EDITORIAL
3 "Js"
In the Bible we have three interesting "Js" -- Justification, Joy, Judgment. In fact, these "Js" are more than interesting, they are all-important and demand our thoughtful attention.
Justification in the Scriptures means that a sinner is declared by God to be free from sin, and righteous, as a result of Christ's sacrifice for sin on the cross. An easy way to remember what it means to be justified, is to break up the word and say it this way: "just (as) -- if --I'd never sinned," and "just (as) -- if -- I'd always been righteous."
Now the question arises: How can we come into such a standing with God? How can we become as though we had never sinned and as though we had always been righteous? The fact remains we can't escape it, that we have sinned, we all have sinned, and so we all come short of God's glory; the Bible says we have, we know we have. So how can we get God to declare us free from sin and righteous in His sight?
God tells us how. "And by Him (i.e. Christ) all that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:39). Would you be "justified from all" your sins in God's sight? Then "believe" in Jesus Christ. Christ died for our sins. When we believe in Him. God can then -- and only then -- declare us sin-free.
"Abraham believed God," says the Bible, "and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Galatians 3:6). Would you have right standing before God, then you must believe in Christ. "The righteousness of God . . . is manifested . . . even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:21,22).
When we thus enter into Justification by faith, we are in line for the second "J". Joy. Concerning Deacon Philip's ministry in Samaria, the Scriptures say, "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake . . . And there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:5,6,8). Naturally, joy always follows salvation. Justification, then Joy.
We are speaking of joy, not happiness. Happiness comes from happenings. If the circumstances of life are adverse, happiness flees; if they are favorable, happiness abides. But joy comes from Jesus. It abides in any circumstance. Love and faith appropriate it. Of this, Peter says, "Whom (referring to Jesus) having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Peter 1:8).
There is great joy in thinking upon our Justification -- the fact that we are, in Christ and before God, forever declared free from all sin and wholly righteous. But even better is it to say with David, "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord" (Psalm 35:9a). Indeed David did "rejoice in his salvation" (9b), but first and foremost he was "joyful in the Lord." The Lord is our greatest joy. Loving Him, believing in Him, looking to Him will produce "joy unspeakable" in any circumstance of life.
But now we come to the third "J". If you are not Justified, there remains for you nothing "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation" (Hebrews 10:27). If you have not the first "J", you are under the last one -- Judgment.
The Bible declares, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). And again: "As it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Not a pretty picture. Nevertheless it is true.
You may be wondering just how people get into this state. What do we do to put us in line for this last "J"? Nothing. Just do nothing, and you are a prime target for judgment. Do nothing about your soul's salvation. Do nothing concerning God's promises. Do nothing with Christ. Don't receive Him, don't reject Him, just do nothing. Just go on as you are. Don't turn from your sins, or flee from the wrath to come. Stay put, and the judgment is bound to fall on you. This is the sure road to ruin.
But you need not suffer God's judgment against sin. For "now once in the end of the world hath He (i.e. Christ) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself . . . So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (even yours); and unto them that look for Him (through the eyes of faith) shall He appear the second time . . . unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:26,28). Justification and Joy may be yours today through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
Art Gordon, Editor
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THE SHUT-IN ENTHUSIAST
The third of a series on THE SHUT-INS OF THE BIBLE
By Louis Paul Lehman
"The Spirit . . . spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house." -- Ezekiel 3:24
WE ARE accustomed to finding the Spirit of God cutting men loose and sending them forth, giving them utterance and causing men to speak with power: but here we find the Spirit doing the opposite, shutting a man within his house and even shutting up his mouth so that he shall not speak, his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth to make him dumb. (v.26).
This incident in the life of the prophet Ezekiel follows very closely a vision of glory, and a strong reminder of his responsibility to give men warning or their blood will be required at his hand (Ezekiel 3:1-21). Yet there is no mistake, the hand of God is upon him, and the Spirit of God operates in his life to make him a shut-in and a shut-up prophet.
We dare not presume that we always understand the ways of God: we are often left utterly bewildered, and even the light farther down the road does not explain the shadows through which we have walked -- they remain shadows. It probably will not hurt us a great deal nor destroy any foundations of the righteous if we carry to heaven a few mysteries to be explained when we see "face to face" rather than through a glass darkly. It may be that some will be encouraged, however, by the intelligence that the enforced period of silence and inactivity has fallen on many who were commissioned to both go forth and to speak.
Not infrequently young people receive a commission and call from God, and they burn with a longing to speak with men everywhere about Christ. I would rather lose the light streaming through the windows of my eyes than to discourage one such enthusiast.
Yet I know that God often shuts them up for awhile. The shutting-in process is not easy, and some lose sight of their original commission under the discipline of silence, and what was zealousness for God sours into pity for self: as though the messenger were frustrated, not realizing that the message is by far more important than the messenger.
The Apostle Paul must have experienced something like Ezekiel: "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called my by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I rushed off to preach to the heathen" (Galatians 1:15 and 16). The last few words deviate from the Word of God -- they are the way we would write it if left to our own suppositions. What more could a man ask: God's knowledge of him from the moment of his conception, and God's plan for his life, and God's great revelation to him from heaven: he is all ready to go to work. No, he must be shut up for a while. "I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days."
There is no doubt that the moment a man is saved he should be able and willing to confess Christ, but he is not ready to preach and teach others, even though the call of God is upon him, until God opens his mouth. God does not open a man's mouth until that man's heart and mind have been filled with something worth saying.
I am not a worshipper of education, for education without heart relationship to Christ will produce neither Christians not preachers nor missionaries nor anything else but educated heathens: but the "shut-in" period is virtually a necessity for the prophet of God, whether it be seclusion in private study and fellowship or in the halls of an educational institution where he can be trained to his task. For others it may be an education in pain or the enforced stalemate of health and circumstances which restrain them from the field into which they felt God would have then enter -- but He holds them dumb until it is time for them to speak.
I am not unaware, and I am certain God is not unaware, that the condition of the "shut-in" -- whatever be the doors that lock him in -- can drive men to the limits of frustration, and especially if they feel they have a work to do for God and their sealed house and lips are thwarting God's purposes. But in spite of the obvious, I have noted so often the working of sweetness and peace in the midst of the bondage. The commissioned man of God shut-in for physical reasons often makes me feel ashamed of myself, for the strength of his soul and the reach of his prayers have far outgrown and outmeasured the activity of my busy ministry. The young person who faced education as only a stumbling block on his road to active service discovers himself and his ministry and a renewed commission in the demands of study and prayer to equip himself for action. The young woman blocked from the mission field by the infirmity of others who demand her attention in all honest Christian responsibility, whose tears stain the letter in which she states she cannot consider what she believes to be the will of God for her life until these responsibilities be discharged -- but the house into which she is shut may enclose a closet of prayer with an antenna of faith that speaks to the world, or even amid the drudgery of monotonous routine she may find a thrilling opportunity to minister that changes the locked door into an open highway of service.
The prophet was not a permanent shut-in: "When I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God" (Ezekiel 3:27). It is not the end of everything when the door of the house is bolted or when the jail catches up the evangelist in its iron bands or when the missionary family is impounded under the guard of enemy soldiers. The history of missions is not the ending of a ministry, but the opening of prison doors to release ministers to speak. Are you a called and commissioned servant of the Lord? There are no doors that can hold thee when He wills to release thee, and no dumbness can seal thy tongue when He is pleased to have thee speak. Oh, child of God, you are not called to gain His victories, you are called only to appropriate them, appreciate them, and announce them where He would have them known.
(From "The 'Shut-ins' Of The Bible," copyright 1961 by the Author,
published by BIT OF HEAVEN MINISTRY, Grand Rapids, MI.)
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SHUT IN
SHUT IN . . . I never liked the word --
It held a plaintive note
Until a different view I got
From what one shut-in wrote:
"Shut in?" she said . . . "Oh, yes, indeed . . .
Shut in from noise and strife . . .
But shut out are so many things
That cluttered up my life;
Shut in are peace and faith and hope . . .
Shut out are fear and doubt;
Shut in are words and deeds of cheer
No heart can do without.
Shut in my mind are memories
Of gayer brighter years;
I laugh, sometimes, remembering . . .
Sometimes I yield to tears . . .
Shut in are friends I cannot lose --
I hold them in my heart;
And though the miles stretch long between,
We never are apart!
"SHUT IN . . . why it's a blessed word!
My soul will one day trod
On happy feet to heaven's door
And be shut in . . . with God."
-- Selected
"God hath borne witness concerning his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son. And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life."
-- I John 5:9-12
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SUFFICIENT GRACE
Sufficient grace, O Christ my Lord,
Sufficient grace for me!
Sufficient grace for life, for death,
For all eternity!
Sufficient grace to wash me clean,
Though I was black with sin;
Without, a whited sepulcher,
And no good thing within.
Sufficient grace to bear my yoke,
To wipe my tears away,
To give me rest and sleep by night,
And living bread by day.
Sufficient? Yea, and more than this:
There is no need of mine
Which can exhaust or even touch
That plenty which is Thine!
Abundant fountain, full and free,
The fountain of Thy grace,
Whose depths I may not even guess
Till I behold Thy face!
-- Martha Snell Nicholson
WAYFARERS
There is no permanent calamity
For any child of God;
Way-stations all, at which we briefly stop
Upon our homeward road.
Our pain and grief are only travel stains
Which shall be wiped away.
Within the blessed warmth and light of home,
By God's own hand some day.
-- Martha Snell Nicholson
BREATH OF GOD
Once God reached down, and in His mighty hand
He took a lump of lifeless clay;
He breathed His breath upon it, and the thing
Became a living soul that day.
And if some time He takes again the breath
He breathed into the man He made,
If flesh becomes again a lump of clay,
O man, why should you be afraid?
The spirit lives, though in a different place;
And once again Almighty God
Will breathe upon that clay . . . It will arise
As lilies blossom from the sod!
-- Martha Snell Nicholson
(From "Heart Held High" by Martha Snell Nicholson: used by permission of
Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL)
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THIS TRIAL
Say: "this trial is His appointment;"
Whose? The Lord's, Who loves thee best;
Understands and knows thee fully,
Who thy faith and love will test.
Apply thyself wholly to the Scriptures,
and the Scriptures wholly to thyself.
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BIBLE STUDY
by Henry G. Bosch
. . . quicken thou me according to thy word.
Psalm 119:25.
THE BIBLE IS a strengthening, life-giving Book. It keeps, directs, preserves, edifies, and revives the saints of God. It will remove deadness from the heart and coldness from the spirit if we daily meditate upon its pages with a teachable, prayerful attitude.
Luther said he studied his Bible as he would gather apples. First he shook the whole tree, that the ripest fruit might fall; then he shook each limb, and when he had shaken each limb, he shook each branch, and after each branch, every twig, and then he looked under every leaf. In other words, he search the Bible as a whole, shaking the entire tree. He read it rapidly, as he would any other book; then he took time to shake every limb -- that is, he studied the Bible more carefully -- a book at a time. Then he would shake every branch, giving attention to each chapter, paragraph, and sentence. Finally, he would look under each "leaf" by searching out the full meaning of the original words. There are many other methods of Bible study, to be sure, but Luther's certainly is a good one with which to begin.
Gipsy Smith at the Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible although he had "gone through it several times." "Let it go through you once," was the evangelist's reply; "then you will tell a different story!" Gipsy Smith spoke wisely, and his admonition is still good advice for all who would seek full blessing from the Word: "Let the Bible go through you" -- that is, ask the Holy Spirit to apply its precepts to your life and its comfort to your soul in a personal, practical way. As we handle this precious treasury of God's thoughts -- this volume of inspiration -- let us take its truth first to our own heart, before we lay the Book aside or seek to apply its admonitions to others! This is the practical kind of Bible study that will prove the most interesting, helpful, and sanctifying!
(From "Our Daily Bread," used by permission of The Radio Bible Class, Grand Rapids, MI)
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NO MIDDLE GROUND - ONLY A CHASM
"The Faith once delivered unto the saints."
1. The Bible IS the Word of God. The BOOK judges man.
2. Jesus Christ is THE son of God in a sense in which NO other is.
3. The birth of Jesus Christ was SUPERNATURAL.
4. The death of Jesus was EXPIATORY.
5. Man is the product of special CREATION.
6. Man is a SINNER fallen from original righteousness, and apart from God's redeeming grace, is hopelessly lost.
7. Man is justified by FAITH in the atoning blood of Christ; result . . . supernatural regeneration from ABOVE.
Modernist theology.
1. The Bible CONTAINS the word of God. MAN judges the book.
2. Jesus Christ is A son of God in the sense in which ALL men are.
3. The birth of Jesus Christ was NATURAL.
4. The death of Jesus was EXEMPLARY.
5. Man is the product of EVOLUTION.
6. Man is the unfortunate VICTIM of environment, but through self-culture can "make good."
7. Man is justified by WORKS in following Christ's example; result . . . natural development from WITHIN.
-- Moody Monthly
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SERMON SERIES
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER
No. 32
"I Have Written Briefly"
I Peter 5:12-14
THIS EPISTLE CAN easily be read in ten minutes. It has taken us, however, 32 months to study it. Though Peter wrote, as he says, "briefly," his epistle is packed with eternal truth. We could spend a lifetime studying it and still not exhaust its wealth of rich and inspiring spiritual material. This is the unique character of the Scriptures as a whole.
Peter concludes his letter with these words --
"By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
"The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
"Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen." (12-14)
BY SILVANUS
Silvanus' name appears several times in the New Testament. In the Acts he is called Silas. He was a companion of Paul on different occasions. When men were needed to visit the new church in Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Silvanus and Barsabas, as chief men among the brethren," were chosen. They had the distinction of being "men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
When imprisoned at Philippi, it is recorded of Silvanus and Paul: "And at midnight . . . (they) prayed, and sang praises unto God." This experience gives us some insight into the sterling Christian character of this man. In his midnight hour we find him praying and praising God. A good example for us in our "midnight" experiences of life. Too often we are not found praying and praising, but complaining of our circumstances and cursing our lot in life. Not so with Silvanus. He prayed and praised his way right through his difficulties. "And immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." So will it be with us, sooner or later, as we exercise these two precious "Ps." Prayer and Praise are the pathway and portal to perfect peace, even though we are in the midst of perplexing problems. (Philippians 4:6,7).
Peter's estimation of Silvanus is recorded in our text. He regarded him as "a faithful brother." "Unto you" -- that is, "to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," and in fact to all the Christian world in that day, and his testimony still encourages us today.
"By Silvanus," says Peter, "I have written briefly." Silvanus was apparently Peter's secretary to write the bulk of the letter as Peter dictated it. Peter penned the conclusion with his own hand. When complete, Silvanus carried the letter to its destination. So it was "by" Silvanus that Peter wrote.
EXHORTING -- TESTIFYING
The purpose in writing this letter is seen in the two words: "exhorting" and "testifying." Peter was an exhorter. If I have counted correctly, there are at least 62 exhortations throughout this epistle. Between the first one --"gird up the loins of your mind," and the last one -- "greet ye one another with a kiss of charity," the exhortations are many and varied and directed to various ones of the household of faith. These include, Christians in general, new converts, sufferers, citizens, servants, wives, husbands, etc.
Peter was also a witness. A witness is one who tells what he himself has seen or heard or knows by any other means, and can prove it. Peter earlier claims to be "a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." He readily qualified as a true witness. He was not only an eye-witness of Christ's sacrifice for sins, but a partaker. He could prove his claims by pointing to himself as one who had been vitally touched and transformed by this Christ. Our job, like Peter's, is to give testimony of our encounter with Christ.
Specifically, Peter wrote "testifying that this is the true grace of God." What is "the true grace of God?" Why, this that he wrote about "is the true grace of God." Everything in his epistle "is the true grace of God." The epistle as a whole is that. Peter here, by implication, is claiming for his letter divine inspiration. I trust as you read this little book of the Bible, and in fact all the books of the Bible, that you will do so with the realization that this is not just man's word, but is in reality the very Word of God, and that these human scribes "spake as they were moved. (or carried along) by the Holy Ghost." Indeed, "all scripture is given by inspiration of God." We should always approach the Bible with the prayer in our heart, if not on our lips, "Lord, I do believe this Book to be Thy Word, I accept it as such, and depend upon Thy Holy Spirit to make it plain to me." When we thus approach the Sacred Volume we are in for many a blessing.
Concerning "grace," Peter has something to say. Of saving grace he says, "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired . . . who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." This grace of God was manifested in the person of Christ and especially in "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." By God's grace He gave His Son to be our Saviour. Our part is to believe and be saved. It is not of works, lest any man should boast.
There is also sustaining grace. Peter calls this "the manifold grace of God." You remember, his original readers were "in heaviness through manifold temptations." He would remind us that though we may have "manifold temptations (trials)," we still have at our disposal God's "manifold grace." This could be rendered: "varicolored grace." So what hue does your trial take? God has grace to meet that very trial. His grace is sufficient. He has grace to help in time of need.
Speaking of grace, "stand ye fast therein," says Peter. There are folks who would have us take a stand on one thing or another -- some doctrine or practice, some tradition or superstition, some fact or fancy. They would have us stand for anything; anything, that is, except the unadulterated Word of God and the all-sufficient grace of God. God wants us to take our stand on "grace." "Stand ye fast therein" (ARV). This stand glorified God, and not man. This is as it should be.
SALUTATIONS
Now it is time for salutations. "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son." Literally, the Greek reads: "The co-chosen in Babylon and Mark my son greet you." Whether this is Rome, the mystical Babylon of the Revelation, or the literal city on the Euphrates, it is not definitely known. But whichever, Peter sends greetings from all the "co-chosen" there, including Mark whom he had led to the Lord.
The word for "elected" is the same which Peter used four times before in this epistle, only here it has a prefix. The Greek word is "eklektos" with the prefix "sun." Eklektos means "picked out" or "chosen" or "elect." With the prefix it means "picked out" or "chosen" or "elect together with" someone else, or as translated above "co-chosen." The someone else in this instance are "the strangers . . . elect," in the very first verse of this book. In chapter two it is said of them: "Ye are a chosen generation" (9). These are the addressees, those whom God has chosen for Himself, "a people for God's own possession," those who have received Jesus Christ as their own Saviour.
They are chosen of God in Christ Jesus, who was first chosen by God. Peter says of Christ: "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen (eklekton) of God, and precious." "Wherefore also it is contained in the scriptures, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect (eklekton), precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious" (2:4-6).
To God He is precious. But what is He to you? Is He precious to you? He is precious to all who believe on Him. I can truly say, He is precious to me. But is He precious to you? That's the important question for you. If you believe on Him as your own personal Saviour you will find Him precious to your soul too. Otherwise you are building on shifting sands. When the storm comes, your life-house will go down with a crash, "and great will be the fall of it." But "he that believeth on him shall not be confounded (or put to shame)."
So Peter writes as one chosen of God in Christ Jesus, representing and sending greetings from the others chosen of God in the church at Babylon, writing to still others in Asia Minor who hold this same distinction as God's elect, and finally to all Christians everywhere who have come after, including the two most important (at least in our thinking) -- or the least important -- YOU and ME.
Further salutation. "Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity." The "kiss of love" was practiced in the early church. Because of abuse, it became restricted to men kissing men, and women women. Over the centuries it has virtually disappeared, until today the handshake is the most common mode of greetings in the church. But even in this there can be the outward act without a corresponding heart attitude. Greetings, to be worthy the name should be genuine. It was supposed to be "a kiss of (Christian) love." Whatever our mode of greetings, let it always be in love. No other spirit should for a moment prevail among the beloved.
BENEDICTION
Peter's benediction is as follows: "Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus, Amen." It cannot be otherwise. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
Only "in Christ Jesus" is there any real and lasting peace. He bequeathed peace to all who believe in Him -- "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
These are proper words indeed and comforting with which to close his letter. These Christians were in the throes of "fiery trial." They were experiencing in their place in the world anything but peaceful circumstances. Nevertheless, they could have inner peace "in Christ Jesus." Peter reminds them of this all through his epistle. And he closes upon this same note. All who are "in Christ Jesus: can and should have abiding peace "in Christ Jesus." The rule for the Christian, as spoken by Christ, is: "In Me ye . . . have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
"Amen" -- so be it.
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