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Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace. Show all posts

06 October, 2014

The Holy Spirit and The Reservoir of Love By D.L. Moody


We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love, Christ is love, and we should not be surprised to read about the love of the Spirit. What a blessed attribute is this. May I call it the dome of the temple of the graces. Better still, it is the crown of crowns worn by the Triune God. Human love is a natural emotion which flows forth towards the object of our affections. But Divine love is as high above human love as the heaven is above the earth. The natural man is of the earth, earthy, and however pure his love may be, it is weak and imperfect at best. But the love of God is perfect and entire, wanting nothing. It is as a mighty ocean in its greatness, dwelling with and flowing from the Eternal Spirit.

In Romans v, 5, we read: “And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” Now if we are co-workers with God, there is one thing we must possess, and that is love. A man may be a very successful lawyer and have no love for his clients, and yet get on very well. A man may be a very successful physician and have no love for his patients, and yet be a very good physician; a man may be a very successful merchant and have no love for his customers, and yet he may do a good business and succeed; but no man can be a co-worker with God without love. If our service is mere profession on our part, the quicker we renounce it the better. If a man takes up God’s work as he would take up any profession, the sooner he gets out of it the better.

We can not work for God without love. It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man, then I can not work acceptably. I am like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We are told that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Now, if we have had that love shed abroad in our hearts, we are ready for God’s service; if we have not, we are not ready. It is so easy to reach a man when you love him; all barriers are broken down and swept away.
Paul when writing to Titus, second chapter and first verse, tells him to be sound in faith, in charity, and in patience. 

Now in this age, ever since I can remember, the Church has been very jealous about men being unsound in the faith. If a man becomes unsound in the faith, they draw their ecclesiastical sword and cut at him; but he may be ever so unsound in love, and they don’t say anything. He may be ever so defective in patience; he may be irritable and fretful all the time, but they never deal with him. Now the Bible teaches us, that we are not only to be sound in the faith, but in charity and in patience. 

I believe God can not use many of his servants, because they are full of irritability and impatience; they are fretting all the time, from morning until night. God can not use them; their mouths are sealed; they can not speak for Jesus Christ, and if they have not love, they can not work for God. I do not mean love for those that love me; it don’t take grace to do that; the rudest Hottentot in the world can do that; the greatest heathen that ever lived can do that; the vilest man that ever walked the earth can do that. It don’t take any grace at all. I did that before I ever became a Christian. Love begets love; hatred begets hatred. If I know a man loves me first, I know my love will be going out towards him. Suppose a man comes to me, saying, “Mr. Moody, a certain man told me to-day that he thought you were the meanest man living.” 

Well, if I didn’t have a good deal of the grace of God in my heart, then I know there would be hard feelings that would spring up in my heart against that man, and it would not be long before I would be talking against him. Hatred begets hatred. But suppose a man comes to me and says, “Mr. Moody, do you know that such a man that I met to-day says that he thinks a great deal of you?” and though I may never have heard of him, there would be love springing up in my heart. Love begets love; we all know that; but it takes the grace of God to love the man that lies about me, the man that slanders me, the man that is trying to tear down my character; it takes the grace of God to love that man. You may hate the sin he has committed; there is a difference between the sin and the sinner; you may hate the one with a perfect hatred, but you must love the sinner. I can not otherwise do him any good. Now you know the first impulse of a young convert is to love. Do you remember the day you were converted? Was not your heart full of sweet peace and love?

16 September, 2014

A Solemn Sham and an Impudent Mockery!


By Charles Spurgeon
"Rend your heart—and not your garments." Joel 2:13

Garment-rending and other external signs of religious emotion, are easily manifested, and are frequently hypocritical. True repentance is far more difficult, and consequently far less common. Unsaved men will attend to the most multiplied and minute religious ceremonies and regulations—for such things are pleasing to their flesh. But true godliness is too humbling, too heart-searching, too spiritual for the tastes of carnal men! They prefer something more ostentatious, flimsy, and worldly. External religious rituals are temporarily comfortable; eye and ear are pleased; self-conceit is fed, and self-righteousness is puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for at the day of judgment, the soul needs something more substantial than religious ceremonies and rituals to lean upon.

Apart from vital godliness—all religion is utterly vain! When offered without a sincere heart, every form of religious worship is solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of God!

Heart-rending is divinely wrought—and solemnly felt. It is a secret grief which is personally experienced, not in mere form—but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit upon the inmost heart of each believer. It is not a matter to be merely talked of—but keenly and sensitively felt in every living child of the living God. It is powerfully humiliating and sin-purging! But also, it is sweetly preparative for those gracious consolations which proud unhumbled souls are unable to receive! This heart-rending  distinctly belongs to the elect of God—and to them alone.

The text commands us to rend our hearts—but they are naturally as hard as marble! How then, can this be done? We must take them to Calvary! A dying Savior's voice rent the rocks once—and it is just as powerful now. O blessed Spirit, let us effectually hear the death-cries of Jesus—and our hearts shall be rent!

01 August, 2014

Salvation by Grace!—Charles Spurgeon


from Spurgeon
No sinner will ever come to Christ apart from the quickening,
enlightening, drawing, converting power of the Holy Spirit,
supernaturally exercised upon the conscience and heart.

Until grace comes into our souls we have no heart for the things
of God. We may be fussily religious so far as to be attentive to
every 'outward form of worship'; but there is no heart-work, no
light of truth in all our devotion. But when once the divine light
comes in, then we become intensely real in our dealings with God.

When the grace of God comes, the Holy Spirit brings us out from
under the dominion of the old nature by creating within us a
new life, and he brings us out from under the tyranny of the
Prince of Darkness by opening our eyes to see, and our minds to
understand celestial truth. The opening of our blind eyes and
the pouring in of the light of truth are from the Lord.

The entrance of God's word into the mind by the power of the Holy
Spirit gives us light as to-- ourselves, our sin, and our danger.
With this comes light as to the way of salvation through Jesus
Christ, and light as to the mind of God concerning our
sanctification. True knowledge takes the place of ignorance,
and a desire for purity becomes supreme over the love of sin.

Not all the temptations of life, nor all the terrors of death,
nor all the furies of hell, shall prevent any soul upon whom God
has begun his work of grace from reaching eternal salvation.
What a blessing is this, and what a comfort it is!

"The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord."

20 May, 2014

Death and Life ― The Wage and the Gift ― Spurgeon

By C. H. Spurgeon

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23


 .And now I am glad to pass into liberty and joy while I speak on the second subject: ETERNAL LIFE IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
......
Note well the change: death is a wage, but life is a gift. Sin brings its natural consequences with it; but eternal life is not the purchase of human merit, but the free gift of the love of God. The abounding goodness of the Most High alone grants life to those who are dead by sin. It is with clear intent to teach us the doctrine of the grace of God that the apostle altered the word here from wages to gift. Naturally he would have said, "The wages of sin is death, but the wages of righteousness is eternal life." But he wished to show us that life comes upon quite a different principle from that upon which death comes. In salvation all is of free gift: in damnation everything is of justice and desert. When a man is lost, he has earned it; when a man is saved, it is given him.

Let us notice, first, that eternal life is imparted by grace through faith. When it first enters the soul it comes as God's free gift. The dead cannot earn life; the very supposition is absurd. Eternal life enjoyed on earth comes to us as a gift. "What!" says one, "do you mean to say that eternal life comes into the soul here?" I say yes, here, or else never. Eternal life must be our possession now; for if we die without it; it will never be our possession in the world to come, which is not the state of probation, but of fixed and settled reward. When the flame of eternal life first drops into a man's heart, it is not as the result of any good works of his which preceded it, for there were none; nor as the result of any feelings of his, for good feelings were not there until the life came. Both good works and good feelings are the fruit of the heavenly life which enters the heart, and makes us conscious of its entrance by working in us repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. "Eternal life is the gift of God in Jesus Christ." By faith we come consciously into Christ. We trust him, we rest upon him, we become one with him, and thus eternal life manifests itself. Has he not said, "I give unto my sheep eternal life"; and again, "He that believes in him has everlasting life"?

O beloved, you that have been quickened by the Spirit of God, I am sure you trace that first quickening to the grace of God. Whatever your doctrinal views may be, you are all agreed in the experimental acknowledgment that by the grace of God you are what you are. How could you, being dead, give yourself life? How could you, being the slave of sin, set yourself free? But the Lord in mercy visited you as surely as the Lord Jesus Christ visited the tomb of Lazarus; and he spoke with his almighty voice, and bade you come to life, and you arose and came to life at his bidding. You remember well the change that came upon you. If any man here could have been literally dead, and then could have been made to live, what a wonderful experience his would have been! We should go a long way to hear the story of a man who had been dead, and then was made alive again.

But I tell you, his experience, if he could tell it, would not be any more wonderful than our experience as quickened from death in sin; for we have suffered the pains that come through the entrance of life into the soul, and we know the joys which afterwards come of it. We have seen the light that life brings to the spiritual eye; we have felt the emotions that life brings to the quickened heart; we have known the joys which life, and only life, can bring to the entire man. We can tell you something about these things; but if you want to know them to the full, you must feel them for yourselves. "You must be born again." We bear our witness that eternal life within our spirit is not of our earning, but the gift of God.

Beloved, since we received eternal life, we have gone on to grow, and we have made great advances in the divine life; our little trembling faith has now grown to be full assurance; that zeal of ours which burned so low that we hardly dared to attempt anything for Jesus has now flamed up into full consecration, so that we live to his praise. From where has this growth come? Is it not still a free gift? Have you received an increase of life by the law, or has it come to you as the free gift of God? I know what you will say; and if any of you have so grown in grace that you have become ripe Christians; if any of you have been taught of God so that you can teach others; if any of you have been led by the Holy Spirit so that your sanctification is known unto all men, and you have become saintly men and women; I am sure that your holiness and maturity are still gifts received, and not wages earned. I will put the question to you again: Did this abundant life come to you by the works of the law, or by grace through faith which is in Christ Jesus? Your instantaneous answer is, "It is all of grace, in the latter as well as in the earlier stages." Yes, in every degree the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Yes; and when we get to heaven, and the eternal life shall there be developed as a bud opens into a full-blown rose; when our life shall embrace God's life, and God's life shall encompass ours; when we shall be abundantly alive to everything that is holy, divine, heavenly, blessed, and eternally glorious; oh, then we shall confess that our life was all of the grace of God, the free gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord! I am sure that our heavenly education will only make us know more and more fully that while death is the well-earned wages of sin, eternal life is from beginning to end the gift of infinite grace.

Beloved, observe gratefully what a wonderful gift this is, - "the gift of God," - the gift which Jesus bestows upon every believer; for "to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." How express is our Lord's statement: "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides in him "! What a life this is! It must be of a wonderful sort, because it is called "life" par excellence, emphatically "life," true life, real life, essential life. This does not mean mere existence, as some vainly talk. There never was a greater blunder than to confound life with existence, or death with non-existence; these are two totally different and distinct ideas. The life of man means the existence of man as he ought to exist - in union with God, and consequently in holiness, purity, health, and happiness. Man, as God intended him to be, is man enjoying life - man, as sin makes men, is man abiding in death. All that man can receive of joy and honor the Lord gives to man to constitute life eternal in the world to come. What a life is this! The life that is imparted to us in regeneration is God's own life, brought into us by "the living and incorruptible seed which lives and abides for ever." We are akin to God by the new birth, and by loving union with his Son Jesus Christ. What must life mean in God's sense of it?

Moreover, we have life eternal, too, never ending. Whatever else may end, this never can. It can neither be killed by temptation, nor destroyed by trial, nor quenched by death, nor worn out by the ages. The gift of the eternal God is eternal life. Those who talk about a man having everlasting life, and losing it, do not know the force of language. If a man has eternal life, it is eternal, and cannot therefore end or be lost. If it be everlasting, it is "everlasting"; to lose it would prove that it was not everlasting. No, if you have eternal life, you can never perish; if God has bestowed it upon you, it will not be recalled, "for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." This eternal life is evidently a free gift; for how could any man obtain it in any other way? It is too precious to be bought, too divine to be made by man. If it had to be earned, how could you have earned it? You, I mean, who have already earned death. The wage due to you already was death, and by that wage you were effectually shut out from all possibility of ever earning life. Indeed, the earning of life seems to me to be from the beginning out of the question. It has come to us as a free gift; it could not come in any other way.

Furthermore, remember that it is life in Jesus; the "through" of our version is "in" in the original. We are in everlasting union with the blessed Person of the Son of God, and therefore we live. To be in Christ is a mystery of bliss. The apostle felt that this was an occasion for again rehearsing our blessed Master's names and titles of honor - "in Jesus Christ our Lord." I noted to you on a former occasion how, at certain seasons, the various honors and titles of great men are proclaimed by heralds with becoming state, and so here, to the praise of the Lord Jesus, Paul writes his full degree - "Eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." He writes at large the august name before which every knee shall bow, and he links our life therewith. Here we read the cheering and precious name of Jesus. By that name he is nearest to man; when he was born into our nature he was named Jesus, "for he shall save his people from their sins." 

The life which comes in connection with him is salvation from sin. In this Savior is life. The next name is "Christ," or anointed, by which name he is nearest to God being sent forth and anointed of God to treat with us on God's behalf. He is the Lord's Christ, and our Jesus. Next he is called "Our Lord." Herein lies the glory of our anointed Savior: we through grace becoming servants participate in the life and glory of our Lord. He reigns as our Lord, and by his reigning power he shows himself to be the Lord and giver of life. "All live unto him." Our Lord has life in himself, and breathes it into us. What a life this is, - a life saved from sin, a life anointed of the Holy Spirit, a life in union with him who is Lord of all. This is the life which is peculiarly the gift of God.

Thus I have set forth this doctrine, and I desire to apply it by adding a little more of practical importance. First, let us come at this time, one and all, and receive this divine life as a gift in Christ Jesus. If any of you have been working for it by going about to establish your own righteousness, I urge you to end the foolish labor by submitting yourselves to the righteousness of God. It you have been trying to feel so much, or to pray so much, or to mourn so much, stop from thus offering a price, and come and receive life as a free gift from your God. Pull down the idol of your pride, and humbly sue for pardoning grace on the plea of mercy. Believe and live. You are not called upon to earn life, but to receive it; receive it as freely as your lungs take in the air you breathe. 

If you are dead in sin at this moment, yet the gospel of life has come near unto you. With that gospel there comes the life-giving wind of the eternal Spirit. He can call you out of your ruin, and wreckage, and death, and make you live. This is his word, "Awake, you that sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall give you life." Will you have it as a gift? If there be any true life in you, your answer will be quick and hearty. You will be lost if you do not receive this gift. Your earnings will be paid into your bosom, and dread will be the death which will settle down upon you. The acceptance of a free gift would not be difficult if we were not proud. Accept it - God help you to accept it at once! Even that acceptance will be God's gift; for the will to live is life; and all true life, from beginning to end, is entirely of the Lord.

Beloved, have we accepted that free gift of eternal life? Let us abide in it. Let us never be tempted to try the law of merit; let us never attempt to live by our earnings. No doubt eternal life is a reward in one sense, but it is always a reward of grace, not a reward of debt. The Lord shall give us a crown of life at last as a reward; but even then we shall confess that he first gave us the work by which the crown was won. The Lord first gives us good works, and then rewards us for them. The labor of love is in itself a gift of love.

Grace reigns all along; not only in removing sin, but in working virtue. Finally, are we now abiding in eternal life, trusting in the Son of God, and clinging to his skirts? then let us live to his glory. Do we know that because he lives, we shall live also? If so, let us show by our gratitude how greatly we prize this gift. We dwell in a world where death is everywhere manifesting itself in various forms of corruption - therefore let us see from what the Lord has delivered us. Let no man boast in his heart that he is not subject to the vile influences which hold the world in its corruption. Let no pride because of our new life ever cross our spirit. Chase every such thought as that away with detestation. If our life be of grace, there is no room for boasting, but much space for soul-humbling. When you walk the streets, and hear the groans of the dead in the form of oaths and blasphemies, thank the Lord that you have been taught a more living language. Think of drunkenness and lust as the worms that are bred of the putridity of the death which comes of sin. You are disgusted and horrified, my brothers; but these things would have been in you also but for the grace of God. We are like living men shut up in a charnel-house; wherever we turn we see the dreary works of death; but all this should make us grateful to the sacred power which has brought us out of death into spiritual life.

As for others, let us anxiously ask the question - "Can these dry bones live? "Then let us be obedient to the heavenly vision when the divine word says to us, "Son of man, prophesy upon these bones." We must cherish the faith which will enable us to do this. Moreover, a sight of the universal death of unrenewed nature should drive us to prayer, so that we cry, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." This prayer being offered, we should live in hopeful expectancy that the Lord will open the graves of his people, and cause them to come forth and live by his Spirit. Oh for grace to prophesy believingly upon these bones, and say, "O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God unto these bones, Behold I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live." Beloved, we shall yet see them stand up an exceeding great army, quickened of the Lord our God. He delights to burst the bonds of death. Resurrection is one of his chief glories. He heralds resurrection, work with trumpets, and angels, and a glorious high throne, because he delights in it. The living Jehovah rejoices to give life, and especially to give it to the dead. Corruption flies before him, grave clothes are cut, and sepulchers are broken open. "I am the resurrection, and the life," says Jesus; and so he is even at this hour. O God, save this congregation to the praise of the glory of your grace, wherein you have made us to live, and to be accepted in your well-beloved Son.

Amen and Amen.

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16 May, 2014

REWARDS by Arthur Pink Part 2 - (Eternal Life & Grace)



"Be not deceived, God is not mocked—for whatever a man sows, that shall he unto Christ in this life and the joys of the life to come. This relation is just as real as that between sowing to the flesh and reaping corruption, despising and defying Christ and the torments of Hell, though it is not in all respects the same.also reap. For he who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption—but he who sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal 6:7,8). 

The sorrows and joys of the future life, bear a similar relation to what is wrought in this life—as the harvest does to the sowing, one being the consequence, the fruit, or reward of the other. There is a definite relation existing between sowing to the Spirit and reaping everlasting life, between what is done

The joys and sorrows of the future life, bear the same relation to what is wrought in this—as the harvest does to the sowing, one being the consequence, the fruit or reward of the other. There is a definite relation existing between sowing to the Spirit—and reaping life everlasting; between what is done unto Christ in this life—and the crowning in the life to come. This relation is just as real as that between sowing to the flesh—and reaping corruption; despising and defying Christ—and the torments of Hell; though it is not in all respects the same. The portion allotted the wicked is that of due and personal desert—but that bestowed on the righteous is not so, it being entirely of grace, a matter of magnanimity, for it is impossible to lay God under obligation to us or make Him our Debtor. Eternal life is bestowed upon the believer as the reward of Christ's undertaking, because of what He wrought in his stead and on his behalf. Yet that is not the only angle from which the bestowal of eternal life is viewed in Scripture—it is also represented as the end or outcome of our bearing "fruit unto holiness" in the service of God (Romans 6:22).

Before amplifying the last sentence, let us point out the fundamental difference between the "sowing" of the wicked—and that of the righteous. All the works of the wicked are essentially their own, having no higher rise than their corrupt nature—issuing from their evil hearts produced of themselves; and as bitter waters can only proceed from a bitter fountain, so their own works are polluted and sinful. But it is quite otherwise with the good works of the righteous—they proceed not, from the depraved principle of the flesh—but from the "spirit" or new nature which was communicated to them at regeneration. They are the product of God's working in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and therefore does He aver "from Me is your fruit" (Hosea 14:8). Even the water of the purest fountain is no longer pure when it flows through an impure channel, and because the flesh in the Christian defiles those good works he performs—but of which God is the Author and Spring—they could not be accepted and rewarded by Him were they not also cleansed by the blood of Christ and perfumed with His merits. Thus we have no ground for boasting, or self congratulation.

Whenever we think or speak of the grace of God, we must bear in mind that it reigns "through righteousness" (Romans 5:21). Grace does not override any of the other attributes of God—but is always exercised in perfect harmony therewith, and also in full accord with His governmental ways. Therein we behold the "manifold wisdom of God" by displaying in the same act both His mercy and justice, His bounty and His holiness. Therefore we find the Word expressly affirming "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister" (Heb. 6:10). It is indeed an act of infinite condescension upon His part—that He should even deign to take notice of our trifling performances. It is equally an act of pure grace that He should be pleased to reward the same, for no matter how self-sacrificing or arduous those performances, they were nothing but the bare discharge of our bounden duty. Nevertheless it is also an act of righteousness, when He approves of our services and richly recompenses the same—both in this life and the life to come.

It is no more erroneous or inconsistent to affirm that the future reward will be bestowed upon the Christian both for Christ's sake (primarily and meritoriously) and because of his own obedience (according to the terms of the new covenant and the governmental principles of God), than it is to say that our present peace and joy flow directly from the mediation of Christ, and subordinately yet truly so from our own obedience and fidelity. "Great peace have they who love Your Law" (Psalm 119:165 and Isaiah 58:13,14). 

Those who deny themselves for Christ's sake and the Gospel's—are assured of a rich recompense, "a hundredfold now in this time" as well as "in the world to come eternal life" (Mark 10:30). "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is—and of that which is to come" (1 Tim. 4:8). Though our obedience is not meritorious—yet God deems it (as the fruit of His Spirit) virtuous and amiable and fit for His approbation, and as a Being of perfect rectitude and benevolence—it befits Him to cordially own the same. If future rewards clashed either with Divine grace, or the merits of Christ—then present ones must do the same, for a difference in place or time can make no difference as to the nature of things themselves.

In a recent article on the Perseverance of the Saints we pointed out that the subject of rewards needs to be given its due place in connection with that doctrine. And this for a twofold reason.

First, to arouse the careless and expose the formalist. This is one of the many safeguards by which God has hedged about the precious truth of the everlasting bliss of His people. That bliss is not awaiting triflers and sluggards. If there be no sowing to the spirit in this life—there will be no reaping of the spirit in the life to come. This requires to be pressed upon all who claim to be Christians—never more so than in this day of vain pretensions, when hollow professors abound on every side. A faith which produces no good works—is a worthless faith. A branch in the Vine which bears no fruit—is doomed to be burned (John 15:6). The man who hides his talent, instead of improving the same, is cast into "outer darkness" (Matthew 25:24-30). If the cross be avoided—there will be no crown. "If we suffer [for Christ's sake] we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us" (2 Tim. 2:12).

Second, this subject of rewards should be set before God's people as an incentive to perseverance, as an encouragement to fidelity. How often have we heard one and another say, The more I try to do that which is right—the worse things seem to become; the harder I endeavor to please God—the more circumstances appear to combine against me. Ah, that may be for thetesting of your faith. But whether it is for that end or not—seek grace to lay hold of that word "And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal. 6:9). Here is the very application which the apostle made of what he had said in the previous verses upon sowing and reaping, as the opening "And" shows. Here is part of that Bread which God has provided for His children when they are dejected and enervated by the difficulties and discouragements of the way. God has provided a bountiful recompense for our labors—and this should stimulate us in the performance of duty.

Not only is the promise of reward set before the saints as an incentive to activity—but also as consolation in sorrow—to enable them to endure the oppositions encountered. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake—for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:10-12). This is the manner in which Christ offers comfort to His sorely-pressed servants—by assuring them of the grand compensation awaiting them on High. Then let us not pretend to a wisdom superior to His, and withhold from His children this part of their Bread because, forsooth, we imagine that to act thus is to impugn the grace of God. As Matthew Henry rightly says upon Matthew 5:12 "Heaven, at last, will be an abundant recompense for all the difficulties we meet with in our way. This is that which has borne up the suffering saints in all ages."

"You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions" (Heb. 10:34). Here is a pertinent example of the powerful and beneficial influence which a believing view of the promised recompense exerts upon sorely-pressed Christians. These Hebrews had been cruelly despoiled of their earthly possession, and most remarkable had been their deportment under such a trial. So far from giving way to bitter lamentations and revilings, which is the ordinary thing with worldlings on such occasions, or even enduring their loss fatalistically and stoically—they took it cheerfully and gladly. And why? how was such victory over the flesh made possible? Because their faith and hope were in lively exercise; they viewed the promised reward, their inheritance on High; with their bodily eyes they beheld their temporal affliction—but with the eyes of their souls the eternal glory prepared for them. That recompense is here called an "lasting possessions" as elsewhere "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17), in contrast from everything down here which is but a shadow, a mirage which vanishes away.

This was the motive which inspired Abraham, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tents [not erecting a castle or palace] with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God" (Heb. 11:9,10). That was the grand inducement which made him keep on conducting himself as a stranger and pilgrim in this transient scene. That was what braced him to endure all the hardships of the way—his heart was occupied not with Canaan—but with Heaven; he looked beyond the toilsome sowing to the blissful reaping.

In like manner this was the motive which actuated Moses; "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Heb. 11:24-26). His great renunciation in the present—was prompted by faith's laying hold of the grand remuneration in the future.

But a far greater than Abraham or Moses is presented as our Exemplar in this, as in all things else. Of none less than the Redeemer is it recorded "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:2). A variety of motives moved the Savior to endure the cross—love for His Father (John 14:31), the glory of His Father (John 12:27,28), love for His Church (Eph. 5:25), but among them was the prospect of future recompense. In the previous verse we are exhorted to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us—and run with patience the race that is set before us, and the supreme inducement so to do is, "looking unto Jesuswho for the joy that was set before Him endured." Whether that "joy" consisted in the answer to His prayer in (John 17:5), the exaltation of Him above all creatures (Eph. 1:20-22; Phil. 2:9), or His seeing of the travail of His soul and being satisfied (Isaiah 53:11) when He shall present the Church to Himself a glorious Church (Eph. 5:27), or all three—yet the fact remains, that this was an essential motive or reason which prompted the Lord Jesus to do and suffer—that future "joy" was ever before the eye of the Captain of our salvation as He ran His race and finished His course—the prize was kept steadily in view.

It should be pointed out, that promises of reward are not restricted to those engaged in the public service of God—but are also made to the rank and file of His people. We call attention to this, lest humble saints should allow Satan to deprive them of their legitimate portion on the ground—that they are "not worthy" to appropriate the same. Personal worthiness or unworthiness does not at all enter into the question, as the greatest of the apostles has made quite evident (1 Cor. 15:9,10). It is true there are distinctive promises made unto, and rewards reserved, for the ministers of the Gospel (1 Peter 5:1-4), nevertheless, there are many promises made unto the whole family of God—Ephesians 6:8 etc. Note how jealously Paul guarded this very point, for after declaring he had fought a good fight, finished his course and kept the faith, he said, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day," he immediately added, "and not to me only—but unto all those who love His appearing" (2 Tim. 4:8).

Said Paul, "Brethren I count not myself to have apprehended—but this one thing I do—forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13,14). Here we behold the saint running for the "prize"—that is what inspired his self-disciple and strenuous endeavors, that was the inducement or incentive. But the prize will not be accorded him for the merit of his running—but because of the worthiness of Christ—yet without such pressing onward, the prize would not be secured. It is sovereign grace which has appointed this prize for the runner—yet unless the "mark" or goal be actually reached—it is not obtained. The prize or "reward" or "glory" is set before us in the Word for faith—to lay hold of and for hope to enjoy in confident (not doubtful) expectation, as a motive to stir us unto the use of those means leading thereunto, and to make us more fervent in those duties without the performance of which it cannot be reached.

We will close by briefly considering two OBJECTIONS. There will probably be those ready to charge us with inculcating creature deserts, that what we have written is nothing else than an adoption of the Romish heresy of human merits. Our reply is that we have advanced nothing but what is clearly taught in Holy Writ itself. If due attention is paid to the connections in which the term "reward" is found this at once rules out of court the Papish conceit.

Take its first occurrence—God said to Abraham "I am your exceeding great Reward" (Gen. 15:1). What had the patriarch done to entitle him to such a Portion? Where the question of desert is raised, justice requires a due ratio between the performance and the remuneration—but there is no proportion between the works and sufferings of the Christian—and the "exceeding and eternal weight of glory" promised him. Mark the use of the term in Matthew 6:8 and then ask, On what ground does God recompense our prayers? Certainly it is not for any worth which is in them. There cannot possibly be any merit in begging at the Throne of Grace!

Again—it is objected that to present rewards as an inducement unto fidelity—is to foster a mercenary spirit, to reduce the Christian unto a mere hireling, performing his labors for the sake of gain. This is quite an unwarrantable conclusion. Sordidness lies not in aiming at a reward in general—but in subordinating piety to self-interests, as they who followed Christ for the loaves and fishes (John 6:26). A mercenary spirit actuates him who performs duty solely for the sake of remuneration, or at least, principally for it. We are to view the reward not as a debt due us—but as that which the grace of God has promised, and which His bounty deems suited unto our obedience. Rewards are presented to us as an incitement to gracious activity, to cheer us under self-denials, to strengthen our hearts when meeting opposition. It is the minister's task not only to urge believers unto the performance of duty—but also to hold before them the promised recompenses. That eyeing of the reward in no way signifies a lack of love for God—is clear from the case of Christ Himself (Heb. 12:2).


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15 May, 2014

REWARDS by Arthur Pink

To the infidel, much in the Scriptures seems 
so inconsistent and inharmonious, that he charges them with "abounding in contradictions." That there should be no variableness or shadow of turning with God—yet that He is frequently said to "repent"; that He claims to be omnipotent and invincible—yet complains, "you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke" (Prov 1:25); that He is love—yet abhors the wicked (Psalm 5:6); that He is of tender mercy—yet has appointed an eternity of torment for all those whose names are not written in the book of life—to mention no others—all appear to the skeptic, as irreconcilable teachings. To the natural man, the Christian life appears to be a mass of bewildering paradoxes! That the poor in spirit and those who mourn should be pronounced happy; that we have to be made fools in order to become wise; that it is when we are weak we are strong; that we must lose our life in order to save it (Matt 16:25) and that we are bidden to "rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11) transcend his comprehension. Yet none of these things present any insuperable difficulty unto those who are taught of God.

In like manner there is much in the teaching of Holy Writ which perplexes the theologian. As he studies and ponders its declarations, one doctrine—for a time, at least—seems to clash with another. If God has predestinated whatever comes to pass—then what room is left for the discharge of human responsibility and free agency? If the Fall has deprived man of all spiritual strength—then how can he be held blameworthy for failing to perform spiritual duties? If Christ died for the elect only, then how can He be offered freely to "every creature"? If the believer be Christ's "freeman," then why is he required to take upon him His "yoke"? If he has been set at "liberty" (Gal 5:1) then how can he be "under the Law" (1 Cor 9:21). If the believer is preserved by God—then how can his own perseverance be necessary in order to the attainment of everlasting bliss? if he is secure, how can he be in danger? If he has been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, why does he so often have occasion to cry "O wretched man that I am"? If sin does not have dominion over him, why do "iniquities prevail against" him (Psalm 65:3)? These are real problems.

We have commenced this article thus because the subject which is here to engage our attention seems to many to clash with other articles of the Faith. In ordinary speech the word "reward" signifies the recognition and requital of a meritorious performance, the bestowment of something to which a person is justly entitled. But what can the creature merit at the hands of the Creator, to what—save condemnation and punishment—is a sinful creature entitled to from a holy God? If salvation be "by grace" and eternal life is a "free gift" then what place is left for the recompensing of human effort? Yet whatever difficulties may be involved, the fact remains that Scripture has much to say about God's rewarding the obedient, and crowning the overcomer. The Dispensationalists (among them most of the so-called "Fundamentalists") have realized there is a knot here—but instead of patiently seeking to untie they have foolishly cut it, by asserting that rewards have a place only under the Legal Dispensation and are entirely excluded from the Age of Grace; yet the very Epistles which, as they allow, belong to the present Era, contain many passages postulating "rewards."

Our present subject is by no means a simple one, and certainly it is not suited for a novice to take up and descant upon. Not that the teaching of Scripture thereon is at all obscure or hard to be understood—but rather that much wisdom is needed in the handling of it, so as to avoid conveying false impressions, weakening the force of other articles of the Faith, and failing to preserve the balance of the Truth. Very little attention was given to the subject of Divine rewards either by the Reformers or the Puritans (less by the latter than the former), probably they felt that most of their energies needed to be devoted unto counteracting the evil leaven of Romanism, with its strong emphasis upon creature "merits" and salvation by works. Yet in avoiding one error—there is always the danger of going to the opposite, and even where that is avoided, it is usually at the price of depriving God's children of some portion of their needed and Divinely-provided Bread. Whatever is the explanation, the fact remains that our present theme is a much-neglected one for comparatively little has been said or written upon it. We are therefore the more cast back upon God for help.

The servant of God must not allow the fear of man to muzzle him, as he will if he deems it wisest to remain silent on the subject lest he be charged with "leanings towards Romanism" —their very perversion of this truth renders it all the more necessary and urgent that he should give a plain and positive exposition of the same. On the other hand, the fact that Papists have so grievously wrested it, should warn him that great care needs to be exercised in the way he presents it. He needs to make it crystal clear, that it is utterly impossible to bring God under obligation to us or make Him in any way our Debtor. In like manner, it must be shown that the creature cannot acquire any merit by the most self-sacrificing or benevolent deeds he performs. By so doing, he will preclude the laying of any foundation for pharisaic pride. Nevertheless, he must see to it that he does not so whittle away the passages holding up "rewards" to believers, as to render them meaningless and valueless, for they are among the motives, encouragements, incentives, and consolations which God sets before His people.

In a brief and incidental statement upon this doctrine, Calvin beautifully preserved the balance when in his "Institutes" (bk. 3, chapter 15) he said, "The Scripture shows what all our works are capable of meriting, when it represents them as unable to bear the Divine scrutiny, because they are full of impurity; and in the next place, what would be merited by the perfect observance of the Law, if this could anywhere be found, when it directs us 'when you have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants' (Luke 17:10), because we shall not have conferred any favor on God—but only have performed the duties incumbent on us, for which no thanks are due. Nevertheless, the good works which the Lord has conferred on us, He denominates our own, and declares that He will not only accept—but also reward them. It is our duty to be animated by so great a promise, and to stir up our minds that we 'be not weary in well doing' (2 Thess 3:13) and to be truly grateful for so great an instance of Divine goodness.

"It is beyond a doubt, that whatever is laudable in our works, proceeds from the grace of God, and that we cannot properly ascribe the least portion of it to ourselves. If we truly and seriously acknowledge this truth, not only all confidence—but likewise all idea of merit, immediately vanishes. We, I say, do not, like the sophists, divide the praise of good works between God and man—but we reserve it to the Lord completely and entirely. All that we attribute to man is, that those works which were otherwise good—are tainted and polluted by impurity. For nothing proceeds from the most perfect man which is wholly impeccable. Therefore let the Lord sit in judgment on the best of human actions, and He will indeed recognize in them His own righteousness—but man's disgrace and shame. Good works, therefore, are pleasing to God, and not unprofitable to the authors of them; and they will moreover receive the most ample blessings from God as their reward—not because they merit them—but because the Divine goodness has freely appointed them this reward." Let us attempt to offer some amplification of these excellent remarks.

First, no creature is rewarded by God because he justly deserves what is bestowed upon him, as a hired laborer who has performed his duty is entitled to the wage he receives. For, in this sense, even the angels in heaven are incapable of a reward—according to strict justice, they merit no favor. They are no hirelings, for God has a natural, original, undisputed right in them, as much as He has in the sun, moon and stars; and these, therefore, deserve to be paid for their shining, as much as the angels do for their service. If the angels love God, it is no more than He infinitely deserves. Moreover, the angels do not profit God, and so lay Him under no obligation, any more than the birds profit the risen sun by their morning songs or render that luminary under obligation to shine all day upon them. "Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?" (Job 22:2,3).

It is most essential that this should be insisted upon, more especially in these days, that the Most High God may be accorded His due place in our thoughts, His solemn majesty, exalted independency and self-sufficiency, preserved in their integrity. That the creature may be allotted his proper place—as being not only a creature—but as less than nothing in the sight of Him who gave him being and is pleased to maintain his existence—that the axe may be laid at the very root of self-righteousness. Papists are far from being alone in indulging the flesh-pleasing conceit that even a fallen and sinful creature is capable of performing meritorious deeds, which entitle him to favorable regard by the Lord God. Unless Divine grace has given our pride its death-wound, every one of us secretly cherishes the belief—though we may not be honest enough to openly avow it—that we deserve a reward for our good works; and hence we are apt to think that God would be very hard and severe, if not cruel and unjust—were He to take no notice of our best endeavors and damn us because of our sins. "Why have we fasted—and you have not seen it?" (Isa 58:3).

But, second, The fact remains, that Scripture abounds in declarations that God has promised to reward the fidelity of His people and compensate them for the sufferings they have endured in His service. "The recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him" (Prov 12:14). "Whoever despises the Word shall be destroyed—but he who fears the commandment shall be rewarded" (Prov 13:13). "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matt 5:11,12). "His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many" (Matt 25:23). "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:13,14). "Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor" (1 Cor 3:8). "Whatever good things any man does—the same shall he receive of the Lord" (Eph 6:8). Now these, and all similar passages, must be allowed their legitimate force and given a due place in our minds and hearts.

The principal difficulty which this subject presents to the thoughtful Christian is, What have I done which is fit for reward? and even though I had, how could reward consist with free grace? The solution to this problem is found in noting the grounds on which God bestows rewards.
First, in order to manifest His own excellencies. It is in His office as moral Governor that He exercises this function, in which office He evidences His holiness, goodness and benevolence, as well as His sovereignty and justice. As the Ruler of all, it befits Him to manifest His approbation of righteousness, to put honor upon virtue, and to display the bountifulness of His nature. Though according to strict justice, the angels in Heaven deserve nothing at His hands—yet God is pleased to reward their sinless obedience in testimony of His approbation of their persons and service. God rewards them not because they do Him any good, nor because they are entitled to anything from him—but because He delights in that which is amiable, and because He would demonstrate to the universe that He is a Friend of all who are morally excellent, He liberally recompenses them. Since they love Him with all their hearts and strength—He deems it fitting that they should be made eternally blessed in the enjoyment of Himself.

Second, in the case of His people who fell in Adam and who have also themselves sinned and come short of the glory of God, they neither merit anything good at His hands, nor is it fitting that their persons and conduct—considered merely as they are in themselves—should be approved; nay, so much corruption still indwells them and so much impurity is attached to all that proceeds from them, that the Divine Law condemns them. Thus it must be on quite a different ground that God considers them suited to reward. What that is, the Gospel of the grace of God makes known.

It is on account of the believer's interest in the righteousness and worthiness of Christ that his person and performances are accepted and peculiar favors are shown unto and bestowed upon him. He is "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6), and his consecration (Rom 12:1), his gifts or benevolences (Phil 4:18) and his worship are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5); yes, his prayers ascend up before God only because the "much incense" of Christ's merits is added to them (Rev 8:3,4).

Third, in showing His approval of the service of His saints God is, at the same time, owning the Spirit's work in them—for it is by His gracious operations and power that they are enabled to perform such service.


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