April 2005, Volume X, Issue 12
Upon
What Does Your Faith Stand?
(3)
Last time we saw three important implications
of the truth that Christ speaking by the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the
gospel is the power of God. Fourth, this truth also establishes the primacy of
preaching. It is not learned debates or rational arguments that create faith.
The Heidelberg Catechism asks, "Since then we are made partakers of
Christ and all his benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed?" It
answers, "From the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of
the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments" (Q & A 65). The
apostle writes "my preaching was ... in demonstration of the Spirit and of power
... the power of God" (I Cor. 2:4-5). In preaching, God testifies powerfully
that in Christ He reconciled the world unto Himself (II Cor. 5:19) and that
believers have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Fifth, all this establishes the absolute
authority and peerlessness of Scripture. Scripture is not subject to rational
proof as if man’s reasoning could prove it to be God’s Word. To give an example,
if Noah’s ark were found in Turkey, this would not prove the Bible to be true.
For how can a structure of gopher wood be more sure than the very words of God’s
Himself? The Bible cannot be made more certain than it already is. The Spirit
Himself assures us of this as we read and hear the Word. It would indeed be
useful if Noah’s ark was found (though I doubt if it has been preserved for over
4,000 years). It would give the scoffers something to think about. It would be
another instance of the Bible’s accuracy being made manifest in the world. But
the surest ground for faith is the Word itself, witnessed to by the Holy Spirit.
God alone establishes His Word as truth so that "your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (I Cor. 2:5).
Is your faith standing firm in the power of God? If you are
you troubled by doubts, let me ask you, Are you reading your Bible? If not, you
must start reading it again! Are you attending worship services to listen to
faithful preaching? You must come to hear God’s Word proclaimed! Are you
doubting Scripture and its teaching through the unbelief of others? Then stop
fellowshipping with these people and stop viewing their websites! Is your faith
weakened by your disobedience? Repent and obey! Remember Jesus’ words: "If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself" (John 7:17). In the way of personal and family Bible
study, attendance upon the preaching of the Word, obedience, and rejecting the
whisperings of the "old serpent" (Rev. 20:2), the Christian’s assurance of the
truth of God’s Word grows. And you will need this for your faith will be tested.
Rev. Stewart
Filled
With The Spirit
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
A reader writes, "The Christian is exhorted to
be filled with the Spirit. How is this achieved?" It might be well, before I
enter a more detailed explanation of this text, to bear in mind that some
expositors explain the text as referring to the human spirit: not "Spirit" is
meant, but "spirit." These commentators explain the text to mean that we are to
fill our spirits with something in order to "speak to ourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs ..." If one asks, "With what are we to fill our
spirits," their answer is: "The spiritual virtues mentioned in the last verse of
chapter 4: kindness, tenderheartedness, and a spirit of forgiveness." I prefer
the AV’s translation which makes "Spirit" refer to the Holy Spirit. This
interpretation is found in most conservative expositions of the text, including
Calvin’s commentary.
The apostle, writing this letter from prison
in Rome, has turned to the practical part of the letter. Chapters 1-3 have set
forth the great and glorious truth of the blessedness of the church as the body
of Christ. In chapters 4-6, the apostle applies that one theme to the practical
life of those who are members of Christ’s church.
Paul here contrasts being filled with the
Spirit with being drunk with wine. It was customary among the heathen—also in
the city of Ephesus—to drink wine either to seek escape from the sorrows and
cares of life, or for the pleasure that is supposed to come from drunkenness.
The very same reasons explain the prevalent misuse of wine (or alcohol) in
modern society.
Paul condemns the drinking of wine by
explaining that in it is "excess," a word which is better translated
"lasciviousness." Anyone knows that excessive drinking destroys a person’s sense
of morality, tears down the restraints that may be present in one’s soul, and
opens the door to every vice.
But Scripture, always aware of our sinful
natures, reminds us that chasing a devil out of our lives is ineffective if we
do not practice, in a positive way, the virtues which Scripture requires of us.
Thus Jesus warned against banishing a devil from a house and renovating it
completely, only to leave it empty. The result is that seven worse devils easily
enter (Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26).
Paul, knowing this important truth, reminds
believers that they are to fill their hearts and minds with the Spirit. Paul
refers to the Spirit as the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Third
Person of the Holy Trinity, as the One whom the Triune God has given to the
exalted Christ (Acts 2:33). In the name of the Triune God, Christ pours out His
Spirit on the church. This happened at Pentecost, and the Spirit of Christ has
been with the church since that glorious day.
The Spirit of Christ brings to the church all
the blessings of salvation as merited by Christ on His cross. The Spirit of the
exalted Christ accomplishes all the purpose of God which He ordained from all
eternity. The Spirit of Christ is the power of the salvation, not only of the
elect, but of the entire creation; for the Spirit works in all the creation to
renew and restore, to save and to glorify (Rom. 8:21-23). In short, God, the
sovereign Lord, accomplishes all His purpose through the exalted Christ and by
means of the Spirit of Christ.
Now, the question is specifically: How are we
to be filled with the Spirit? That is, how is it possible for us to heed the
admonition to be filled with the Spirit?
It is obvious that if the Spirit comes into
the hearts of the elect people of God through Christ’s work of pouring out His
Spirit on the church, we do not, totally lacking the Spirit, reach out to Christ
to gain the Spirit from Him. That is blatant Arminianism which rests the work of
salvation on what we do. The man without the Spirit cannot heed this admonition.
He is, in fact, an enemy of Christ and one who despises the Spirit of Christ.
The apostle is speaking here of seeking escape
from all our afflictions and finding true joy, true happiness in a way other
than drinking wine. He is speaking of the consciousness of the work of the
Spirit which produces in us a true blessedness and peace which leads to a walk
in holiness and sanctification.
We are unable to attain this happiness by our
own powers or by the "solutions" offered by our world; we need the Spirit. To
acquire the great blessedness of the Spirit in us we need to go to Christ, cast
ourselves upon Him, seek from Him who is our all-sufficient Saviour the
blessedness of the salvation He has purchased for us. We need to do this by
beseeching Him to give us an ever fuller measure of His Spirit so that we may
direct all our lives by that Spirit (Gal. 5:16-26).
We even need the Spirit in order to seek the
Spirit, for we cannot seek the Spirit of ourselves. We need to be drawn by the
Father to come to Christ, for in Christ alone can we secure the Spirit (John
6:44-45). We need to understand our own inability and desperate need of the
Spirit in order to seek the Spirit. A sense of this need is itself worked in us
by the Spirit.
Being filled with the Spirit, we shall find true happiness,
strength for the sorrows and trials of life, and a holiness pleasing to God
rather than the lasciviousness which drunkenness brings. Let us be filled with
the Spirit! Prof. H. Hanko
Why Did
the Lord Choose Judas? (2)
A reader asks, "Why did the Lord choose Judas
to be a disciple if his heart was not right with God?" Having given two reasons
last time, we now turn to a third reason: this was the way in which God would
realize His decree of reprobation with regard to Judas. Judas’ sin and damnation
was not only prophesied in the OT (Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14, 20-21; 109) some thousand
years before his birth, but he was also reprobated by God from before the
foundation of the world. God did not predict Judas’ betrayal of Christ and
eternal perdition because He merely foresaw what Judas would do. Instead,
God knows all things outside of Himself through His eternal decree., in which He
predestinated Judas and his sins and his eternal punishment, and thus He
caused inspired prophecy (such as Ps. 109) to be penned. For God "worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11), including Judas’ betrayal
of Christ (Acts 2:33).
Did Jesus know Judas’ reprobation? Yes. Jesus
referred to Judas as "the son of perdition" (John 17:12). "Perdition" comes from
"perish" and refers to the everlasting perishing of Hell. Judas was the son of
Hell for he was predestined for Hell; he merited Hell; he was headed to Hell;
and he went to Hell. He was one, as it were, born of Hell and wholly
characterized by Hell. Thus Peter, after quoting Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 of Judas
(Acts 1:20), says of him that Hell was "his own place" (Acts 1:25). Christ knew
that Judas, like the Jews of John 10, was "not of [His] sheep" (26) and that He
was not Judas’ "good shepherd" for He would not die for him (11, 14-15). In His
high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus did not pray for Judas. He did not pray
that God would "keep" (11-15), "sanctify" (16-19) and glorify (20-26) Judas. As
Christ said, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world [including Judas, ‘the
son of perdition;’ 12], but for them which thou hast given me; for they are
thine" (9). And when did Jesus know of Judas’ reprobation? "Jesus knew
from
the beginning ... who should betray him" (John 6:64).
God eternally and unconditionally reprobated
Judas in the way of his sins. This ensures God’s absolute, searing
justice, for He did not decree to condemn an innocent man but a wicked, ungodly
sinner. First, Judas was "a thief" who had seen to it that he was the
"treasurer" amongst the disciples in order to pilfer. He was annoyed that funds
were diverted from his hands. Even lying about caring for the poor was not
beneath him if it meant that he could obtain filthy lucre. Judas cared neither
for the poor nor for his Master, for to him the very costly spikenard of Mary of
Bethany or the money it could have fetched was too good for either of them.
Better that the spikenard was sold and the money entrusted to his "safe" hands.
Just read John 12:1-6. Second, Judas was a traitor who even betrayed God’s Son
to death for a paltry 30 pieces of silver. Here is one who loved cursing (Ps.
109:17-18) and who hated (3) and slew (16) Christ. Third, Judas was not only a
thief and a traitor but also a suicide. Having killed the spotless Saviour, he
wickedly killed himself (Matt. 27:3-10). Thus Jesus chose Judas as a disciple
for this was the way in which God would realize Judas’ reprobation. Rev. Stewart
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