give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” You see, God must give repentance to sinners, or they cannot truly repent, evangelically.

Oh! What a strait poor sinners are in! You are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30), and you will perish unless you repent (Luke 13:3), but you cannot repent unless God shows mercy to you and grants you repentance that you might not perish. Poor sinner you are helpless. There is only one thing for you to do and that is cry out to God Who Alone has the power to grant you repentance and give you faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Poor sinners cannot repent without a work of grace first of all because they are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Until the Holy Spirit regenerates a poor sinner, that sinner is dead spiritually. Those who are spiritually dead can do nothing of a spiritual nature. What you need my poor unconverted friend is for the Holy Spirit to regenerate you and make you alive spiritually. If that ever happens to you, you will begin to mourn before God on account of your sins. Repentance is a result of regeneration.

And sinners cannot repent of their own free will because they do not have a heart for repentance. The natural heart is hard as the millstone. When God has mercy on a poor sinner, He gives them a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). But a hard-hearted, unregenerate, unconverted sinner will never repent with Godly sorrow for his sins. He may have the sorrow of the world and a legal repentance, but is absolutely at the mercy of the Sovereign God to give him a new heart that he might repent and turn to Christ for salvation from his sins. Friend, has the Sovereign Lord given you a new heart? If he has, then you know something of repentance that only God can grant.

The fact of the matter is that God is absolutely sovereign in the salvation of sinners (Romans 9:15), as he is in all things (Ephesians 1:11). God will do with you as seems Him best (Matthew 11:25-26). If he leaves you in your sins , and in love with your sins and lets you go on to hell, He is just and holy in doing so. After all , unconverted one, you love your sins and despise holiness. You don’t want to be holy do you? No, you love the world and you have no intention to forsake your worldly ways. So if God lets you go on as you are going, He is simply leaving you to your own “free will” as you loudly insist you want. But if he shows mercy to someone else and grants them repentance, He will be doing you no injustice as He leaves you right where you want to be.

Now I have a word to you who have been granted repentance. As you mourn your wretched condition, rejoice at the same time, for it was all of God’s grace “you were brought to obey, while others were suffered to go, the road which by nature we choose as our way, which leads to the regions of woe”! And as you repent before God for your sins, look to His Son Who is the only One that can do poor sinners good. He can comfort all that mourn for their sins, and He does. Christ Alone! Christ Alone!