JANUARY 23, 2024

 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God…” (I John 4:1)

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (II Tim. 1:7)

In human nature exists a proneness to either of two extremes. On the one hand, there is within many people a bent toward gross superstitions, giving credit to everything, however false. On the other hand, many have a tendency toward infidelity, believing nothing, however true. These two opposites are manifest variously as to shape and develop in the individual. Indeed, respecting either of these groups, some will be more susceptible than others.

The two texts at the head of this article may not appear to be so closely related at first. However, for obedience to John’s exhortations to the brethren, a major key is found in Paul’s words to Timothy. John says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God.” Paul writes, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear,…but of a sound mind.” (“Fear,” in this case, comes from a word which means faithless or timid.) Notice, John is addressing believers; “Beloved, believe not every spirit.” In nearly every church can be found some who are inclined to believe in some form of superstition. The Apostle John, in his day, saw the evil of superstition as well as an infidel spirit. There were some who “believed every spirit;” and there were others that “denied that Jesus Christ was come in the flesh.”

“Try the spirits.” Examine the spirit of a man, whether it be of God. In doing this, he who is taught of God will try his own spirit. He will then be able to rightly try the spirits of others. Let us look, then, at what the Spirit of the Lord is and does in a man, and how we try our own spirit to see whether it is of God.

We can begin by noting that wherever the Spirit dwells, He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the Spirit of the Lord that would rest on the coming Christ, as the “spirit of wisdom and understanding,…the spirit of knowledge…and of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD.” (Isa. 11:2, 3) That which Christ had resting on His human nature without measure, His people have given to them in some measure. He then gives to His own a knowledge of the truth of God as our inward teacher identifying what is true and what is false.

The Spirit of the Lord in a believer’s heart is not only the Spirit of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding but also the Spirit of fear. That which rested on Christ was “the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Obviously, this is not that fear spoken of earlier, which is faithless and timid, but that Godly fear which is “a fountain of life,” that abides in the believer’s heart as the fountain that bubbles up in the sensations and emotions of Godly fear.

Again; the Spirit in the heart of a child of God is the Spirit of prayer. The promise is, “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications…” (Zech. 12:10) In our praying we are assured the help of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 8:26) It seems, at times, like a river at low water almost ebbed out, but then the Spirit of prayer makes it to flow again, even into the ears of God Himself. What a mercy it is, an inestimable blessing, to have something of the Spirit of prayer in the soul; to know what it is to go to a throne of grace with pantings and longings after God helped by the Spirit of supplications.

We must mention one more of the countless blessings of the indwelling Spirit of God. Wherever the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart, He also abides there as the Spirit of faith. “We having the same Spirit of faith…” (II Cor. 4:13) The spirit of faith, joined with the spirit of asound mind cannot tolerate infidelity (lack of belief); neither can it embrace any form of superstition spawned out of human imagination.

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JANUARY 18, 2024

 “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off….” (Mark 9:43)

Man’s right hand is emblematic of his work. His salvation is not the product of his own hand, but rather, it is the work of God, and therefore it is by grace that he is saved, and not of works. But, what is salvation? Salvation is, in short, deliverance from sin, deliverance from the guilt of it; from the punishment of it, and from the power of it. If then any man is saved, he is delivered from the reigning power of sin. It is not possible, therefore, that one should have salvation, and yet continue to indulge any known sin. Jesus does not heal sin-sick souls so that they might remain sick in the hospital. He came not to take men to heaven with their old sins about them, but rather to purge them from their sins, and so make them fit for heaven. We do not at all, therefore, come into conflict with the Doctrine of Grace while we declare to you the strongest claims of Christ upon our hearts and lives through His Word. The Gospel of Jesus Christ urges upon you the most strenuous giving up of sin, and the things which lead to sin; but this, not as a means of salvation, but as a result of saving faith, and as certain evidence that one has salvation truly in possession.

Our text most powerfully expresses the absolute intolerance of the Holy Spirit-renewed soul toward any sin. All sin is offensive to God, and everything that offends God ought to offend us. You’ll notice the text says, “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off.” We might read it, “If thy right hand offend God, cut it off.” These two expressions ought in our experience to mean the same thing, because everything that offends God does offend every truly gracious heart. By this, we can know if we are truly reconciled to God or not. If we truly love God, then it follows that whatever He finds hateful, we also, because of our relationship to Him, find it to be hateful. It was for this very reason that David could say, “Do not I hate them that hate thee?” Where two hearts are bound together in the bonds of love, each is desirous to remove everything that would cause pain to the other. On a purely human level, I cannot love you if I side with your enemies against you. You cannot have affection for me if you delight in that which vexes and grieves my spirit. Surely then, if one loves God, he will gladly put away such things as He expressly hates; and, for His sake, form a like hatred for those things also. We can no longer allow our members to be employed in unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13). Rather, it were better to cut off even the right hand, than to allow it to do that which offends God and us.

If that which offends God offends us, then the blessed truth of the matter is that there is some degree of conformity between our soul and God. If we, even now, in our souls are warring against sin, which God hates; and if we are striving after that which God loves, then there is seen a restored likeness to our Creator. This means that there is some communion between God and us. This means that there is a precious and wonderful relationship between us redeemed sinners and God Who made us. There is greater joy in knowing by this proof that the thrice holy God is in sweet fellowship with us than there is in any carnal excitement that comes as the fruit of sin. By the solid proof of holiness, we can know that the love of God is in us and that the peace of God is keeping our hearts and minds. If we are in sweet oneness with God then it follows that what God loves, we love.

It is our duty to “Keep yourselves (ourselves) in the love of God…” (Jude 21) By this command, Jude is not requiring that we keep ourselves saved, as he immediately makes clear: “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling…” (Vs. 24) He is, however, requiring that we keep ourselves in the fellowship of God’s love by following holiness. Every saved soul will find that there are many sins that offend God which must be summarily dealt with. These are all to be vigorously dealt with as the offense that they are. No measure is too drastic in guarding against offending God. “If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off.” In other words, repent of the sin, and burn any bridge by which you might return to it.

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JANUARY 16, 2024

 “Open thy mouth for the dumb…Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8, 9)

These words were addressed to King Lemuel, together with the remaining portion of this chapter, by his mother. There are differing opinions as to who this King Lemuel was, but the best founded of them is that he was King Solomon. His mother called him Lemuel either because it was an endearing appellation with which she would address him, or maybe it was a name in addition to that by which he was usually known, which was not uncommon among the Hebrews. So Jehoiachin is called Coniah (Jer. 22:24), and in like manner, Solomon was called Jedidiah (II Sam. 12:25). Therefore, there is reason to believe that Lemuel was merely another name for Solomon.

The meaning of the name Lemuel is literally, “Unto God,” that is devoted to God, or belonging to God, or simply, “God’s,” as Paul referred to Him who is “greater than Solomon,” our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 3:23) Lemuel’s mother addresses her son with the excellent counsel contained in this chapter, which counsel begins with the words of our text: “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” In other words, she is calling upon her son, the king, to speak for the poor and needy, who cannot speak for themselves, who seem to have no voice to plead their cause. Is this not what a righteous judge ought to do? Should he not see that the poor and needy are heard the same as the rich and powerful? There should not be a two-tiered system of justice in which only those of an elite class have a voice. Though Solomon did not perfectly heed all of his mother’s wise counsel (See Vs. 3), it seems that he did “open his mouth for the poor and needy.” In wisdom, he judged righteously.

King Lemuel, or Solomon, as he is better known, is a striking type of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is therefore the spiritual application of the text that is most meaningful to us. When we look at the spiritual meaning, we see that “a greater than Solomon is here,” and Lemuel points to a greater King than ever Solomon was in all his glory. As the name signifies “devoted to God,” or “God’s,” Who more emphatically answers that signal than the Lord of life and glory, He Who is God’s Son, and God’s Servant, and God’s Ambassador, and Who was fully devoted and consecrated to the Father.

Since Lemuel pictures the Lord Jesus Christ, who might we understand His mother to be? We read in the Song of Solomon 3:11, “Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him…” Since there is no doubt that this Song is a description of the love of Jesus and His Church, His mother then must represent the Church.

It is our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner’s Advocate, who at the pleading of the Church, opens His mouth for the dumb. There is a certain character represented here, and upon him is written the title “dumb.” Who is this character? It is one who is arraigned and summoned to the seat of judgment. But why is he dumb, and in need of an Advocate to speak for him?

First, he is one who is overcome with guilt and conviction of sin. Such persons find themselves dumbfounded before a holy God. Since the accusation is true, the guilty party is brought to silence. Thus, when our Blessed Substitute lay under the weight and guilt of our sins, “As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” He could not plead His innocence, because, as our Substitute, he was bearing the guilt of our sins.

Thank God, our Lord bore that awful guilt and shame in silence, without protest, and now stands as our Advocate with the Father. (I John 2:1) When the Judge says to the sinner for whom Christ suffered,“What do you have to say for yourself?” The Lord our Advocate breaks the silence and speaks for the dumb, and upon the merits of His own suffering, gains pardon for the poor and needy.

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JANUARY 11, 2024

 “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32)

Few warnings in Scripture are more solemn than this, “Remember Lot’s Wife.” This is so first of all because of the person that Jesus names: “Lot’s wife.” She must have been a person of small consideration since her name is never given. The little that we know about her comes from the nineteenth chapter of Genesis where two angels that were sent to deliver Lot’s family from the destruction of Sodom took her by the hand and pulled her out to safety. Her marriage to Lot is not even mentioned, we must assume that Lot’s decision to make Sodom his home (Gen. 13:10-13) also included taking a wife from there. Yet, Jesus says, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

This warning is also solemn because of the context in which it is given. Jesus had just said, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” He was speaking about His Second Coming. “Likewise also,” He continues, “as it was in the days of Lot…” (Vs. 26, 28) It was all just life as usual in the wicked city, but the same day that Lot went out, there rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. One day, perhaps very soon, our Lord will descend from heaven“with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel…” (II Thess. 1:7, 8) Just as Lot was spared, so shall all believers be saved. But Lot’s wife, in disobedience, looked back, and even after being removed from the devastation, ended up perishing with the wicked.

A third reason why this warning is so solemn is because of the persons being warned. Jesus is not speaking to proud, unbelieving Pharisees, but to His own disciples. Is it needful for professing Christians to hear such a warning? When we consider who this woman was, and the privileges she enjoyed, we have sufficient reason not to presume. Not all to whom Jesus spoke were true believers, for Judas was there among them.

Let us hear what Jesus asks of His disciples, and then do as He asks. He bids us to remember, i.e. keep her case constantly before our minds. Remember the privileges she enjoyed. She was married to a righteous man whose soul was vexed over the great wickedness of the city where they lived (II Peter 2:7, 8). Perhaps she pretended to share his vexation. She had a knowledge of God, and of Divine revelation, and the Gospel (the Abrahamic Covenant). She, no doubt, was well acquainted with choice saints – Abraham, Sarah, and others. But Jesus would have us to remember her and be warned that knowledge, mental acceptance, and holy associations are not enough. Such privileges unimproved will only aggravate condemnation. The sunlight that makes living plants grow will only dry up dead ones for the burning.

Jesus would have us to remember the sin that she committed. It is plainly stated in Genesis 19:26: “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” The sin seems so slight, but it reveals a desperately wicked heart. Not only was it a deliberate act of disobedience to the plain command of God (Gen. 19:17), it revealed her real character by showing where her heart was. She loved that world, and was loath to let it go, and ended up perishing with it.

Jesus would have all of His followers to “Remember Lot’s wife,” and let her serve as a reminder that regardless of one’s knowledge, profession, or religious affiliations, if the heart still loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (I John 2:15) Those who love the world will perish with the world.

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