AUGUST 8, 2024

 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-5)

Paul has spent much of this letter to the Romans making the point that nobody can be shown to be righteous before God by works of the Law. Paul now turns to Israel’s primary ancestor, Abraham, as the ultimate example proving that being made right with God comes through faith and not works. If Abraham had been justified before God by his works, he would have something to brag about.

Of course, nobody can be justified by their works. Even if Abraham were justified in this way though, meaning that he had never sinned and had only done good works, he would not be able to boast about that to God. God would not be impressed with a human being’s good works and we will never attain justification based on our efforts.

Paul uses Old Testament Scripture as his source to make this point. According to Scripture, Abraham was not justified by what he did; by his works. Instead, Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God. Faith in God, not his works, allowed Abraham to be justified before God.

Paul made the same argument to the Christians in the region of Galatia. A group known as the “Judaizers” was persuading them that they must be circumcised and follow the Law, in addition to believing in Christ, to be truly saved. Paul used the example of Abraham (who was and is seen as the blueprint of Jewish culture) in that letter, as well, to show that this argument was false.

Was Abraham justified before God because he earned it by his good works or because he believed what God told him? That’s the rhetorical question Paul poses. His opponents taught that Abraham was especially good and that the things he had done made him acceptable to God. By their logic, then, all people wanting to be called Abraham’s children must follow the same path. Paul argues that all of Abraham’s acts of faith came after and were driven by his faith in God.

Paul begins here to illustrate the difference between salvation by works and salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ. When we have a job, we get paid. That paycheck is not a gift. It is what our employer owes us in exchange for our work. Clearly, we can’t demand that God “owes” us salvation based on our works. First and foremost, as Paul has already demonstrated, none of us can earn being declared righteous by God. No matter how hard we try, God still owes us nothing.

If we could be justified before God by our works, then God would owe us righteousness. As I said above, it would be like receiving a paycheck for a job or a transaction with the God of heaven. However, Paul has already demonstrated in Romans that only some can accomplish this work. Instead, we all sin and fall short of God’s glory.

Paul instead points to the opposite of earning something by work: receiving it as a gift. The difference comes in not laboring with a mind to purchase the benefit. The one who receives a gift does not earn it; our faith is what causes us to be declared righteous by God.

Our God justifies the ungodly upon their repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This is the entire point of the Gospel. God does not wait for us to become godly or righteous apart from Him before welcoming us into His family. God justifies us despite our sinfulness because of our faith in righteous Jesus. There is no more excellent gift than this, and the greatest truth is that it’s all found in the teachings of Scripture itself and not something Paul has invented.

AUGUST 6, 2024

 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

“Keep thy heart.” By heart is, of course, not meant that principal organ of the body upon which man’s whole physical being depends, but is analogous to it, in that it intends the whole soul, or “the inner man,” out of which are the issues of spiritual life. As the whole state of one’s physical being depends on the heart, so the everlasting state of the whole man depends upon the welfare of the soul.

The heart is man’s worst part before regeneration; and the heart is man’s best part after regeneration. Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This explains why He insisted, “Ye must be born again.” (John 3:6, 7) The natural man’s heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jer. 17:9) Thus, it is the unregenerate man’s worst part, because, as Jesus said, out of its “evil treasure,” issues a life of evil. (Luke 6:45)

The renewed heart, on the other hand, is the born-again man’s best part. The Lord said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…” (Ezek. 36:26, 27) He said, “I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.” It is this regenerate heart that knows the Lord. “I will give them an heart to know me.” (Jer. 24:7) It is this regenerate heart that “believeth unto righteousness.” (Rom. 10:10) It is the foundation of all holy actions, for Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things.”

The heart is the seat of principles, and therefore must be kept with all diligence. “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:6) Therefore the eye of God is fixed principally upon the heart. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (I Sam. 16:7) God sees our motives; He sees our inward character. Outward appearances establish reputation – what people think us to be; but the heart reveals character – who and what we really are. God is not deceived by outward appearances when the heart’s motives aren’t pure.

The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart. There can be outward reform without internal change. “The heart still loves what it loves.” God looks through the whitewashed exterior and sees the inward corruption still there. Likewise, the greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart right with God. It must be kept; it will not keep itself. It requires diligence. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end.” The heart is the enemy’s target. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” But rather, as Jesus says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.”

Herein lies the real difficulty in true religion. This very thing is what makes the way of life a narrow way; and this is what makes the gate of heaven a strait gate.

The text teaches us that to diligently keep and rightly manage the heart is the Christian’s most important duty. The word “keep” means to guard; it means to maintain and manage. We are to “keep the heart with all diligence.” Interestingly, the word “diligence” also means guard. Thus, we are to post a double guard upon the heart. If the heart is not right, then nothing else can be right. This is the preeminent responsibility. Therefore Christian, be very jealous for your heart, and be doubly diligent in guarding it. As the text literally rendered reads, “Keep thy heart with all keeping, for out of it are the issues of life.”

AUGUST 1, 2024

 “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.” (Psalm 144:1-2)

Its title is “Of David,” and its language is of David if language can belong to any man. As we might say of any poem, “This is of Tennyson,” or “This is of Shakespeare,” we may say, “This is of David.” Nothing could lead one to ascribe this song to anybody but David. Alexander Maclaren well says, “The Davidic origin of this psalm is as marked as that of any in the book.” It is to God that the mighty warrior sings when he extols Him as his strength and stay in the verses we’ll cover today.

He cannot contain his gratitude, bursting into a loud note of praise. When the heart is in the right state, it must praise God and cannot be restrained. His utterances gush forth as waters from a living spring. With all his strength, David blesses the God of his strength. We ought not to receive so excellent grace to resist evil, to defend truth, and to conquer error without knowing Who gave it to us and rendering Him the glory of it. Not only does the Lord give strength to His saints, but He is their strength. The strength is made theirs because God is theirs. God is full of power, and He becomes the power of those who trust Him.

All wisdom and skill are from the Lord, and He deserves to be gratefully extolled for them. David was, appropriately, called a “man of war” due to being immensely successful in his battles. He does not trace this to his ability but to be taught and strengthened for the war and the fight. If the Lord deigns to have a hand in such unspiritual work as fighting, surely, He will help us to proclaim the gospel and win souls. We should bless His name with even greater intensity of heart. We will be pupils, and He shall be our Master, and if we ever accomplish anything, we will give our Instructor hearty blessing.

This first verse is full of the mercy shown to David, which is the subject of a grateful song. God is now his strength and is still teaching him. We ought to make a point of presenting praise while yet blessing Him. The verse is also preeminently practical and full of the actual life of every day. Of course, most of David’s days were spent in camps and conflicts, but David has his peculiar help from God, who praises Him accordingly. This tends to make the harmony of heaven perfect when all the singers take their parts; if we all followed the same score, the music would not be so full and rich.

In verse 2, the psalmist multiplies metaphors to praise his God. My goodness and my fortress, he denotes Him. The word for goodness signifies mercy. Whoever we may be, we need mercy only found in the infinite God. Indeed, the Lord has been merciful to many of us in a thousand different ways! He is goodness itself, and He has been unbounded goodness to us. We have no goodness, but the Lord has become goodness to us. So is He also our fortress and safe abode: in Him, we dwell behind impregnable ramparts and immovable bastions. We cannot be driven out or starved out, for our fortress is prepared for a siege; it is stored with abundant food, and a well of living water is within it. Kings usually think much of their fenced cities, but King David relies upon his God, Who is more to him than fortresses could have been. The believer finds themselves secure from harm in Him. Our trust rests in our God for everything: He never fails us, and we feel boundless confidence in Him. Let us praise the Lord with the zeal of David!

JULY 30, 2024

 “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name…” (Nehemiah 1:11)

Nehemiah is very earnest in his prayer to the Lord on behalf of the remnant who were left of the captivity, who were experiencing great affliction and reproach. When he learned of the sufferings of the Jews that had escaped, and of the condition of the beloved city of Jerusalem he “wept and mourned and fasted and prayed certain days.” His prayer was one of penitence as he, like Daniel, calls upon God to intervene for the relief of His people and for the restoration of the city. He was filled with emotion while appealing to God to remember His covenant. (See verses 5-10)

Nehemiah, being moved to tears and prayer, seems confident that he is not alone bearing this great burden. “Let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name…” Zephaniah had prophesied at least 150 years before about a remnant who were “sorrowful for the solemn assembly.” Here Nehemiah describes these people to the Lord as“thy servants who desire to fear thy name.”

He is not talking about a people who are weak. There could be no better description for the true people of God than this: “Thy servants who desire to fear Thy name.” The meaning of the word “desire”includes “to delight in;” “to have pleasure in.” This kind of earnest desire is of the essence of genuine faith. Whether one is a babe in Christ or a mature saint of fitly years, heart desire is a key element in true religion. Practice without desire is mere formalism. Regardless of what one’s religion may consist with respect to mechanics, ceremony, creed, liturgy, or form if it lacks this one intangible element, it lacks the vital part. If the heart is not engaged, it is just “a form of godliness.” What is church attendance without desire? Where desire for the assembly is wanting, it will be evident. Want of punctuality, lack of participation, chronic absenteeism, and prioritizing secular interests, are all tell-tale signs that real desire to fear the Lord is missing.

Even the most outwardly diligent Christian can have a very legalistic form of sanctification, while they inwardly regret what they are missing out on in the process. Church attendance is a duty; prayers, rather than being heart-felt expressions of earnest desire, are mere recitations; Bible reading is as if it were a homework assignment; offerings are given with tear stains rather than cheerfully; separation lacks both hatred for the works of darkness and desire for fellowship with children of light. Our faith must be more than mere custom and tradition dutifully carried out. Those who “desire to fear the Lord” are not “serving a sentence,” as it were but rather, they are serving an all-glorious God of love and grace with great pleasure and delight.

What if we should find ourselves in a situation such as this “remnant that was left of the captivity”? They saw their beloved city in ruins. The walls were torn down, and the city was burned with fire. The house of God was destroyed. Would we be like them, “mourning for the solemn assembly”? Would we be joining in prayer to God for the restoration of worship? Would we be willing to “put feet to our prayers” and engage in the arduous task of rebuilding? Would we be bold to face the mocking and ridicule that they endured, plus threats on their lives from the enemy? They persevered in their faith, prayers, and labors until they could once again assemble for worship.

The truth is we are not in their situation in any literal sense. We have access to all these things and we face very little opposition. Do we “desire to fear the name of the Lord?” In a spiritual sense, we are in a like condition. Orthodox religion has been seriously compromised. There seems to be little fear of God remaining. The walls of separation from the world lie in heaps, and we see it even in our own churches. Let us “who desire to fear God’s name” give ourselves to prayer. Let us unite behind faithful leaders like Nehemiah and give ourselves not only to prayer, but labor to see, by the grace of God, our city (the church) and our walls (of separation) restored.