The Wonderful Name of Jesus

(Article for publication week of 12-4-2014 Ad)

 

"For unto is a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder:  and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Seven centuries before His Incarnation, the prophet Isaiah declared the coming of Christ. In this verse we have an amazing prophecy that God would be manifest in the flesh.

Our text declares that the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ would be "Wonderful." This is a most appropriate name, for the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the most wonderful Person in the universe. Dear reader, would you agree with that statement? Would you agree that the Lord Jesus Christ is the most wonderful Person in the universe? If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, then I am sure you will agree with that. And if you don't know Him, I pray He might have mercy upon you and that you would come to know Him in experimental salvation.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the most wonderful and unique Person in the universe. There is none other who can compare. He is wonderful because He is the Second Person in the Holy Trinity. Our text declares the Deity of Christ, for Isaiah wrote He is the "mighty God." He is eternally begotten of the Father and is one with Him. Thus the text declares His eternal generation for the Father must needs have a Son to give a Son. And Christ is wonderful because He became incarnate. As dear Joseph Hart wrote, "How it was done we can't discuss, But this we know 'twas done for us." That is the "Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). We see this in the expression, "a child is born." Though He is eternally God, Christ was made a Man. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost in a virgin's womb by the agency and power of the Holy Ghost. Christ is wonderful because He has two natures. He is very God of very God, and very Man of very Man. As the God-Man He executes three offices. He is a Prophet to teach us; He is a Priest to intercede for us; and He is a King to rule over us.

And His name shall be "wonderful" for He has done the most wonderful work that has ever been done, that is the redemption of poor sinners. He created the universe and He governs the universe, but these are small works compared with the salvation of poor sinners. This was a work that could only be performed by the God-Man. Hebrews 1:3 declares that Christ purged our sins "by Himself." No angel could have been our Redeemer. No saint could have been our Redeemer. God the Father did not die for us, nor did God the Holy Spirit. It was God the Son Who died for us and put away our sins as far as the East is from the West. The Blessed Eternal Son of God left His Throne and glory, set aside His crown and came into a sin-cursed world to die for poor sinners such as you and me. As my dear brother in the ministry, Elder Jeff Pollard preached among us on one occasion, "the Son of God became the Son of Man that sons of men might become sons of God"! Now that is wonderful!

This is a name of which believers never get tired of hearing. A believer in Christ will never complain that he has heard all he wants to hear of Jesus. A true believer longs to hear more and more of that wonderful name. As another old hymn says, "more about Jesus would I know"! Yes indeed! His Name is Wonderful!

God's Unspeakable Gift

(Article for publication week of 11-27- 2014)

 

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" (II Corinthians 9:15). What is this "unspeakable gift?" It can be none other than God's Own Eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the previous verses the Apostle had been commending the Christians at Corinth for their liberality, and exciting them to continue. He concludes by reminding us that we will never out give the Lord Himself. God's gifts, and His One Great Gift by whom all blessings natural and spiritual come down to men are so much greater than our giving that it is indeed "unspeakable." Since God has given lavishly to us, we therefore ought to be generous and liberal in our giving.

God gave His Son, first of all in eternity past to be the Covenant Head of His people. This "unspeakable gift" is an eternal gift which had no beginning. As God loved His Own Son, Who is One with Himself, so He loved the people of His choice as being eternally united to their Covenant Head. God gave us the gift of His Dear Son to be our Propitiation as He was foreordained as a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God gave His Eternally Begotten Son to become the Son of Man that He might live a life of perfect obedience, and die an atoning death that we might be made the very righteousness of God in Him(Romans 5:19b).

It is through this one unspeakable gift that all blessings natural and spiritual come down to men. We owe our very existence to the Lord Jesus Christ, for it was by Him the world was created (Colossians 1:16), and by Him that the world is held together (Colossians 1:17). It is through this One Unspeakable Gift that believers have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). This Unspeakable Gift is made unto His people "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption", that is everything we need for now and eternity. We are "complete" in this Unspeakable Gift (Colossians 2:10).

Christ is God's unspeakable gift because He is as the Father all glorious. He is Eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, thrice holy, just, merciful, longsuffering, good, and gracious. He is of the same essence as the Father, so He is verily God.

Christ is the unspeakable gift of God for He is raised from the dead and seated at His Father's Right Hand pleading the cause of His people. God gave His Son to be the God Man, the only Mediator between Himself and sinful man. He ever lives to make intercession for all those for whom He died.

Truly, God's Gift of His Son is unspeakable. All the sermons that have been preached and all the volumes that have been written trying to proclaim and declare the glories of Christ have come far short of describing the glory which is truly His. Human language is not sufficient to express the wonders and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. The human mind is not able to fully fathom how wonderful Jesus truly is. But we go on in our feeble way, with stammering tongues trying to tell others how wonderful He is. We go on reading our Bibles and sitting at the feet of men that God has called to preach Christ because we long to know this Dear Saviour more and more. And we always come away with this , "thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!"

In Everything Give Thanks

(Article for publication week of 11-20-2014 AD)

 

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).

Dear reader, do you ever think much about what is the Lord's will for you?  Well, you may know God's will for you without any mystical revelation or dream, for the Holy Scriptures tell us what is the will of God for each of us. Our text tells us it is God's will for you and I to be giving Him thanks in everything. Truly, everyone of us have much for which to be thankful.

First of all, I will point out that thanksgiving presupposes God. Thanksgiving presupposes there is a God to Whom we should be thankful. We do not have to prove the existence of God for every man knows there is a God. The image of God is stamped upon us, and we are inwardly aware that He is there through the conscience He has put in us. His signature is upon all His creation, and everywhere we look He is there. Each of us knows innately that we were created by God and we owe Him our worship and thanksgiving.

Secondly, let us observe that thanksgiving is a happy duty. If you want to be happy, I would urge you to make it your daily and continual business to be always thanking God. Giving thanks will dispel gloom and despair. It has been my observation and personal experience that those who have true joy and peace are those who recognise that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). I guarantee you it will lift your spirits tremendously to simply count your blessings and thank our Great God for every one of them. When we start counting our blessings we always find they are more numerous than we can count, and as we  "praise God from Whom all blessings flow", we think of more and more for which to thank Him.

Thirdly, note well that we are to be thanking God in everything. If you are a believer, the first thing for which  you will generally be thanking God is your salvation. You will be thanking God for loving you with an everlasting love. You will be thanking Christ for His glorious atoning death that put away your sins. You will be thanking God the Father for raising HIs Eternal Son from the grave and seating Him at His Own right hand where He intercedes for us. You will be thanking the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity for regenerating, converting and sanctifying you. But then you will be thanking God for all your natural blessings as well. The believer is well aware that every piece of food and every drop of water is from His Great God.

But some true and tried saint may ask, "how can I give thanks in everything? I know I am blessed above measure, as you have reminded me, but you don't know about all my troubles and sorrows. How can I give thanks in my sufferings?" Well, first of all I will remind you of God's supreme promise in Romans 8:28 to work all things for your eternal good. Secondly, I will present for your consideration that you can thank God it is no worse than it is. And thirdly, I will remind you that it will be better. No matter how bad it gets in this life, that is as bad as it will ever be for a believer. But no matter how good it gets for an unsaved man, that is as good as it will ever be. Therefore, in everything, give thanks.

Another Lesson from Great Faith

(Article for publication week of  11-13-2014 AD)

 

"For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one,' Go', and he goeth; and to another,' Come', and he cometh; and to my servant , 'Do this,' and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed Him, 'I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel' " (Luke 7:9-10).

We return this week to our lesson we have been considering for several weeks concerning the Roman centurion, who the Lord declared was of "great faith." We have opened several doctrinal and practical lessons in this account which is given in Luke 7:1-10 and Matthew 8:5-13. We have shown that this man's faith was marked by profound humility and absolute trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We had also shown that this faith was found in a surprising character, first in that the man was a soldier and secondly in that he was a gentile. We have also shown from these passages that we can serve the Lord in any lawful calling, and then we used the occasion to show from the scriptures something of what a lawful calling is. Now we come to make another practical point which is evident from these passages, and the point is this- the scriptures nowhere teach the man made philosophy of equality.

Our Lord was not an egalitarian. Note well, in the lesson at hand the Lord Jesus Christ recognised that the centurion was a man under authority, and he was a man with authority over others. This man of great faith was an officer in the Roman army, and the Lord recognises this as being righteous by His holy approbation. The man also had servants ("doulos"in the Greek, of which we hope to write later). If our Lord had been an egalitarian, or a guru who had come to teach equality, this would have been the place for Him to command the Roman Centurion to resign his commission, get out of the Roman Army, and free his domestic servants. On the other hand, our Lord commended this dear brother to us as an example of "great faith."

Now, dear readers, note well, the Bible nowhere teaches the vain philosophy of egalitarianism. In fact Lucifer was the first advocate of equality when he said "I will be like the Most High' (Isaiah 14:14).After Lucifer lost his first estate by this rebellion, he then tempted Eve with a promise of equality , when he said to her, "ye shall be as gods"(Genesis 3:5). Every egalitarian movement, including abolitionism, feminism, civil rights-ism, and now the sodomite rights movement is based on this Satanic lie of equality. Current policy in government, the media and the education system is generally based on this lie of equality.

Conversely, inequality is a self evident fact and a reality which the scriptures embrace and regulate and with which they teach us to be content . For example, the fifth commandment , "honour thy father and thy mother", teaches us not only to obey our parents, but also to respect all lawful authority, to be diligent and humble in our own authority, and to be content to stay in our place. Our Baptist forefathers taught us in our catechism (like the one endorsed by the old Charleston Association), in question and answer 69, "What is required by the fifth commandment?" Answer prescribed, "The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and performing the duties belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, and equals." The Westminster Larger Catechism goes into further details as to the duties of superiors to inferiors, inferiors to superiors, and equals to equals.

Dear readers, be not deceived by the devilsh and anti-Biblical and anti- God lie of equality.

 

 

 

The Aged Women Likewise

(Article for publication week of 11-6- AD 2104)

 

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of  be not blasphemed" (Titus 2:3-5).

In the Book of Titus we  are taught to adorn the gospel by a holy life. In Titus chapter two every age and class is addressed. Men and women , young and old, masters and slaves are addressed. We are taught to know our place and calling and serve the Lord where He has put us. The inspired writer instructs the aged women to teach the younger women in the holy art of wifehood and motherhood. The reason they are to teach these things is that the Word of God be not blasphemed. The unholy lives of professed Christians cause the Word to be blasphemed. Christians are called upon to live radically different from the unsaved world. A holy life adorns the doctrine of the gospel.

The teaching that aged women are commanded to is strictly private. God's word in other places forbids women to be public teachers or (especially) preachers. For example we read in I Corinthians 14:34, "let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law." Again, in I Timothy 2: 11-12 we read, "let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Again in I Timothy 3:1 we read, "if a MAN desire the office of a bishop , HE desireth a good work." And then we go on and read in verse 2 that the bishop (a.k.a.  elder, overseer, pastor, minister, presbyter, etc) must be the HUSBAND of one wife. God has forbidden that women should ever be public teachers or ministers of the Word. The ministry is no place for a woman, or a sissy. It is a man's work and only a man who is a man in a every sense of the word is qualified for the hard work of preaching. A preacher must be a man physically, mentally, psychologically, and in his general demeanour. Furthermore, the only men that God has ever authorised to teach publicly are those men that He has gifted and qualified for the work, and who have been approved by the church as "apt to teach" ( I Timothy 3:2), and who have the Biblical qualifications of a preacher (I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

But the women in the church are to be teachers of good things. Younger women are to be keepers at home and to be teaching their own children. The aged women are to be teaching the younger women to be faithful wives and mothers. Again, we know that this teaching is strictly in a private setting because of the texts preciously cited which clearly limit public preaching and teaching to men. Also, note well, that women are not to be teachers of doctrine, but they are to be teachers of practical godliness to their daughters and daughters- in - law, etc. They are to be teaching these things in their own homes, not in the church. Many marriages could possibly be saved by older women teaching their daughters to love and obey their husbands and to love their children.

The aged women can teach these things by knowing the word themselves and privately proclaiming it to the younger women. They can teach best by example. Some aged woman may be reading this week who was not converted until later in life. You can teach by warning the younger women to avoid your mistakes. And I am sure many are reading who are lost. May the Lord have mercy, and save you before it is too late.