Introduction

When we are
experiencing pain, grief, or suffering we tend to ask lots of questions:Why am
I having so much pain? Why did my loved one have to die? Why isn’t God
answering my prayers? What did I do to deserve this? Where is God in all of
this? A well-known television preacher was trying to answer these questions and
is reported to have said the following:“I want you to know that God has
nothing whatsoever to do with suffering and death. All pain, suffering, and
death is the responsibility of the devil.” Do you agree with that statement? No
doubt this preacher meant well in trying to vindicate God, trying to defend God
before people who might be angry at Him because of suffering and death. But I
believe he was very wrong in his explanation. There is nothing wrong with our
trying to defend God against the attacks or hard feelings of others, but we
must do it according to the truth of His Word. The truth of the Scriptures is
that God has everything to do with pain and suffering.

                             Why?

Why does God
allow pain and suffering? And why is it important for us to know why? Our
questions relate primarily to the meaning and purpose of our pain. If we know
there is a meaningful outcome, it will be far easier for us to endure the pain
and suffering. I sometimes wonder how it is that so many women in the world
purposefully try to have more children after having to endure the discomforts,
morning sickness, and sometimes much worse of nine months of being pregnant,
and then experiencing the intense labor pains associated with childbirth. I
believe the answer lies in their expectation of experiencing the fruit of their
labors—the anticipated joy of having a baby—that makes it all seem worthwhile.

                       The
Olympic Games

Consider the
Olympic Games. Why would any man or woman want to put up with the long hours,
the grueling training, the pain, and the risk of injury to train for the Games?
Is it not because of the hope of being crowned, or receiving a medal, or
enjoying a moment of fame? Or for some who may have little hope of winning a
medal, it is the glory, the national recognition of simply being privileged to
compete in the Games. So when we are experiencing pain and suffering, we ask
"Why? What is the purpose in it?" because we want to know that our
suffering is going to result in long-term benefit to ourselves or others.

                       Job—a
Case Study

Let us take up
a case study of the patriarch Job—a man renowned for enduring pain and
suffering. Here is a synopsis of Job 1 and 2:

1. Job was a
God-fearing man (1:1).

2. He had many
children and was prosperous (1:2,3).

3. The Lord
took the initiative, asking Satan about Job (1:6-8).

4. Satan
responded, “Of course Job fears You! You have bribed Job!” (1:9-11).

5. Job suffered
the loss of his children, possessions, and health (1:13-19; 2:7).

Who was
responsible for Job’s loss? God? Satan? the Sabeans and Chaldeans? To some
extent all four shared in the responsibility. God allowed Satan freedom to do
these things to Job. What about the Sabeans and Chaldeans (1:15,17)? These two
groups could not say, “The devil made me do it,” or “God told the devil to make
me do it.” They no doubt had been looking at Job for a long time. Perhaps they
had even attempted to plunder Job’s possessions but God had protected Job and
his property up to this point by putting a “hedge about him and about his
house” (1:10). What is a hedge? An example may be found in 2 Kings 6:15-17.
When the prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by the Syrian troops,
they found themselves surrounded even more closely by an army of angels
protecting them. Once God removed the hedge around Job, all Satan had to do was
whisper into the ear of one of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, “Why don’t you try
Job again.” On the one hand, they were responsible before God for their own sinful
practices. On the other hand, God used their innate sinfulness to work out his
own purposes with Job. We see the same thing with respect to Nebuchadnezzar.
The Lord refers to the king of Babylon as “My servant” (Jer. 27:6). God made
use of Nebuchadnezzar’s sinful pride and ambition to apply a whipping to the
nation of Israel who had turned away from God. If we get robbed, the robber
will have to bear the consequences of his sinful actions before God the judge
of all; but at the same time, it is possible that the Lord removed for a brief
time, for reasons He knows best, the hedge of protection He had put around us.

In Job 2, the
Lord again took the initiative concerning Job. Satan complained that God did
not give him enough room to work with Job the first time around. Satan says,
“Touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse Thee to Thy face”(2:6).

                    Was Job
Treated Fairly?

Let us step
back a moment. Here is a controversy between God and Satan and poor Job seems
to be caught in the middle. Some might ask, “Is it fair for man to be
made a pawn in such affairs between God and Satan? What did poor Job do to
deserve such loss and suffering?” We must be very careful about asking
questions beginning with, “Is it fair?” or making statements, “It’s not fair.”
Let us rephrase the question:“Did Job deserve that God should continue
to give him great prosperity and good health?” And then we must ask:“Do I
deserve that God should bless me and prosper me continually? Does God owe
me anything?” Read carefully now; I am about to make perhaps the most important
point of this entire article:IF WE GOT WHAT WE DESERVED, WE WOULD ALL
BE IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AT THIS MOMENT, INCLUDING UPRIGHT JOB. Job had some
sense of this. He says, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall
I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord” (1:21). Again he says when covered with boils, “Shall we receive
good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?” (2:10). Dear brothers
and sisters in Christ:Do you realize how immensely blessed each one of us is?
God has been so merciful to us! We tend to take His mercies for granted. So
when He occasionally withholds His mercy from us, when someone or something
dear to us is taken away from us, we may get angry at God as if we deserve
to have that precious person or thing. I DON’T DESERVE ONE SINGLE THING IN THIS
LIFE! The only thing I deserve is eternal separation from God because of my
sins! Often when the gospel is preached we are reminded that none of us
deserves the wonderful salvation that God offers to us. But it is more than
this. None of us deserves ANYTHING! All that we have and are is a result of
God’s grace—favor shown to people who deserve the opposite. “Not by works of
righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us”
(Tit. 3:5). If we don’t deserve the greatest blessing of all—God’s eternal
salvation—then surely we don’t deserve any lesser blessing.

                    Are We
Treated Fairly?

Have any of my
readers ever said or thought, “It’s not fair!”? As children, did you ever say,
“It’s not fair! Billy’s piece of cake is bigger than mine!”? As teenagers, did
you ever say to your parents, “It’s not fair! You let Susie stay out till 11:00
and you only let me stay out till 10:30!”? As adults, have you ever said, “It’s
not fair! Mr. Jones has not been with the company as long as I have and he has
been promoted above me!”? When we say or think, “It’s not fair the way I have
been treated,” we are essentially saying, “I deserve to be treated better.” We
need continually to remind ourselves, I DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING! That was one of
the lessons God was teaching Job and one of the lessons He wants us to learn
when He tests us and brings us into pain and suffering. This is why the apostle
Peter exhorted his readers, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). This is why the apostle Paul
exhorted young Timothy, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace
that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). We need to grow in the realization that
all we have and are is a result of God’s grace—demerited favor—toward us.
Instead of complaining about the things that go wrong in our lives, we need to
be reminded by the occasional set-backs we experience of all the things that
have gone well in our lives, by the grace and mercy of God, and all the things
that will go well with us for eternity. "For our light affliction,
that is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17).

                   A Lesson in
Righteousness

                           and
Mercy

Read Matt.
20:1-16. Here we have a lesson concerning righteousness and mercy. Was it
unrighteous for the master to give only a penny to those who had labored all
day? No, because that is what they agreed to be paid. But what about those who
got paid the same amount for less work? They were recipients of the master’s mercy.
They received more than they deserved. That is how God deals with all of
us each and every day. He gives us more than we deserve. And how much do
we deserve? That’s right, WE DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING! The master says, “Is it
not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is your eye evil because I
am good?” God says, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Rom. 9:15).

                   Job Brought
Glory to God

Up to this
point Job vindicated God:“Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall
we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). Job
did not curse God as Satan had said he would. Job therefore brought great glory
to God by his patience in putting up with his great loss and pain and
suffering. His patience is especially noted in the New Testament:“You have
heard of the patience of Job” (Jas. 5:11). Job brought glory to God by
declaring God’s sovereign right to do what He wants to do with His created
beings. Here is one reason God allows pain and suffering:it gives His people
an opportunity to bring glory to Him by the way they respond to that pain and
suffering.

                     Another
Kind of Pain

As long as Job
was by himself, he handled his suffering very well. But now we have three more
characters coming on the scene—Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and
Zophar. They had come to mourn with Job and comfort him, and initially they did
weep (2:12). But then they sat down with him seven days and nights and none
spoke a word unto Job. Sometimes we may find ourselves in a situation where we
have gone to comfort a friend or relative, and we cannot find any words to say.
All we can do is sit and hold that person’s hand and perhaps listen to what
he/she has to say. Sometimes this may be the best way of comforting the person—just
being there. Maybe this is what Job’s three friends were doing. But their
speeches to Job in the subsequent chapters suggest that their silence meant
something else to Job. I believe Job detected looks of disapproval and
accusation on the faces of his three friends, even before they opened their
mouths. Job 16:4 suggests that they were shaking their heads at him. Have you
ever had the experience, perhaps with your wife or husband or your parent or
child? You detect a certain look on that person’s face and you ask, “What’s the
matter?” And the other responds, “Did I say anything was the matter?” “No, but I
can read it on your face.”

I believe Job
could read on the faces of his three friends exactly what they were thinking.
And what was that? As manifested later by their speeches to Job, they were
thinking that Job must have committed some terrible sin in order for God to be
punishing him so severely. Was their thinking “off the wall” as we might say?
Were they expounding principles that were contrary to what they knew about God?
No, not at all. It is generally believed that Job lived around the same time as
the patriarch Abraham. Job and his three friends surely knew the story of God’s
destruction of nearly the entire human race in the great flood because of their
wickedness. It may have been in the lifetime of Job and his friends that Sodom
and Gomorrah were destroyed because of the people’s wickedness. And on the
other hand, they surely knew the story of righteous, godly Enoch being taken
straight to heaven without dying. So the principle that these three friends
were espousing, that man’s suffering is proportional to his sin and his
prosperity and blessing is proportional to his righteousness, was not out of
line with what they had learned at that time concerning God’s dealings with
man. The only problem was that man’s sin and man’s righteousness are not the only
factors that bear upon his suffering or prosperity. The three friends were
totally wrong in applying those general principles to Job.

I believe Job
realized what his friends were thinking and he began to feel sorry for himself.
The only thing worse than suffering and not knowing why, is having your
so-called friends tell you that you must be a really bad sinner because of your
suffering. Job knew he was a righteous man who tried in every way to please
God. The condemning looks of his three friends may have started him thinking,
“What right does God have to punish me so severely? I surely do not deserve it,
as my friends seem to think. What could possibly be God’s purpose in it?” And
so Job, not knowing the purpose and meaning of his great suffering, cries out
at the beginning of chapter 3 and curses the day of his birth. (Note that he
does not curse God, though he comes close to it.) He cannot take it any more.
He wishes he were dead, or that he had never been born! What follows is over 30
chapters of dialogue between Job and his three friends plus a younger man,
Elihu, who comes on the scene later on. The three friends try to get Job to
admit to the great sin of which he must be guilty. Job all the while protests
his innocence. Then he begins to complain to God (chapters 29-31). Note that
Job and his friends start out rather mildly, but progress to caustic and biting
words against each other (compare 4:2-7 with 22:5-9). Just so with us, disputes
that begin over small things can quickly escalate to something ugly. That is
why those who play the role of peacemakers, who seek to restore others who are
“overtaken in a fault” must do their work “in the spirit of meekness” (Gal.
6:1).

                     Physical
Pain versus

                          People
Pain

Let me insert
here the observation that God’s people—like Job—often are able to handle
physical pain and suffering much better than the bad behavior of other people.
We tend to think of the physical sufferings as being from the Lord, but when people
hurt us with their actions or words or insinuations or the disapproving looks
on their faces, we easily take offense. Our human pride is wounded. We feel a
need to defend ourselves. But these “people trials” are allowed by God for our
benefit as much as the trials of physical pain and suffering. Such trials
provide a very good and sobering means of helping us to see the immense amount
of pride that lurks in our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts. So when we
are experiencing a trial as a result of a difficult person in our lives, it is always
well for us to examine ourselves whether there is pride in our hearts that
needs to be judged.

                       God’s
Perspective

Job rehearses
the many good and righteous deeds he performed throughout his lifetime
(chapters 29 and 31), suggesting that God should be rewarding him rather than
causing him such pain and loss. He implies that he is more righteous than God
(35:2). He cries out, “Oh that one would hear me! Behold, my desire is that the
Almighty would answer me” (31:35). God never tells Job why He has caused him so
much pain and suffering. Rather, God responds to Job by saying in essence:
“Job, do you presume to tell Me how great and wonderful your works and good
deeds are? Let Me ask you some questions before I answer yours”:
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? … Who shut up the
sea with doors? … Have you commanded the morning since your days and
caused the dayspring to know his place? … Have you perceived the breadth of
the earth? … Who has begotten the drops of dew? … Can you …  loose the
bands of Orion? … Did you give goodly wings unto the peacocks? … Does the
eagle mount up at your command? … Shall he who contends with the Almighty
instruct Him? He who reproves God, let him answer it. The Job answered the Lord
and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay my hand upon
my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will
proceed no further” (38:4,8,12,18,28,31; 39:13,27; 40:2-5).

Job is starting
to get the picture, but God is not yet through with him:“Will you condemn Me,
that you may be righteous? Have you an arm like God? or can you thunder with a
voice like Him? … Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is Mine” (40:8,9;
41:11). In other words, God is saying to Job, “Who are you, Job, that you
should be telling me about your works and good deeds. I think something
is backward here!” Job responds, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the
ear, but now my eye sees Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes” (42:5,6). Among the other purposes of God’s testing of Job, we see that
there was a root of self-righteousness and pride and self-importance in Job
that needed to be uncovered. He “was perfect and upright, and one who feared
God and eschewed evil” (1:1). But we also read that “Job … was righteous in
his own eyes” (32:1). He had to come to see himself from God’s perspective. Job
was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (1:3). But he had to learn the
immense power and greatness of God and his own littleness in comparison. And
Job did learn these lessons, repenting before God in dust and ashes. Job had
also spoken sinfully and impatiently to his three friends; even though they
were wrong in their accusations against him, he had to humble himself to pray
for them (42:10).

                   The Fire of
Purification

God took a man
who was already perfect and upright before his fellow men, one whom his fellows
admired and looked up to. And God put Job through the fire of pain and
suffering to purify him even more. A goldsmith does not take random
pieces of rock and melt them down to see if there is any gold in them. Rather
he takes that which already gives every evidence of being gold. He then heats
the gold until it melts in order for impurities to rise to the surface. The
goldsmith skims off the impurities in order to make the gold more pure. Just
so, our trials and sufferings often have a purifying effect upon us. The
psalmist prays, “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults” (Psa. 19:12). Trials of
pain and suffering may help to uncover within us pride or hidden faults that we
were not aware of. “You greatly rejoice …  that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with
fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6,7).

We already
referred to gold that is refined by heat. The quality and value of clay pottery
likewise is directly proportional to the degree of heat applied to it. The
finer pottery that is decorated in different colors may have to be fired
several times, once for each different mineral used to give it color. Diamonds,
on the other hand, are pieces of carbon that have been subjected to intense
pressures. Diamonds in the rough are then cleaved and cut to produce facets
that reflect light in an optimal manner. So nature teaches us that the finest,
most beautiful jewelry and pottery comes only from intense heat, pressure, and
cutting. Likewise, the finest, most beautiful Christians tend to emerge from
intense trials and sufferings.

God chastens us
“for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness” (Heb. 12:10). “All
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). And what is that purpose of God
for His own? The next verse tells us:that we might “be conformed to the image
of His Son.”

                    Benefits
from Suffering

In summary,
there were several kinds of benefits that came out of Job’s sufferings. First,
God was glorified in that Job did not curse Him as Satan had predicted. Do we
love and appreciate God so much that we value the opportunity presented to us
by pain and suffering to bring glory to Him? Second, Job was purified through
the suffering; he learned more about himself (especially his pride and
self-righteousness) and God; he learned to see himself in his proper
relationship to God—God’s intrinsic greatness and his own smallness. Third, God
commended Job for speaking right things about God (42:7,8). Fourth, and perhaps
least, God blessed Job in the end with far more material possessions than he
had at the beginning as well as with long life (42:12-17).

Jesus, Master whose I am,

Purchased Thine alone to be,

By Thy blood, O spotless Lamb,

Shed so willingly for me;

Let my heart be all Thine own,

Let me live to Thee alone.

Other lords have long held sway;

Now, Thy name alone to hear,

Thy dear voice alone obey,

Is my daily, hourly prayer.

Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

Nothing else my joy can be.

Jesus, Master! I am Thine;

Keep me faithful, Keep me near,

Let Thy presence in me shine

All my homeward way to cheer.

Jesus! at Thy feet I fall,

Oh, be Thou my All-in-all.

Jesus, Master, whom I serve,

Though so feebly and so ill,

Strengthen hand and heart and
nerve

All Thy bidding to fulfill;

Open Thou mine eyes to see

All the work Thou hast for me.

Lord, Thou needest not, I know,

Service such as I can bring;

Yet I long to prove and show

Full allegiance to my King.

Thou an honor art to me,

Let me be a praise to Thee.

Jesus, Master! wilt Thou use

One who owes Thee more than all?

As Thou wilt! I would not choose,

Only let me hear Thy call.

Jesus! let me always be

In Thy service glad and free.

"All
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do"
(Heb. 4:13).

It is a blessed
thing to know that we "have to do" with God (Heb. 4:13). If we are
seeking happiness, where shall we find it, except in God? He is not only the
source of our blessing, but the blessing itself.

Once we really
come to know God, we will know Him as love (1 John 4:8). Then, knowing that
everything comes to us from Him—no matter what the circumstances—we interpret
all by His love. I may be called on to pass through pain and sorrow and trial
as part of His discipline; but everything that comes from God comes from a
source and spring in which I have confidence. I look, through the
circumstances, to Him, and nothing can separate me from His love.

Where God is but
little known, and where there is not therefore confidence in His love, there
will be murmuring and rebellion at circumstances. In such a case, the sense of
having to do with God will cause more fear than gladness.

Is it not true
that we often stop, practically, at the circumstances in which we find
ourselves placed and consider only our feelings and judgment about them? This
is a proof that our souls are not living in the fullness of communion with God.
That with which we should be occupied is, not the circumstances, but what God
intends by them.

There may be
some secret evil working in my heart of which I am as yet unaware. Then God
sends some circumstance that discovers to me the evil in order that it may be
put away. Is not this a blessing? The circumstance does not create the evil
which it excites; it only acts upon what it finds to be in my heart and makes
it manifest. The evil being discovered, circumstances are all forgotten; God’s
end alone is seen.

If there are
circumstances that try and perplex our hearts, let us ask the question,
"What is God up to with me?" The moment the soul finds itself in
communion with God about the circumstances, all is well.

(From Collected
Writings, Vol. 16.)

“When the LORD
your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and has cast
out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the
Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations
greater and mightier than you; and when the LORD your God shall deliver them
before you, you shall smite them, and utterly destroy them. You shall
make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them; neither shall you make
marriages with them. Your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his
daughter shall you take unto your son. For they will turn away your son from
following me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of the LORD be
kindled against you, and destroy you suddenly” (Deut. 7:1-4).

Such were the
instructions given by Jehovah to His people. They were clear and explicit.
There was to be no mercy for the Canaanites, no covenant with them, no union,
no fellowship of any kind, unsparing judgment, intense separation.

We know, alas!
how soon and how completely Israel failed to carry out these instructions.
Hardly had they planted their foot upon the land of Canaan before they made a
covenant with the Gibeonites (Josh. 9:15). Even Joshua himself fell into the
snare. The tattered garments and moldy bread of those wily people beguiled the
princes of the congregation, and caused them to act in direct opposition to the
plain commandment of God. Had they been governed by the authority of the Word,
they would have been preserved from the grave error of making a league with
people who ought to have been utterly destroyed; but they judged by the sight
of their eyes, and had to reap the consequences.

Implicit
obedience is the great moral safeguard against the wiles of the enemy. No doubt
the story of the Gibeonites was very plausible, and their whole appearance gave
a show of truth to their statements; but none of these things should have had
the slightest moral weight with Joshua and the princes; nor would they if they
had but remembered the Word of the Lord. But they failed in this. They reasoned
on what they saw, instead of obeying what they had heard. Reason is no guide
for the people of God; we must be, absolutely and completely, guided and
governed by the Word of God.

This is a
privilege of the very highest order, and it lies within the reach of the
simplest and most unlettered child of God. The Father’s word, the Father’s
voice, the Father’s eye, can guide the youngest, feeblest child in His family.
All we need is the lowly and obedient heart. It does not demand great
intellectual power or cleverness; if it did, what would become of the vast
majority of Christians? If it were only the educated and the deep-thinking that
were capable of meeting the wiles of the adversary, then most of us would give
up in despair.

But, thanks be
to God, it is not so; indeed, on the contrary, we find, in looking through the
history of the people of God in all ages, that human wisdom and learning, if
not kept in their right place, have proved a positive snare, and rendered their
possessors only the more efficient tools in the enemy’s hand. By whom have
most, if not all, of the heresies been introduced that have disturbed the
Church of God from age to age? Not by the simple and the unlearned, but by the
educated and the intellectual. And in the passage to which we have just
referred in the Book of Joshua, who was it that made a covenant with the
Gibeonites? The common people? No, but the princes of the congregation. No
doubt all were involved in the mischief, but it was the princes that led the
way. The heads and leaders of the assembly fell into the snare of the devil
through neglect of the plain word of God.

“You shall make
no covenant with them.” Could anything be plainer than this? could tattered
garments, old shoes, and moldy bread alter the meaning of the divine command,
or do away with the urgent necessity for strict obedience on the part of the
congregation? Assuredly not. Nothing can ever afford a warrant for lowering,
even by the breadth of a hair, the standard of obedience to the Word of God. If
there are difficulties in the way, if perplexing circumstances come before us
as to which we are unable to form a judgment, what are we to do? Reason? Jump
to conclusions? Act on our own or on any human judgment? Most certainly not.
What then? Wait on God; wait patiently, humbly, believingly, and He will
assuredly counsel and guide. “The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek
will He teach His way” (Psa. 25:9). Had Joshua and the princes acted thus, they
never would have made a league with the Gibeonites; and if the reader acts
thus, he will be delivered from every evil work and preserved unto the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

(From Notes
on the Book of Deuteronomy, Vol. 2.)

“We know that
all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).

God does not
take His people out of the world, does not take them away from the evil, does
not even keep the evil away from them. But He makes all things, both good and
evil, work together for good to those who love Him. He brings good to His
people out of the evil. The trouble is that while God’s people may see the evil
very plainly, they have not the knowledge of God to realize His power over the
evil to make it work for their good.

How often it is
true of us that we look at the evils, at circumstances, at things that are
taking place around us, and base our hopes and fears on them instead of upon
our God, the eternal and unchangeable One. Our worst fears are very often
imaginary, and the evils we anticipate may never come. But God is the real One;
all here is vanity and of the fallen creation. We need to remember that all
things are in His hands; He is good; He does only that which is good; He makes
all the things that take place about us work together for our good if we love
Him.

“All things.”
How much ground that covers:all the bad things, all the evil things, all the
things that seem so hard to bear, all the sorrowful things, all the
afflictions, all the trials, all the disappointments, all the attacks of Satan
and wicked men, all the failures and mistakes of others. “All things
work together for good to those who love God.”

Does not God
take wonderful care of those who love Him? He cannot do too much for them, but
then He does it in His perfect way and time, and that is where the trial comes.
It is our part to believe His words, to trust Him with all our hearts, to cling
to Him whatever comes. And it is His free grace that enables us to do this. He
will not keep any good back from His own faithful people (Psa. 84:11). So we
can rejoice in Him and praise Him with full hearts.

“Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet.
1:2).

It is essential
for the true character of our path as Christians that we should lay hold of
what this obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ was. The character of Christ’s
obedience was different from legal obedience. If my child wants to do something
and I forbid it, and the child promptly obeys, I speak of its ready obedience.
Christ never obeyed in this way; He never had a desire checked by an imposed
law. It was never needed to say to Him, “Thou shalt not,” when He willed to do
something. He acted because the Father willed it. That was His motive,
the only cause of His acting. He lived by every word that proceeded out of the
mouth of God. When there was none, He had nothing to do. Hence the will of God,
whatever it was, was His rule.

This is the
true character of the obedience of Jesus Christ and of our obedience as
Christians—that the will of God is the reason, the motive, for doing a thing.
We are sanctified to the obedience of Jesus Christ, to obey as He obeyed. When
Satan came and said to Him, “Command that these stones be made bread” (Matt.
4:3), He answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word … of
God” (verse 4). His actual life, as carried out in conduct, flowed from the
Word of God, which was His motive for doing it; if He had not that, He had no
motive. If I have no motive but my Father’s will, how astonishingly it simplifies
everything! If you never thought of doing a thing unless it was God’s positive
will that you should do it, surely three-quarters of your questions and
perplexities would at once disappear! This is the practical truth as to
ourselves; yet we clearly see that such was the obedience of Christ.

This, too, is
the principle of real godliness, because it keeps us in constant dependence
upon God, and constant reference to God. It is an amazing comfort for my soul
to think that there is not a single thing all through my life in which God as
my Father has not a positive will about me to direct me; that there is not a
step from the moment I am born (though while we are unconverted we understand
nothing about it) in which there is not a positive path or will of God to
direct me here. I may forget it and fail, but we have in the Word and will of
God that which keeps the soul, not in a constant struggle against one thing and
another, but in the quiet consciousness that the grace of God has provided for
everything—that I do not take a step that His love has not provided for. It
keeps the soul in the sweet sense of divine favor and in dependence upon God,
so that like David we can say, “Thy right hand upholds me” (Psa. 63:8). Moses
does not say, “Show me a way through the wilderness,” but “Show me now Thy way”
(Exod. 33:13). A man’s ways reveal what he is; God’s way shows what He is.

In its path the
heart gets separated more and more intelligently to God, and gets to understand
what God is. If I know that God likes this and likes that along my path, it is
because I know what He is; and besides its being the right path and
causing us thus to grow in intelligent holiness of life, there is godliness in
it too. The constant referring of the heart affectionately to God is real
godliness and we have to look for that. We have it perfectly in our Lord. He
said, “I knew that Thou hearest Me always” (John 11:42). There is the
confidence of power and reference to God with confiding affection. If I know
that it is His path of goodness, His will that is the source of everything to
me, there is then the cultivation of a life consistent in its ways with God;
communion is uninterrupted because the Spirit is not grieved. This is the
obedience of Jesus Christ to which we are set apart.

(From “The Path
and Character of the Christian” in Collected Writings, Vol. 16.)

    Two Greek words found in
the New Testament have the meaning “love.” One of these words is familiar to us
because of the common derivatives of it which are in use today, such as
philosophy, philanthropy, and hemophilia. This Greek word is philia. The
corresponding verb is phileo. Philia is a word used to denote the love
and affection typically found between friends, relatives, and husband and wife.
It basically refers to a love which is manifested in response to pleasure found
in a person or object. It is based on having things in common with the person
or object loved. Today we use the word “like” to express philia love.

    The other word is agape
(pronounced a-ga’-pay). The corresponding verb is agapao. This word
refers to love which is awakened by a sense of value or preciousness in a
person or object. It is a love of esteem or prizing. It is often manifested in
self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one loved.

    Perhaps the best example
of the use of agapao is found in John 3:16:“For God so loved the
world.” Clearly phileo would be inappropriate here, for there is nothing
in a lost sinner that the heart of God can find pleasure in. God does, however,
love each lost sinner because of the value He places on that lost soul. Each
soul is precious to God because He sees His own image in it (Gen. 1:26), even
though this image is marred by sin. Further, each soul is made of material which,
through redemption, can be transformed into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29).
This agape-love which God has for sinners is clearly also a
self-sacrificial love, as witnessed by His giving His only begotten Son to die
for those who were completely unloving and unlovable.

    The contrast between agapao
and phileo is illustrated in a striking way in John 21:15-17 where
Jesus asks Simon Peter three times whether he loves Him. Recall that before the
crucifixion Peter had boasted that though all men should be offended because of
Christ, yet he would never be offended (Matt. 26:33-35). It soon became evident
how little Peter knew his own heart when he denied his Lord three times. In
John 21, we see Jesus coming to Peter in His matchless love and grace to search
out Peter’s heart in order to bring about his restoration. His first question
recalls Peter’s boast:“Do you love (agapao) Me more than these?”
Peter’s answer employs phileo rather than agapao:“Yes, Lord;
Thou knowest that I love Thee.” In other words, Peter, remembering his base
denial, distrusts himself to the extent that he does not claim to have the agape-love,
that love of devotion and self-sacrifice, for the Lord. He does, however,
claim to be fond of the Lord.

    Jesus asks Peter again if
he loves (agapao) Him. This time He does not try to compare Peter’s love
with the love of the other disciples but seems to ask whether Peter has any love
for Him. Again Peter answers the Lord that he loves (phileo) Him.

    A third time Jesus asks,
“Do you love Me?” We read that “Peter was grieved because He said unto him the
third time, Do you love Me.” The difference of one word in the Lord’s question
the third time causes Peter to be grieved. The first two times Jesus used the
word agapao, but the third time He used phileo. Thus Peter is
overcome with sorrow—no doubt that “godly sorrow which is unto repentance” (see
2 Cor. 7:10)—when he realizes that his denial at the crucifixion caused Jesus
to question whether he was even His friend, whether he even had any philia-love
or affection for Him. All the disciple can do now is fall back on the
Lord’s omniscience and say, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I
love (phileo) thee.” Thus, the Lord has succeeded in reaching into
Peter’s heart and working out repentance and restoration.

    Another very instructive
passage in which both words for love are found is 1 Pet. 1:22:“Seeing you have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.” We
might wonder why the exhortation to love one another is given to saints who are
already loving one another. The answer is that the unfeigned love which they
already displayed was philia-love, but they were exhorted to manifest agape-love
one to another. Because of their obedience to the truth, these saints had
common interests, attitudes, likes, and dislikes, and thus enjoyed fellowship
with one another. Hence, there was no deficiency of philia-love among
them. But the apostle well knew that that kind of love does not manifest itself
in self-denial for the benefit of the one loved, and that it tends to “wear
thin” with stress and strain. Thus, the agape-love is exhorted upon the
saints. This is the love that is long-suffering, kind, not easily provoked, not
puffed up, never failing (see 1 Cor. 13). It is also the love that is
self-sacrificing for the blessing of another. Suppose I find my brother taken
in a fault (Gal. 6:1). I may play down or overlook the evil and may decline to
seek his deliverance from the matter in order to keep our friendship intact. On
the other hand, my philia-love may fail if I am being offended by my
brother. I may become offended because of my brother’s failure, or it may be
because of my brother’s faithfulness in speaking to me of some inconsistency in
my own walk. If I manifest agape-love, I will seek the restoration of my
brother, even if it may jeopardize our friendship. And with agape-love I
will bear with those things in my brother that irritate my old nature.

    No doubt it is due to the
lack of agape-love on the part of marriage partners that there is such a
high rate of divorce in the world. The Christian, unlike the rest of the world,
has this love shed abroad in his heart (Rom. 5:5), and thus should manifest it
more in his marriage relationship. Husbands are exhorted in Eph. 5:25 to love
their wives, “even as Christ also loved (agapao) the Church and gave
Himself for it.” What an example we have in Christ! Notice the “giving”
character of agape-love.

     It is instructive to
notice that while agapao is the only appropriate word when God’s love
for sinners is the subject, both agapao and phileo are used in
reference to the Father’s love for His saints:“He who has My commandments and
keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves (agapao) Me shall be
loved (agapao) of My Father” (John 14:21). “The Father Himself loves (phileo)
you because you have loved (phileo) Me” (John 16:27). How blessed it is
to realize that our Father loves us not only with a “giving” love but also with
a love produced by communion with us and the deriving of pleasure in us. It is
because we love Christ that we are loved by the Father. We have interests in
common with the Father, namely, our love for Christ and our thoughts concerning
our Saviour, and thus our Father has affection for us. May it be the desire of
each of us to manifest both kinds of love, the agape love of esteem and
self-denial and the philia love of appreciation and friendship, toward
both our Lord and our brethren.

If we look at
that long hero-roll in Hebrews 11, is it not striking that it is for triumph
over earthly difficulties that their names are emblazoned thereon? No doubt
there is in this a lesson for us that is enforced by the principle of our
Lord’s utterance:“If I have told you of earthly things and you believe not,
how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” Are we not apt often
to be more sure of the heavenly than the earthly? Are we not more afraid about
things down here than of righteousness and eternal judgment? Why is this? Is
Christ less reliable in His promises as to earth than He is as to those
concerning heaven? Can we be certain as to the future if the present is clouded
with doubt?

The story of
Zacharias in the temple gives us a remarkable instance of the inconsistency of
faith. He is in the presence of God. He is offering incense, without which none
could enter the presence of God and live. Without doubt he is firmly convinced
that it is Jehovah with whom he has to do. Yet, when suddenly on the right hand
of the altar there appears an angelic messenger from God, he is afraid. He does
not tremble in the presence of God, but he trembles in the presence of His
messenger! There are two things that we may notice about Zacharias. First, it says
he was doing what was the custom for priests to do. Very possibly when
he had first offered that incense to the holy God, he had done it in fear and
trembling; but as day after day passed he had grown familiar with the truth
that God would have him carry out, and his fear had taken wings and fled. But
he was not accustomed to seeing an angel, so he trembled.

But he saw
an angel also; God he did not see. Oh how the faint vision of our fleshly eyes
will at times fill us to the blotting out for a time of all the eternal truths
that are summed up in Him who is the living “Truth”!

There are two
things that tend to lead to God’s people being sure as to eternity, but
doubting as to time, and they are just those two things with which we have
become familiar by hearing. First of all we have become well grounded in the
eternal security of the believer. We have grown familiar with the thought that
“Death and judgment are behind us, grace and glory are before.” We have
reasoned much about God’s Word being pledged that heaven is inviting us to
enter into its “love and light and song” through the merits of Jesus’ blood,
but we have not exercised ourselves in the same way about the present. We have
not considered that God’s Word is just as surely pledged as to our security
amid earthly troubles as it is as to safety from the storm of judgment, and
consequently we doubt. How inconsistent it would be if we should be valiant
before the consequences of our sin and all the marshaled hosts of hell while at
the same time cringing before the circumstances of this present life!

The next moment
after his fear we find that Zacharias has so forgotten it that he asks the
angel how he shall know that his promise is true. Again we have a marvelous
inconsistency, but what is the reason? What has made him forget his fear of
God’s messenger and question his word? Why he looks at circumstances. He says,
“I am an old man,” and consequently it seems impossible that a child should be
born. We remember here also that thus, too, had Abraham, the pattern man of
faith, been overcome. How solemn and sad that God has to bring in other
circumstances to convince Zacharias, and so for his lack of faith he is struck
dumb!

O my reader,
has not this dumbness fallen often also upon you and me because of our unbelief.
Have not our mouths been closed and our voice of testimony hushed because we
could not trust God as to the things of daily life?

There are many
degrees of faith. What is your degree? Is it such as those had to whom the Lord
could not commit Himself because it was only intellectual? Or is it like
Peter’s who truly had faith enough to walk for a way on the waters, but whose
faith in the power of the waves presently grew greater than his trust in
Christ, and he began to sink? Do a thousand dollars in your pockets give you
more rest of mind than a check on your heavenly Father’s bank for full supply
of all your need, yes, of everything that is good for you (Rom. 8:28)?
Does the assurance, “My God shall supply all your need,” leave you still
in doubt whether it was ever intended that you should trust Him for tomorrow’s
supply of bread? Do you take anxious thought for the morrow when your Lord has
enjoined upon you not to do so, solemnly asserting that your Father in heaven
knows all about it and will care for it? If it be so, is it not better also for
you to trust that a thousand charitable deeds will do more to save you from
hell than all the pledged Word of God? O dear reader, let us have more faith in
Christ than we do in circumstances!

Let me close
this paper with a beautiful example of how to argue from circumstances and
triumph over them. There was a violent earthquake once that greatly alarmed the
inhabitants of a certain village. They rushed out of their houses, their faces
full of consternation, fearing sudden destruction. There was one old woman,
however, whose face was a marked contrast to those of the rest. It seemed to
beam with joy. One of the villagers was so struck with it that he could not
help asking her:“Mother, how is it you look so happy; aren’t you afraid?” “Oh
no indeed,” came the bright answer. “I rejoice that I have a God who can shake
the earth!” She saw the God who was in it all and well she might rejoice. Oh,
shall we not cry much to God to give us more a simple, child-like trust. It is
a prize well worth striving for and will richly reward its diligent seeker.

(From Help
and Food, Vol. 20.)

The obedience
of Christ was marked by the unvarying character of perfect uniformity with the
Father’s will; the manner of His compliance with that will was always
unhesitating and unquestioning. Thus His obedience was of the very highest
order. There is an obedience among men that is the result of persuasion or even
fear, as when an adverse will is overcome by tender entreaties or powerful
reasons or a superior will. But the Lord’s obedience was not of any such
nature. It was His very meat to do the will of Him who sent Him (John 4:34). “I
delight to do Thy will, O My God” (Psa. 40:8; Heb. 10:9). His own will never
asserted or exercised itself but in one direction alone, and that in faultless
unison with the Father’s. In connection with this thought, it will be observed
that the Spirit of God, in witnessing of the obedience of Christ, uses a term
highly expressive of its character. The Greek word employed is always hupakoe
(literally, “to hear under”), or its cognate forms, indicating how completely
He was governed by what He heard from God. So the prophet had testified
beforehand, “He wakens morning by morning, He wakens my ear to hear as the
learned” (Isa. 50:4). This position of continual dependence the Lord never
left. “I can of My own self do nothing:as I hear I judge” (John 5:30). “The
Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do” (John 5:19). In
contrast to the men around Him, self as a ruling motive was obliterated and the
spring of His actions lay without Himself in the Divine Will. “If any man wills
to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether
I speak from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory” (John
7:17,18).

Never had there
been or could have been such obedience on earth, nor even in heaven. For
although the will of God was and is perfectly done above, the angels only
fulfill the purpose of their creation in “hearkening unto the voice of His
word” (Psa. 103:20). But this obedient Man, scorned for that very reason by all
the disobedient, was the beloved Son of God in whom He was well pleased. It was
the transcendent dignity of His Person that elevated the obedience beyond
compare, to say nothing of the adverse and afflicting circumstances in which it
was rendered up to death, and what a death! As the eternal Son, He was the
ruler over all. From the lowest creature on earth to the archangel on high
nothing stirred but at His bidding. Yet “He humbled Himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). What a marvel
was this that the divine Son should become a bondman and learn
(subjection being foreign to the Lord of all) “obedience by the things that He
suffered” (Heb. 5:8). The lesson was learned perfectly. From first to last not
a single exhortation was needed; without exception, He invariably did those
things that pleased His Father.

This obedience
was unparalleled, and gave infinite satisfaction to God. By so much as He was
displeased by the disobedience of Adam, by that much, and far more, was He
pleased by the obedience of the Second Man. His obedience was not primarily on
man’s account, nor in any strict sense vicarious; but therein God found a
perfect answer upon earth to the divine mind in heaven. Christ alone, as being
ever the dependent and subservient One up to the death of the cross, was worthy
to be Head of the new creation. In the very particular wherein Adam failed,
Christ perfectly glorified His Father and His God upon the earth. Therefore all
who are Christ’s are bound to exhibit the same moral attitude toward Him who
has called them. For as surely as we are elect, sanctified, and sprinkled, so
surely are we called unto the obedience of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:2). This not
only refers to outward action but we are to bring into captivity every thought
even to “the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). The significance of this
phrase is not so much that we are to obey Christ as our Master—which, of
course, is in itself true—but rather that the peculiar kind of obedience that
characterized Christ should characterize us. There had been obedience of old.
“By faith Abraham … obeyed” both in leaving his father’s country and in
offering his son (Heb. 11:8,17; Gen. 22:18). Again, the allusion seems to be to
Israel’s obedience of the law under the sanction of death set forth in the
victim’s blood sprinkled on all concerned. But the obedience of the Son
transcended all and afforded an example beyond all. He lived upon every word
proceeding out of the mouth of God. His life, as a Man, was the prompt and
joyful response below to the divine will above. He obeyed as a Son, while we
also are privileged to obey as children. This is in entire contrast with legal
obedience in view of a threat or a reward. No less than this is what God looks
for in His saints.

When the Spirit
portrays in detail the incomparable stoop of grace, He precedes it by the
exhortation, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil.
2:5). Conformity to Christ commences in the heart and mind. The mind of the
saint, like that of his Exemplar, should ever be open for directions from
above. Obedience is implicit subjection to that which is heard. This principle
marks even the initial stage of the believer’s life. The obedience of faith was
the aim of Paul’s preaching (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). No saint, however advanced, gets
beyond dependence on the Word of God. The most obedient child is the one whose
words and ways are most influenced by the Scriptures. Our obedience is not the
dull, wearisome, legal-minded, external conformity to His Word, because such
and such is known to be His will, and therefore must be obeyed; but
rather it is a running in the way of His commandments, a saintly alacrity in
divine things, a holy anxiety to know His will and to do it. Such a cheerful
obedience to His revelation will be a savor of Christ in His people, well
pleasing before Him. And is not this worth seeking? Thank God, He has made us
“partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4) and given us of His Spirit in
order that the task may not be in vain.

(From The
Bible Treasury, Vol. 19.)

                             *
* *

FRAGMENT  The
will of God was the only law of Christ’s life. He was never governed by human
considerations or affections. Are we set upon this—that the will of God should
be our only law?

“For the LORD
God is a sun and shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will
He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man
who trusts in Thee” (Psa. 84:11,12).

“And we know
that ALL THINGS work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

All Scripture
from beginning to end is a revelation of God. In these two quotations we have a
word from the Old and one from the New Testament. They reveal what God is to
His people. The revelations were suited to the different times in which they
were written, and we may note as one of the wonders of the Book that while
Romans could not have been written before the cross, yet the value of the
Psalms and the whole Old Testament has not been diminished by Christ’s coming,
but increased immensely. Both reveal God’s relationship to those who were and
to those who are His people.

How much is
expressed in the words “sun” and “shield.” Men are learning more and more of the
blessings that the sun brings to mankind and to the earth. Placed at such a
distance away, yet it is the perpetual source of countless blessings to the
earth and all upon it. Its ministry is unceasing. It is the servant of its
Creator. It is a picture of His power, His goodness, His wrath. Around us we
see the blessings brought by the sun. In the torrid zone with its vast deserts
is to be seen the power of the sun to blight and destroy.

Once there were
no deserts, no icebergs, no barren lands. The climate of the earth was mild to
the poles. The science of the day with its unbelief in God and Scripture has
little or nothing to say of this time in the history of the earth because
evolution has no explanation to offer for it, or for why, when, or how there came
about such a mighty change in climate on the earth. Of all the writings known
to man, only the Book of Genesis gives an account of the change and its causes.
God the Creator brought about the change on account of man’s sin.

But God is also
a shield. While the sun is a source of blessing, the shield guards from evil.
And probably no words in Scripture make this power of God so vivid as the
quotation from Rom. 8:28. From some permitted evil source there comes that
which, were it not for God’s constant care, would harm. He simply makes it work
for good. We have the greatest possible example of this in the cross. All
sources of evil unite there to accomplish the greatest crime ever known; and
God glorifies Himself in making the cross the greatest blessing ever known. The
infinite Power that made the cross an infinite blessing can surely make all
other attempts of evil turn to blessing. “There shall no evil befall thee”
(Psa. 91:10) reveals what a wonderful shield our God is.

We have an
example of it in 2 Corinthians 12. Satan was permitted to send a special
messenger to bear evil to Paul, “a thorn in the flesh.” Here the man who wrote,
“We know that all things work together for good those who love God,” got a
perfect example of that great truth. The Lord God is a shield. Anything
that would make a man so used to suffering as Paul was pray three times that it
might depart from him must have been some terrible affliction. But God did not
remove it. He had a far better way. He made the evil into a very great blessing.
Read over again the Scriptures at the head of this article. Place beside them,
“There shall no evil befall thee.”

Do you not get
a wonderful view of the power of God to make all things work together for good?
Evil cannot befall those who are Christ’s because He turns it into blessing!
Could anything be more wonderful? It starts out an evil, but before it gets to
God’s people it is turned into a blessing. Well, now, if in the battle every
stroke of the enemy, instead of harming, only adds to your strength because of
that power in God to thus change it, why should any of the Lord’s people fear?
God has put into your hands the “shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Eph. 6:16).

Do you not see
why Psalm 84 ends with “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in
Thee”? Try as he might, Satan could not harm Paul. God made Paul evil-proof.
There simply could not any evil befall him, for when it reached him it was
turned to blessing. “He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake:for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor.
12:8-10).

Now, if all
things do really work together for good to those who love God, is not the
knowledge of that power of God the very best thing for God’s people in days
like the present? Everywhere there is a pressure that has never been felt
before. For every one who loves God this pressure means not evil but good.
You can leave every other question out but one:Do you love your Saviour? Have
you His Holy Spirit? “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit who is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5). If anyone has received the Holy Spirit
by faith in Christ, then we may be sure all that comes is being made to work
for good to us. It means turning away from self and sin and the world, and
receiving Christ as our only Saviour. That is all and that is enough. It is a
part of the rest He gives.

(From Help
and Food, Vol. 50.)

In Genesis 1 we
read about God creating the universe, the earth, and all the inhabitants of
earth. In chapter 2, where we begin reading of God’s close relationship and
communication with man, He is revealed not just as “God” but as “LORD God” or
“Jehovah God.” Who is Jehovah? What is the meaning of His Name?

                      The Word
“Jehovah”

In the Hebrew
Old Testament, the word “Jehovah” is given by four letters, sometimes
represented by JHVH, but more accurately YHWH. There are a great many
four-letter words in the Hebrew language. But these four letters are so
special, referring as they do to such a special Person, that they are referred
to in theological circles as “the Tetragrammaton” (meaning “the four letters”).
This word can be found in many English dictionaries. The original Hebrew text
had only consonants; the vowel points were added later by Biblical Hebrew
scholars. Some believe that, with the vowels added, the word should be
“Yahweh,” and others “Yehowah” or “Jehovah.” It does not matter so much how the
word is pronounced; it is the consonants that determine its meaning.

                   The Meaning
of “Jehovah”

According to
Morrish’s New and Concise Bible Dictionary, “Jehovah” is a contraction
of “was, is, and is to come.” It is closely related to God’s revelation of
Himself to Moses:“I AM THAT I AM” (Exod. 3:14). He is the eternal,
self-existent One. The French Bible captures this thought nicely by rendering
the Hebrew name Jehovah as l’Eternel, the eternal One.

                 Why Both
“God” and “Jehovah”?

God (or Elohim
in Hebrew) is a more general word for the Supreme Being. The pagan nations
generally considered themselves to have many elohim or gods. “Jehovah”
was the special name by which God revealed Himself to His covenant people, the
nation of Israel. It was the name by which the one true God distinguished
Himself from the imagined gods (such as Baal, Milcom, and Dagon) of the
heathen.

Here is the
interaction between God and Moses that shows the meaning and significance of
the name “Jehovah”:“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent
me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto
them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:and He said, Thus shall you say
unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you. And God said moreover
unto Moses, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God [or
Jehovah God] of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob, has sent me unto you:this is My name for ever, and this is my
memorial unto all generations” (Exod. 3:13-15).

                    Jehovah
and the Trinity

Several
pamphlets have been published with the purpose of identifying Jehovah of the
Old Testament with Jesus of the New Testament. These have had the intended
purpose of answering the Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim that Jesus was only the
highest created being, not the co-equal, co-eternal Son of God. These pamphlets
have served their purpose well; however, they are so persuasive that they have
misled many evangelical Christians into believing that every time the Old
Testament refers to Jehovah (or “the LORD” as it usually reads in the King
James and other versions), it is referring specifically to God the Son. This is
not the case. We shall now present some passages in which Jehovah refers to God
the Father or to God the Holy Spirit, as well as some that can be identified
with the coming Messiah. No doubt many of the Old Testament references to
Jehovah apply to the entire Trinity. These would include particularly the ones
where Jehovah addresses one of His prophets or the nation of Israel (for
example, Isa. 1:2; Jer. 1:2; Ezek. 1:3; Hos. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Amos 1:3; Obad 1;
Jon. 1:1; Mic. 1:1; Nah. 3:5; Hab. 2:2; Zeph. 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Zech. 1:1; Mal.
1:1; and hundreds more).

In the verses
to follow, “Jehovah” is substituted for “the LORD” as found in the King James
Version.

                   Jehovah Is God the Father

Jehovah
raises up a Prophet and a Branch. “Jehovah said unto me … I will raise
them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you, and will put My
words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him”
(Deut. 18:18). “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,
said, This is of a truth that Prophet who should come into the world” (John
6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22).

“Behold, the
days come, says Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a
King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely:and
this is His Name whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness [or
Jehovah Tsidkenu]” (Jer. 23:5,6).  Note that this passage begins with Jehovah
as God the Father and ends with Jehovah as the future Messiah.

Jehovah
speaks to the Messiah. “Jehovah has said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day
have I begotten Thee” (Psa. 2:7).

“Unto which of
the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee?
And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?” (Heb. 1:5).

“Jehovah said
unto my Lord [Adonai in Hebrew], Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make
Thine enemies Thy footstool” (Psa. 110:1).

“While the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What do you think
of Christ? Whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He said unto
them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If
David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?” (Matt. 22:41-45; also Mark
12:35-37; Luke 20:41,42).

“For David is
not ascended into the heavens; but he said himself, The Lord said unto My Lord,
Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom
you have crucified both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:34-36).

The
suffering Christ trusts on Jehovah. “All those who see Me laugh Me to
scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on
Jehovah that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in
Him” (Psa. 22:7,8).

“Likewise also
the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved
others; Himself He cannot save…. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now,
if He will have Him:for He said, I am the Son of God” (Matt. 27:41-43).

The
suffering Christ prays to Jehovah. “Withhold not Thou Thy tender mercies
from Me, O Jehovah; let Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth continually preserve
me…. Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver Me; O Jehovah, make haste to help Me”
(Psa. 40:11,13).

“I waited
patiently for Jehovah; and He inclined unto Me, and heard My cry” (Psa. 40:1).

“But as for Me,
My prayer is unto Thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time; O God, in the
multitude of Thy mercy hear Me, in the truth of Thy salvation…. Hear Me, O
Jehovah; for Thy loving-kindness is good” (Psa. 69:13,16).

Jehovah judges
the Messiah for sin. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to His own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us
all…. It pleased Jehovah to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when Thou
shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall
prolong His days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand” (Isa.
53:6,10).

                    Jehovah is
God the Son

The following
comparison of Old and New Testament passages links Jehovah with God the Son or
links Old Testament prophecies concerning Jehovah with the Lord Jesus Christ of
the New Testament:

Jehovah is
Creator. “Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens” (Gen. 2:4). “Jehovah
made the heavens” (1 Chron. 16:26).

“In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. All
things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made”
(John 1:1,3).

“The Father …
has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; for by Him were all things
created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:all things
were created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1:12-16).

Jehovah
Makes Appearances as an Angel Prior to the Incarnation. “And the Angel of
Jehovah appeared to the woman…. And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, How is
it that you ask after My name, seeing it is Wonderful…. And Manoah said to
his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God” (Judg. 13:3,18,22 JND).
Note that His name, “Wonderful,” is the same as that attributed to the Messiah
in Isa. 9:6.

Another
preincarnation appearance of Jehovah, this time to Abraham, is described in
Genesis 18. It is well to distinguish these Old Testament appearances of
Jehovah to man from the Incarnation in which the eternal Son of God was
manifested in this world as God and Man in one Person (John 1:14). (Lord,
willing, this subject will be discussed in more detail in a future issue of Words
of Truth.)

The way in
the wilderness is prepared for Jehovah. “The voice of Him who cries in the
wilderness, prepare the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway
for our God” (Isa. 40:3).

“The beginning
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God:as it is written in the
prophets, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy
way before Thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of
the Lord, make His paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness and
preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:1-4).

Jehovah is
Immanuel, God with us. “Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is
our refuge” (Psa. 46:11).

“Therefore the
Lord Himself shall give you a sign:behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14).

“And you shall
call His name Jesus…. And they shall call His name Immanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:21-23).

Jehovah
accepts worship. “For you shall worship no other god:for Jehovah is … a
jealous God” (Exod. 34:14).

“They saw the
young child … and fell down and worshiped Him” (Matt. 2:11).

“Then those who
were in the ship came and worshiped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of
God” (Matt. 14:33; also Matt. 8:2; 9:18; 15:25).

“And as they
went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they
came and held Him by the feet, and worshiped Him” (Matt. 28:9,,17).

“Let all the
angels of God worship Him” (Heb. 1:6).

“Blessing and
honor and glory and power be unto Him who sits upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever. And the four [living creatures] said, Amen. And the
four and twenty elders fell down and worshiped Him” (Rev. 5:13,14).

Peter refused
worship (Acts 10:25,26). Barnabas and Paul refused worship (Acts 14:8-17). The
revelatory angel refused worship (Rev. 19:10; 22:8,9). But our Lord Jesus
Christ never refused worship. On the contrary, He said, “All men should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23).

Jehovah is
Saviour. “I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside Me there is no Saviour” (Isa.
43:11).

“Yet I am
Jehovah your God from the land of Egypt, and you shall know no god but Me:for
there is no Saviour besides Me” (Hos. 13:4).

For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke
2:11).

“And we have
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the
world” (1 John 4:14).

“Be it known
unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him
does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at
nought of your builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is
there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

Jehovah is
Redeemer. “Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel….”
(Isa. 43:14).

“O Jehovah, my
Rock and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19:14).

“Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13).

“Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself …
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:5-7).

“But Christ
being come … by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:11,12).

Jehovah is
Shepherd. “Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want” (Psa. 23:1).

“Hear the Word
of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He who
scatters Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock”
(Jer. 31:10).

“I am the good
Shepherd:the good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

“Now the God of
peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in
every good work to do His will” (Heb. 13:20,21).

“When the chief
Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away”
(1 Pet. 5:4).

Jehovah is
the First and the Last. “Thus says Jehovah the King of Israel, and His
Redeemer Jehovah of hosts:I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me
there is no God” (Isa. 44:6).

“And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man…. And when I saw
Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying
unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am He who lives, and was
dead, and behold I am alive forever more” (Rev. 1:13,17,18).

“Behold, I come
quickly…. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last” (Rev. 22:12,13).

Jehovah is a
Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense. “Sanctify Jehovah of hosts
Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be
for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both
the houses of Israel” (Isa. 8:13,14).

“But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks
foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:23).

“If so be you
have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious…. Unto you therefore
who believe He is precious; but unto those who be disobedient, the stone which
the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone
of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Pet. 2:3-8).

Jehovah is
Judge. “Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce
anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out
of it” (Isa. 13:9; also Psa. 50:1-6).

“The Father
judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son … and has given
Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John
5:22,27; also 2 Thess. 1:7,8; Rev. 19:11,13,16).

The day and
Name of Jehovah. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah come. And it shall come
to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of Jehovah shall be delivered”
(Joel 2:31,32).

“But this is
that which was spoken by the prophet Joel…. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the
Lord come; and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of
the Lord shall be saved. You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth
… delivered … crucified and slain … raised up…. God has made that same
Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:16,20-24,36).

Jehovah is
King for ever. “Jehovah is King for ever and ever” (Psa. 10:16).

“Thou … shalt
call His Name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David;
and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there
shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

                 Jehovah
Encompasses All Three

                    Persons of
the Trinity

Some have
suggested that the Old Testament expression, “the Spirit of Jehovah” identifies
Jehovah with the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, Jehovah in these passages may
refer to God the Father or the entire Trinity. Here are some examples:

“And Jehovah
said, My Spirit shall not always plead with men” (Gen. 6:3).

“And the Spirit
of Jehovah came upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam. 16:13; also Judg.
3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Chron. 20:14; etc.). “How is it that
you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” (Acts 5:9).

“And the Spirit
of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of
Jehovah” (Isa. 11:2). “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out
of the water:and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him” (Matt. 3:16).

“Who has
directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being His counselor has taught Him? (Isa. 40:13).

Exod. 34:34
along with 2 Cor. 3:16-18 might also link Jehovah with the Holy Spirit.

The passages
quoted in this article should suffice to show that Jehovah of the Old Testament
is sometimes identified with God the Father, sometimes with God the Son as He
occasionally appeared to men and women on earth, sometimes with God the Son in
prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament, sometimes with the
Holy Spirit, and most often with the entire Godhead.

It should pose
no theological problem to us to discover that Jehovah is identified with God
the Father in some Old Testament passages, with God the Son in others, and with
God the Holy Spirit in still others. Jehovah, as mentioned above, is the
special name God took in His covenant relationship with the nation of Israel.
God did not clearly reveal Himself to the nation of Israel as a Trinity, though
there certainly are hints of the Trinity in the Old Testament (Gen. 1:1,2,26;
3:22; 11:7; 2 Sam. 23:2,3; Prov. 30:4; Isa. 6:3,8; 48:16; 63:7-10). Thus, there
is no necessity to identify Jehovah always with God the Father, or always with
God the Son. The context of each passage will help us to decide which Person
Jehovah is referring to, if indeed it is necessary for us to know.

(This article
includes Scripture references suggested by (1) Stan Thompson in “Who Is
Jehovah” in September-October 1989 Words of Truth, (2) C.H. Brown in Jesus
Is Jehovah, published by Bible Truth Publishers, Addison, Illinois, (3)
Edwin Read, and (4) Drew Johnson.)

What is the
Trinity? It is a term that describes the one God who exists in three Persons—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. In one sense God is one, and in another sense God is
three. The word “Triunity,” or its adjective, “triune”—meaning three in one and
one in three—captures the thought more exactly.

Just how God
can be three and one at the same time is a mystery that no biblical scholar can
honestly claim to understand. So if you have difficulty understanding the
Trinity, don’t panic! You might ask why the Christians came up with a doctrine
that they couldn’t even understand, and tried to describe God using the words
"Trinity" and “triune” that are nowhere found in Scripture. It is
because these words and concepts seem to be the best way of fitting together
the different Scriptures that describe God, such as those that speak of (1) God
being one God,(2) the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all being God, and
(3) God the Son praying to God the Father and sending God the Holy Spirit.

While we will
have difficulty understanding the exact relationships of the three Persons of
the Trinity, let us try to learn what the Bible teaches us about the one God
who exists in three Persons. Perhaps it would be helpful to contrast the
Trinity with an example from our own human experience. Have you ever known a
set of identical twins, or better yet, identical triplets? These sets of
individuals are genetically identical. They started out as a single fertilized
egg but broke into two or three parts early in the embryo stage and developed
into separate individuals. Such twins or triplets not only look alike,
but they often think and act alike.

Is the Trinity
like identical triplets? No, not really; the Persons of the Trinity are far more
alike in every way than even identical triplets. Triplets are separate,
distinct individuals. While they may think and act in similar ways, yet their
thinking and acting is distinct and separate from one another. For example, one
may be writing a letter, another reaching for a snack, and the third one
reading a book—all totally unaware of what the others are thinking, feeling,
and doing. The three Persons of God, on the other hand, are so united that each
one knows what the other two are thinking, planning, speaking, and doing at
every moment throughout time and eternity; more than that, they are all in
perfect agreement with one another’s thoughts, plans, and deeds. Unlike some
identical twins and triplets, there is never, never any argument or
conflict or jealousy among the three Persons of God.

But enough for
introductions and contrasts. Let us see what the Bible itself says about the
Holy Trinity.

                      The
Oneness of God

“Hear, O
Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD” (Deut. 6:4). “I am God, and there is none
else” (Isa. 46:9). “There is but one God” (1 Cor. 8:4-6; also Eph. 4:4-6).

Note that in
Deut. 6:4, the Hebrew word for “one” can have the thought of a composite unity,
such as many grapes making up “one cluster” (Num. 13:23), or a man and a woman
marrying and becoming “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24), or three divine Persons making
up “one God.”

                    The
“Threeness” of God

1. The Father
is God. “There is … one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:4-6; also 1 Pet.
1:2).

2. Jesus
Christ is God. “Thomas … said unto [Christ], My Lord and my God” (John
20:28; also 5:23). “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30-38). “The Word was
God” (John 1:1).

3. The Holy
Spirit is God. “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy
Spirit?… You have not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:3,4). “God has
revealed them unto us by His Spirit:for the Spirit searches all things, yes,
the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).

               The Trinity in
the Old Testament

There is no
direct revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament, but this is implied and
hinted at in many Old Testament scriptures.

“In the
beginning God [Elohim, a plural noun] created [a singular verb] the
heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). “Let us make man in our image”
(Gen. 1:26; 3:22). “I am the first, I also am the last…. Now the Lord God,
and His Spirit, has sent Me” (Isa. 48:16).

               The Trinity in
the New Testament

“Teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name [singular] of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19). “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all” (2 Cor.
13:14).

                    Trinity
Not Three Gods

Adherents of
the Jewish and Muslim religions as well as those of certain sects and cults
reject the doctrine of the Trinity, claiming that the Christians have three
Gods while they have only one. Christians, on the other hand, insist that we
worship and serve only one God, even though God is revealed in three Persons.
We shall now consider ways in which the concept of the triune (three in one and
one in three) God is different and distinct from the concept of three Gods.

                      Unity of
Abilities

Do you remember
learning about Greek and Roman mythology in school? There were the goddess of
fertility, the sun god, the rain god, the sea god, the goddess of wisdom, the
god of war, and on and on. Each individual god or goddess had a special ability
that distinguished him or her from all the others. Not so with the Trinity.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have the same abilities and skills, all know
the same thing, and all are equally able to help those who call upon God.

                   Unity of
Thought and Will

If you don’t
remember anything else about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, you will
remember that they were constantly at odds with one another—arguing,
disagreeing, and jealous of one another, and the like. Not so with the triune
God:The Son said to the Father, “I delight to do Thy will” and “Not My will,
but Thine be done” (Psa. 40:8; Luke 22:42). And here is how the Lord Jesus
described the work of the Holy Spirit:“He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine and shall show it unto you” (John 16:14).

                      Unity of
Attributes

To give just a
few examples, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternal (Psa. 90:2; John
1:2; Mic. 5:2; Heb. 9:14). They are omnipotent or all-powerful (Eph.
1:19; 3:16; 2 Cor. 12:9). They are omniscient or all-knowing (Psa. 139:4;
Luke 11:16,17; John 21:17; 1 Cor. 2:10,11). They are omnipresent or
present everywhere (Jer. 23:23,24; Matt. 18:20; Psa. 139:7). They are holy
(Psa. 22:3; Luke 1:15,35,41,49,67).

                        Unity
of Action

Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit all were active in the creation of the universe (Psa. 102:25;
John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13). All were involved in the
Incarnation, that is, God the Son becoming a Man (Luke 1:26-35), and in
anointing the Lord for His earthly ministry (Matt. 3:16,17). All three were involved
in the death of Christ and His work of redemption (Rom. 8:32; 1 John 4:10,14;
John 10:18; 1 Pet. 2:24; Heb. 9:14), as well as in His resurrection (Acts 2:24;
John 10:18; 1 Pet. 3:18).

                Some False
Teachings Concerning

                          the
Trinity

1. Jews,
Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other groups acknowledge that there
is one God, but do not accept that the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal
with God the Father. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is the
same as Michael the archangel, God’s highest created being. (See John 1:1;
5:23; 10:28-38; and 20:28 to answer this error.)

2. A number of
cults teach that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal force, not a divine
Person with intellect, emotion, and will. (See John 14:26; 16:8; Rom. 8:11; and
Eph. 4:30 to answer this error.)

3. Other groups
teach a sort of progressive Trinity. They say that God initially revealed
Himself as Father, then as Son in the God-Man Jesus Christ, and presently as
Holy Spirit, but never as three Persons all at the same time. (See John 14:26;
17:1-26; 1 John 4:10 to answer this error.)

                    Why Is
This Important?

Some of you may
be thinking at this point, “So what? I don’t have any problem with the doctrine
of the Trinity, but at the same time I don’t understand what’s the big deal.
Why is it important to me?”

Good question.
There are a number of reasons why it is important to us:

1. It is
important to have an accurate understanding of God if we are to worship Him
properly (John 4:24).

2. Our
salvation depends on the Trinity. If God had merely created an angel or
a man to serve as the suffering sacrifice for mankind’s sin, would this not
have been the most unjust act in the history of the universe? And if it was a
sinless creature who died for our sins, rather than the holy, spotless
Son of God, how could we be sure that He would remain without sin throughout
eternity? (If our Redeemer were just an angel, and were to fall into sin like
another very high angel once did—Isa. 14:12-15—wouldn’t that dash to pieces our
salvation?) If He were only a finite creature, how could we be sure that He was
capable of making atonement for all of our sins? If there was no God in
heaven when Jesus Christ was suffering on the cross, whose wrath was poured out
upon Him (Psa. 88:6,7), and who forsook Him (Matt. 27:46)?

3. The fact
that God is Father, Son, and Spirit emphasizes the love and fellowship that
exists within His own being (John 1:18; 15:9). And God invites all of us to
enjoy His love and fellowship (1 John 1:3; Jude 21).

4. Some people
have the idea that God created man because He was lonely. But given the eternal
fellowship enjoyed mutually by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we can be sure
that God was never lonely. Therefore, God did not need  to create. This
fact makes it all the more wonderful that God, in fact, did create man
in His own image, and did make it possible for finite, sinful man to be
brought into a close relationship with the infinite, personal, holy God by His
grace. So the truth of the Trinity causes us to praise Him all the more!

5. Have you
ever heard one justify his sinful behavior by saying, “I’m only human”? The
born-again child of God, however, is not “only human.” We have the Holy Spirit
indwelling us, and so closely is the Spirit linked with the Father and the Son
that we are told in Scripture that the Father and the Son are in us as well (1
Cor. 6:19; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:27).

So with the
love, grace, wisdom, and power provided to us by the triune God indwelling us,
we have all the ability we could possibly need to overcome the trinity of
evil—the flesh, the world, and Satan—that daily opposes us. Praise His Name!

                The
Christian’s Responsibility

                        to the
Trinity

To the
Father. “I seek … the will of the Father who has sent Me” (John 5:30).
“Prove what is that good, and ac­ceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2;
also Heb. 13:21).

To the Son.
“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor.
3:18).

To the Holy
Spirit. “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). “Grieve not the Holy
Spirit” (Eph. 4:30). “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).

May it become
the daily prayer of each one of us that we would learn to know and be faithful
to do the Father’s will, that we would be con­formed more to the image of
Christ so that His life might shine out in our lives, and that we would be
filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him liberty to have full con­trol of our
lives.

(From Growing,
Vol. 2.)

When my grandson was two years
old, often the first thing he would say when he came to our house was,
"Play cars." He could spend hours on end playing with cars. When he
was five, he said, "I don’t think I will ever get tired of playing cars,
do you?"

Do you still like to play with
match box cars or dolls? Would you like to retain the body of a 2- or
5-year-old? How about the mind and level of intelligence of one?

Probably most, if not all, of our
readers would not want to go back to the body and mind of a child. But how
about your level of spiritual growth? Are you happy with where you are right
now? Are you content with just being saved and no more, with preserving your
childlike faith, with remaining a spiritual baby the rest of your life?

Scripture nowhere entertains the
"normality" of a believer in Christ remaining a spiritual infant.
Thus, as we begin a new year, a new decade, a new century, even a new
millennium, what more appropriate time is there than this to ask ourselves
these three questions:(1) "How much have I grown and matured spiritually
since I first trusted Christ?" (2) "How much do I fall short of
"the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ?" (Eph. 4:13),
or "How much more do I have to grow to be "conformed to the image of
[God’s] Son" (Rom. 8:29)? and (3) "How can I narrow the gap between
where I am and where I ought to be?" In this article and the following
ones we shall seek to learn what Scripture teaches us about the spiritual
growth and maturity of the Christian.

              Three Levels of Christian Maturity

The apostle John writes to three
classes of Christians according to their level of spiritual maturity:little
children, young men, and fathers (1 John 2:13-27). Let us consider each of
these classes, both what they have and what they need.

Little children—what they have:
"You have known the Father" (2:13). The apostle Paul writes
similarly:"You have received the Spirit of adoption [or sonship], whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we
are the children of God" (Rom. 8:15,16).

Even new-born babes in Christ
quickly learn to know the blessed position they have as children of their
heavenly Father. Here are some of the ways God relates to us as Father:

1. He has affection for us, is our
Friend (John 16:27).

2. He instructs us by allowing us
to experience trials and testings and helping us to learn to respond properly
to these problems, that we might be partakers of His holiness" (Heb.
12:5-11).

3. He holds us in His hand, keeps
us safe and secure for all eternity (John 10:29).

4. He gladly hears and responds to
our prayers and petitions (Matt. 6:9; 7:11; John 15:16).

5. He is merciful and
compassionate (2 Cor. 1:3,4; Psa. 103:10-13).

6. He teaches us and reveals to us
His will for our lives (Matt. 12:50; 16:17).

Little children—what they need:
"Even now are there many antichrists…. He is antichrist who denies the
Father and the Son" (1 John 2:18,22). The babes in Christ, because they
are not yet grounded in the teachings of the Word of God, are particularly
vulnerable to false teaching.

Here are some of the false
teachings that abound today:

1. Jesus is a good man and a great
prophet, or the highest created angel who created everything else, but is not
God.

2. Jesus is God, but is not human.

3. The Holy Spirit is not a Person
but just an influence.

4. Satan is a myth.

5. There is no life after death.

6. The Universe and all that is in
it came into being by chance.

The little children need to be
established in the fundamental teachings of Scripture, especially concerning
the Person and work of Christ. Our passage tells us that the Holy
Spirit—"the anointing"—is equal to the task of "teach[ing] us of
all things" (2:27). The Spirit often leads an older Christian to take the
little child under his/her wing and encourage the learning of the Scriptures (1
Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15).

Young men—what they have:
"You are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome
the wicked one" (2:13,14). This, linked with what the little children
need, means that the young men have become sufficiently established in the
basic teachings of Scripture that they are not in danger of succumbing to the
false teachings that Satan, "the wicked one," would place before
them.

Young men—what they need:
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…. For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (2:15,16). Even
though this class of "young men" know the Scriptures well,
they are not fully walking according to them in faithfulness to their Lord and
Saviour who loved them and gave Himself for them (Gal. 2:20). Their focus is
not yet entirely on the Lord Jesus Christ. His power, His glory, His creation,
His incarnation, His humility, His love, His sufferings, His death, His
resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His intercession for us, His coming
again—these "things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27)— do not yet fill
and thrill the hearts of these redeemed ones.

Fathers—what they have:
"You have known Him who is from the beginning" (1 John 2:13). Who is
this? The apostle tells us at the opening of his epistle that this One is the
Lord Jesus Christ, "He who was from the beginning, whom we have heard,…
whom we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life"
(1:1-3).

The fathers have what the young
men yet lack—a whole-hearted attraction and commitment to their Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. They no longer struggle with "the lust of the
flesh." They are not seduced by the glitzy but empty attractions of the
world, the "lust of the eyes." They have found Christ to be far
better than all of these. The fathers also have become sufficiently
"conformed to the image of" God’s Son that they recognize and judge
the subtle "pride of life" that once impelled them to want to be in
charge and control, "to have the preeminence" (3 John 9), to be
recognized and thought well of by others (Matt. 6:5), to be promoted to a
higher position (Luke 14:7-11), to avenge offenses against themselves (Matt.
5:44; Rom. 12:19,20), or to despise reproof and correction (Prov. 10:17; 12:1;
15:10). The apostle Paul’s desire, "that I may know [Christ]" (Phil.
3:10), is surely the expression of a spiritual "father."

This is not to say the the
"fathers" have reached perfection (Phil. 3:12). No doubt the true
fathers are those who realize the most how far they are from achieving the perfection
of Christ and who earnestly desire to grow more and more.

Fathers—what they need:
"You have known Him who is from the beginning" (1 John 2:14). This is
exactly the same as the statement in the previous verse of what they fathers
already have. Therefore, all the fathers need is to persevere in what they
already have.

General comments. One might
expect there to be, more or less, a one-to-one correspondence between number of
years saved and degree of spiritual growth and maturity. However, large discrepancies
sometimes are seen. I have known persons who have shown more spiritual growth
after a year or two than that of most Christians after 10 or 20 years of being
saved. On the other hand, I have known persons apparently saved for 40 or 50
years who still appear to be "little children."

While the apostle John presents
three classes of spiritual maturity, I would suggest that there are not strict
lines separating these three classes. Just as physical growth follows a
continuum, so does spiritual growth. Likewise, just as one’s body weight may
rise and fall, depending on how much and what we eat, or being afflicted with
certain illnesses, so one who has become a "father" may regress back
to a "young man" if he takes his focus off of Christ.

                     "That I May Know Him"

We have already referred to the
apostle Paul’s desire to know Christ. What is involved in knowing Him? Just as
"all Scripture … is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction" (2 Tim. 3:16), so knowing Christ involves these same three elements.

1. Doctrine. Knowing Christ
first of all, necessarily involves learning about Him (1 John 1:1), His
Person and work, primarily as revealed in the Gospels.

2. Reproof. Knowing Christ
involves recognizing areas of our lives that are contrary to His commandments,
words, ways, and walk. "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also so
to walk even as He walked" (1 John 2:6).

3. Correction. Knowing
Christ involves bringing our lives, attitudes, responses, and ways into
conformance with His holy life. This does not mean simply that we make outward
changes in our behavior, such as attending all the meetings of the assembly,
preparing for and participating in the meetings, praying beautiful prayers, or
legalistically saying "I am going to stop doing this and start doing
that." It involves deep inward changes in our whole way of thinking. It
involves finding Christ more and more attractive, resulting in the things of
earth losing their attraction to us. It involves growing sensitivity to the mind
of Christ and increasing willingness and desire to make changes in our thinking
and activities as we become enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the Word and
as we get to know Christ better. This matter of maturing is not something we do
by ourselves, in our own strength. Rather, God gives us all the power and
encouragement we need for this growth through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us,
and it is the Holy Spirit who ministers Christ to our souls (John 16:13-15;
Eph. 5:18; Phil. 1:6).

4. Knowing Christ involves
experiencing the joy of communing with Him, walking with Him, pleasing Him,
trusting Him, responding in the way He would, learning and doing His will, and
serving Him. The more we are occupied with Christ, the greater our motivation
for wanting to know Him even better.

5. Knowing Christ involves longing
to know Him in ways we cannot know Him here below. "That I may know Him,
and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
made conformable unto His death" (Phil. 3:10). Note in this verse that the
ideal path to getting to know Christ the best of all involves suffering and
perhaps even death for His sake (see also Phil. 1:29; Col. 1:24).

                Other Scriptures That Link the

               Knowledge of Christ with Maturity

"But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

"Till we all come in the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).

"God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory; whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every
man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus"
(Col. 1:27,28).

"We know that, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

               Some Things We Learn About Christ

                    by Studying the Gospels

As noted above, our knowing Christ
involves bringing our lives, attitudes, responses, and ways into conformance
with His. Christ’s life as recorded in the Gospels serves as the perfect
example for the devoted Christian to follow (John 13:14,15; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Pet.
2:21,22; 1 John 2:6). Let us now outline some of the things we learn about
Christ in the Gospels.

His purity of heart and life.
He did not sin (John 8:46; 14:30; 19:4,6; 1 Pet. 2:22). He obeyed His parents
(Luke 2:51). He obeyed His heavenly Father (John 4:34; 6:38; 8:28,29). He is
pure and holy (Heb. 7:26; 1 John 3:3).

His attitudes toward others.
Toward His parents (Luke 8:19-21; John 19:26,27). Toward dinner hosts (Luke
7:44-46; 10:38-42). Toward children (Matt. 18:1-5; Mark 10:13-16). Toward social
outcasts (Matt. 9:9-13; John 4:9).

His attitudes in various
circumstances of life. He was self-sacrificing (Matt. 8:20; John 4:31-34).
He was meek (Matt. 11:29; Mark 15:3). He was humble (Matt. 11:29; John
13:14,15; Phil. 2:5-8). He was sensitive and compassionate (John 11:35). He had
peace and self-composure (Mark 4:37,38; John 18:3-6).

His actions. He listened
and asked questions (Luke 2:46). He did not yield to Satan’s temptations (Matt.
4:1-11). He dealt wisely with souls in need of salvation (John 4). He spent
much time in prayer (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12). He did not act
precipitously or rashly (John 11:1-6,17). He spoke encouraging words (Matt.
8:10; 15:28; John 1:47; 14:1-3,16-18,27).

His responses to those who
opposed and mistreated Him. He was patient (1 Pet. 2:20-23). He was calm
and gentle and held His peace (Matt. 26:50,63; 27:12-14). He forgave His
enemies (Luke 23:34). He withdrew or hid Himself from His enemies (Matt.
12:14,15; John 10:39,40). He reasoned with His opponents (Matt. 12:1-8,10,12;
15:1-6; 22:23-46).

His responses to man’s sin.
He rebuked those with wrong thoughts about Himself (Matt. 16:21-23; Luke
9:52-56). He patiently instructed self-centered ones (Luke 9:46-48; 22:24-27).
He showed anger toward hypocrites and those who dishonored His Father (Matt.
23:23,27,28; John 2:13-16).

His work. He was a tireless
preacher (Mark 1:21-35). He often spoke in parables (Matt. 13; 20:1-16; Luke
15). He was never satisfied with doing less than the best (Matt. 8:15,26; Mark
6:34-44; John 2:10). He ministered personally by touch to those whom He healed
(Mark 1:31; 7:33; 8:23; 9:27; Luke 5:13; 13:13). He performed many miracles in
private, without a stage (Mark 7:36; 8:26; Luke 5:14; 8:56).

It is an immensely profitable study
to go through the four Gospels and notice how the Lord Jesus lived His life and
responded in a whole variety of situations. What a challenge it is to each one
of us to seek to live our daily lives as Christ live His. Let us be learning
continually to ask ourselves, "What would Jesus have said or done in these
circumstances?" And let us daily ask the Lord to help us, by the power of
the Holy Spirit, to walk just as Christ walked.

                  Manifestations of Christian

                           Maturity

The following manifestations of Christian
maturity are based on verses that include the Greek word teleios,
meaning "perfect," "full-grown," or "mature":

 1. Having love, even for one’s
enemies (Matt. 5:44-48; Col. 3:14).

 2. Not offending in the words we
speak (Jas. 3:2).

 3. Patient in trials (Jas.
1:2-4).

 4. Bold, not fearful (1 John
4:17,18).

 5. Acknowledging one’s own
weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

 6. Having well-exercised
spiritual perception with discernment of good and evil (Heb. 5:14).

 7. Separated from unholy
alliances and cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Cor.
6:14-7:1).

 8. Able consistently to discern
God’s will (Col. 4:12).

 9. Like-minded with other mature
Christians (Phil. 3:15; contrast 1 Cor. 3:1-4).

10. Desiring even greater maturity
(Phil. 3:12,13).

                     Why Should I Bother?

"Why should I bother with
trying to grow spiritually? I am happy with the world; why should I change? I
am content to wait until I get to heaven to be conformed to Christ. I want to
enjoy earth now; I can enjoy heaven when I get there."

Have you, my reader, ever
entertained questions and thoughts like these? Do you realize how unworthy they
are of the One who loved you so much that He gave His life for you?  Let me
give a couple of parables to illustrate the implications of such questions and
thoughts.

Parable 1. Imagine,
fellows, that you have just become engaged to a girl. She is not just any girl;
she is the most beautiful, attractive, talented, intelligent, friendly,
charming, loving, selfless, and spiritual girl in town … maybe in the entire
country. And she has agreed to marry you!

Now imagine thinking to yourself:
"She is mine, she has agreed to marry me, we have a wedding date set for
12 months from now. I expect to be living with her for the next 50 years or so.
Therefore, I think I will use the next few months before our wedding spending
time with as many different girls as I possibly can. I won’t have such an
opportunity once I am married."

That is pretty silly, isn’t it! of
course you would not think anything of the kind! Rather, you would be spending
every moment possible with the girl of your dreams. But is it possible that you
are you treating Christ like that? "What do you think of
Christ?" (Matt. 22:42).

Parable 2. You have won a
ticket to a buffet dinner. This is no ordinary buffet. Fifty world-class chefs
have gathered from all parts of the globe to engage in a competition. You are
one of the fortunate few to have won a free ticket to a buffet consisting of
the favorite and most special creations of these chefs.

On the way to the buffet you pass
the golden arches. You think, "I know what McDonald’s food is like, and I
don’t know what the buffet will be like. Maybe it will just be stuff like
caviar, brains, and mushrooms. I think I’ll go to McDonald’s instead."

Some Christians may have thoughts
like that about heaven. "In case there is no tennis, Scrabble, Internet,
videos, or (fill in the blank) in heaven, I want to make sure I get my fill
here on earth." What they do not realize is that the least of heaven’s
joys will far exceed the best that this world has to offer. Walking with Christ
here below will provide us with a foretaste, a sampling of heaven. But we will
never experience it unless we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and
desires with Christ.

If we are truly saved, if we
really understand what Christ has endured on the cross for our salvation, we
will want to bear fruit (John 15:1-5), give evidence of our faith (Jas.
2:14-26), and grow to be more like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). "The love of
Christ constrains us … that [we] … should not henceforth live unto
[our]selves, but unto Him who died for [us] and rose again" (2 Cor.
5:14,15).

(Luke 15:20)                                                 

In the distant land of famine,

Craving with
the swine to feed;

Oh, how bitter that awakening

To my sin, and
shame, and need!

Dark and dreary all around me,

Now no more by
sin beguiled;

I would go and seek my Father,

Be a bondsman,
not a child.

Yet a great way off He saw,

Ran to kiss me
as I came;

As I was my Father loved me,

Loved me in my
sins and shame.

Then in bitter grief I told Him

Of the evil I
had done—

Sinned in scorn of Him, my
Father,

Was not meet
to be His son.

But I know not if He listened,

For He spake
not of my sin—

He within His house would have
me,

Make me meet
to enter in;

From the riches of His glory

Brought His
costliest raiment forth,

Brought the ring that sealed His
purpose,

Shoes to tread
His golden courts.

Put them on me—robes of glory,

Spotless as
the heavens above;

Not to meet my thoughts
of fitness

But His
wondrous thoughts of love.

Then within His home He led me,

Brought me
where the feast was spread,

Made me eat with Him, my Father,

I, who begged
for bondsman’s bread!

Not a suppliant at His gateway,

But a son
within His home;

To the love, the joy, the
singing,

To the glory I
am come.

Gathered round that wondrous
temple,

Filled with
awe His angels see

Glory lighting up the Holiest,

In that glory
Him and me.

This the ransomed sinner’s
story,

All the
Father’s heart made known—

All His grace to me the sinner,

Told by
judgment on His Son—

Told by Him from depths of
anguish,

All the
Father’s love for me,

By the curse, the cross, the
darkness,

Measuring what
that love must be.

(Abridged from
Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others, Vol. 1.)

1 John 2:13-27

Let us look for a few moments at the question of growth as
the apostle puts it before us here. The spiritual growth of a babe into a man
is produced in two ways. First, God in His discipline sets trials and
circumstances before the soul. These trials serve to awaken the heart and mind
of the believer, leading him out of various forms of selfishness and
worldliness and into a greater sense of God’s grace and goodness. Second, God
shows us His perfect example of what he would have us grow up to and the soul
is stimulated and encouraged to imitate this example. God puts Christ before us
that we may grow up into Christ (Eph. 4:15).

            The admonition, therefore, of the apostle to the
babes and young men-to the fathers he has none-is to let nothing take away
their eyes from Christ. He warns the babes as to antichrist, not that he may
perfect them in prophetical knowledge, but because in their little acquaintance
as yet with the truth of what Christ is, they might be led away into some
deceit of the enemy. Satan’s first snare for souls is some distorting error
that deforms to us the face of Christ in which alone all the glory of God
shines, or which substitutes for His face some counterfeit for the natural eye.
Through the subtlety of Satan, the heart becomes entangled unawares with this
substitute, supposing it to be the true and divine object. This is antichrist,
though not yet the full denial of the Father and the Son. “Even now there are
many antichrists” (1 John 2:18). Oh, that Christians would realize more the
immense value of truth! And the terrible and disastrous effect of error!

            The apostle therefore warns the babes as to
false Christs. The young men are not in the same danger as to this. They are strong,
the word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the wicked one. Their
danger now lies in the allurements of a world into which their very energy is
carrying them. The word to these is, “Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world” (2:15). It is one thing to have seen by the Word that
the world is under judgment, and another thing to have viewed it in detail,
counting it all loss for Christ (Phil. 3:7,8)).

            This, however, the fathers have done; therefore
he says to them-and it is all he needs to say-“You have known Him who is from
the beginning” (2:13,14). There is nothing we gain by examining the world
except to be able to say of it, “How unlike Christ it is!” This the fathers
have learned. And what do we do when we have reached this? Has the “father”
nothing more to learn? Oh, yes, he is but at the beginning. He has only now his
lesson book before him for undistracted learning. But he does not need to be
cautioned in the same way against mixing anything with Christ. How much toil to
reach, and how slow we are in reaching, so simple a conclusion! But then the
joy of eternity begins. Oh, to have Him ever before us, unfolding His glories,
as He does to one whose eyes and whose heart are all for Him! The knowledge of
the new man is, “Christ is all!”

"Wherefore laying aside all
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow
thereby" (1 Pet. 2:1,2).

In one sense, as here taught us by
the Spirit of God through the apostle, the healthful position of the saint is
ever that of the "newborn babe." However, in another sense we are to
be making progress so as to become young men and fathers in Christ. As to
practical position of soul in receiving truth from God, it is that of the
newborn babe. But if we are to grow by the sincere milk of the Word, it is not
by the exercise of our minds upon the Word, nor yet even by the greatest study
of it. We need the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and in order to this, there must
be the exercising of ourselves unto godliness—the "laying aside all
malice, etc." so that the Holy Spirit may not be grieved. There can be no
growth in the true knowledge of the things of God if these things are working
in the Christian’s heart. Therefore he is called upon to be ever a
"newborn babe" in the consciousness of his own weakness, littleness,
and ignorance, and in simplicity of heart coming to receive food from the Word
of God.

Having "tasted that the Lord
is gracious" (2:3), we come to His Word and receive from Him that which we
need to comfort, nourish, and refresh our souls. I may study the Word again and
again, but unless I get into communion with Him by it, it will profit me
nothing—at least at the time.

God does not reveal His things to
"the wise and prudent" but unto "babes" (Matt. 11:25). It
is not the strength of man’s mind judging about "the things of God"
that gets the blessing from Him; rather it is the spirit of the babe desiring
"the sincere milk of the Word."

This applies as well to the
speaking of God’s truth. Whenever we cannot "speak as the oracles of
God" through the power of communion, it is our business to be silent. We
should be cautious not to trifle with truth that we have not made our own and
acted upon in our own lives. We then act as masters and not as learners, and
our spiritual growth is greatly hindered. Our position as regards speaking the
truth of God must be ever that of "newborn babes."

"If so be you have tasted
that the Lord is gracious." How difficult it is for us to believe this!
the natural feeling of our hearts is, "Thou art an austere man" (Luke
19:21). Consider the poor prodigal in Luke 15; the thought of his father’s
grace never once entered into his mind when he set out on his return, and therefore
he only reckoned on being received as a "hired servant." But what
does the father say? "Bring forth the best robe, etc." This is grace,
free grace.

Our natural heart has gotten so
far away from God that it will look to anything in the world—to the devil
even—to get happiness; anywhere but to the grace of God. Our consciences, when
at all awakened to a sense of sin and of its hatefulness in the sight of God,
think that He cannot be gracious. Adam, had he known the grace of God, when he
found himself naked, would at once have gone to God to cover him. Rather, he
sought to hide himself from God among the trees of the garden. So it is with
us. The consciousness of being naked before God, apart from the understanding
of His grace, makes us flee from Him.

On the other hand, there is
sometimes the thought that grace implies God’s passing by sin. But no, quite
the contrary; grace supposes sin to be so horribly bad a thing that God cannot
tolerate it. Were it in the power of man to patch up his ways and mend himself
so as to stand before God, there would then be no need of grace. The very fact
of the Lord’s being gracious shows sin to be so evil a thing that man’s state
is utterly ruined and hopeless, and nothing but free grace will be able to meet
his need.

The Lord that I have known as
laying down His life for me is the same Lord that I have to do with every day
of my life; and all His dealings with me are on this same principle of grace. I
must continue to learn this as a "newborn babe desir[ing] the sincere milk
of the Word that I may grow thereby."

The great secret of growth is the
looking up to the Lord as gracious. How precious, how strengthening it is to
know that Jesus is at this moment feeling and exercising the same love towards
me as when He died upon the cross for me! This is a truth that should be used
by us in the most common everyday circumstances in life. Suppose, for example,
I find an evil temper in myself which I feel it difficult to overcome. Let me
bring it to Jesus as my Friend and virtue goes out of Him for my need. Faith
should be ever thus in exercise against temptation, and not simply my own
effort; my own effort against it will never be sufficient. The source of real
strength is in the sense of the Lord’s being gracious.

May the Lord give us thus to be
learners of the fullness of grace which is in Jesus so that we may be
"changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of
the Lord." May we, beloved, in searching into the truth of God,
"having tasted that the Lord is gracious," ever be found "as
newborn babes, desir[ing] the sincere milk of the Word, that [we] may grow
thereby."

(From "Growth through the
Truth" in Collected Writings, Vol. 12.)

As children of
men we are known in this world; the world can point to us and say, “His father
was son-and-so,” and according to our high or low connection in that way, honor
or despise us.

As children of
God we are not known for the simple reason that our Father is unknown. Let any
man in any circle, high or low, of this world’s society be introduced as a
child of God, and see what a blank astonishment will follow such an
introduction. They know not God, therefore they cannot appreciate such a
relationship with Him. Therefore, those of us who are in that relationship as a
child of God are, as such, real strangers and foreigners in this world. Our
being born of God constitutes us that, and according to the degree in which we
ourselves value this wonderful relationship, so will we realize our
strangership among the very people where we are so well known; so too will it
practically separate us from their company, their object, their mode of life,
and their pleasures and pursuits.

But there is
more. The way we have become children of God is through faith in Jesus Christ,
who, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” was “lifted up” on the
cross, “that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:14,15). This blessed Jesus, therefore, becomes now the object and
delight of our hearts. How else could it be? It is by His suffering upon that
cross that our sins are forgiven:“with His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
It is by His blood that we have “boldness to enter into the holiest” (Heb.
10:19)—the very presence of that holy God before whom the seraphim angels have
to veil themselves. It is by His death that we are set free from the guilt and
dominion of sin and that we escape the visitation of the angel of death at
midnight, pass out of the land of bondage, and pass into the land flowing with
milk and honey.

Jesus is now,
therefore, the object of our hearts. “We love Him because He first loves us” (1
John 4:19). As the man who, out of love, “leaves his father and mother and
cleaves unto his wife” (Gen. 2:24), so Christ left His Father and home in glory,
and out of love to us suffered as none ever suffered. But, in return, the wife
clings to her husband and follows him all through. So with us who love Him. If
He is in heaven, our hearts follow Him there, and are at home only there. If He
is still rejected and despised by this world, we want nothing else from the
world than what they give Him. We cannot endure to be received and honored
where He is refused and despised. Still more, we cannot even feel at home with
His professed friends who give Him but a back seat and grieve Him by their
ways.

One will
readily see that this is not pretending to be holier and better than this one
or that one, but a natural outcome of a love that is true. No true wife could
be at home where the husband she loves is not given the place that belongs to
him. So no lover of Christ can ever be at home in this world while “Christ” is
a despised name in it. Nor can we be more comfortable among those who profess
His name while they have among them that which wounds the Lord. Therefore, when
the world had crucified Christ and cast Him out, God said to His children,
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

He also foresaw
what His professing people would do, and how things would turn out in the end,
so He said again to His people, “In the last days, perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents,… lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:from such
turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

Oh, beloved
brethren! Children of the God of love! Oh, for such a measure of that
devotedness of heart to our Lord as to make it morally impossible for us to
abide with whatever dishonors Him, but will compel us to follow Him anywhere
and at whatever cost! Thus, and only thus, shall we know the reality of our
relationship with Him, even as He has said, “Wherefore come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive
you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:17,18).

(From Help
and Food, Vol. 7.)

Nothing seemed to be a greater
burden on the heart of the apostle Paul than to have the believers lay hold of
their privileges in Christ. We know that Christ has died for us, but this does
not have the power over us as it ought to have. In addition, we are risen with
Him; we are seated "together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"
(Eph. 2:6) within the veil. The question is whether we are realizing this.

The secret of everything is found
in the truth, "You are complete in Him" (Col. 2:10). Christ Himself
said, "At that day you shall know that I am in My Father and you in
Me" (John 14:20). But what is that? and where is Christ now? In heaven.
Then I am there too, and my affections should be there also. My hope is to be
thoroughly identified with Him. The portion I have is what He has in the glory,
and all my associations are with Himself. He is in heaven, and I am there too
in spirit, and He will soon bring me there in fact.

Where did Paul see Christ? Not on
earth, for long after Christ had left the earth Paul was a persecutor. But he
saw Him in heavenly glory. His only knowledge of Christ at all was of a Christ
in heaven. Christ’s course on earth he might learn. But the revelation of
Christ that brought Paul’s soul into the presence of God in the power of an accomplished
redemption was the revelation of Christ in heaven and in glory.

It was this that ruled the
apostle’s affections, as he says, "that I may win Christ" (Phil.
3:8). His object was to "bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor.
15:49). His mind was full of it. The Holy Spirit has come down to bring all
these things to our remembrance.

What is the practical consequence
of all this? Why, if the glory He has is mine, and I am going on after Him,
then all the world is but dross and dung in my esteem. This will be faith’s
estimate of everything in the world, when Christ is filling the heart’s
affections, and when the soul is pressing on after Him in the certain hope of
being forever with Him. One moment’s real apprehension of Christ in the glory
is sufficient to dim the brightness and glitter of every earthly thing; but the
soul must be occupied alone with Christ for this.

If our affections and desires are
lingering on earth, or stopping short of a glorified Christ in heaven, as the
One in whom our life is hid, and to whom we are presently to be conformed in
glory, we shall find soon that earthly things are something more than dross and
dung. Leave a stone on the ground for a time and you will find that it will
gradually sink into it. And our hearts, if they are not practically in heaven
with Christ, will soon become attached to earthly things.

There is a constant tendency in
earthly things to press down the affections. Duties are more apt to lead away
the soul from God than open sin. Many a Christian has been ensnared by duties,
whose heart would have shrunk from open sin. But we have only one duty in all
the varying circumstances of life—to serve Christ. And we should remember that
if things on earth are dark and the heart is tested in journeying through the
world, all on the side of God is bright. "Wherefore leaving the word of
the beginning of Christ, let us go on to what belongs to full growth"
(Heb. 6:1).

(From The Bible Treasury,
Vol. N-7.)

“Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of [sons] by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:5). Verse 4 of this chapter
mentions the simple fact that we were chosen in Christ; verse 5 adds the
further truth that God had a special destiny in view for those chosen ones.
They are predestinated to the adoption of sons. This goes far beyond the mere
fact of our being saved or redeemed. There were many dear saints of God in the
Old Testament saved by His grace, but they were not sons of God as we are now.
God specially predestinated us to that glorious position.

It may be
noticed that the apostle John always speaks of the believer as a child
of God—a “born” one—while Paul speaks much of sonship. The one speaks of our
family relationship, the other of our position. He has made us sons “according
to the good pleasure of His will.”

A glance at
Galatians 4 will show the meaning of this truth of the adoption of sons. Paul
there contrasts the saints of the Old Testament with those of the New. In the
Old Testament a believer had merely the status of a “child” in the family of
God. Paul speaks of the Jewish saints when he states in Gal. 4:3 that “we, when
we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” The Jews were
under law, a law that told them, “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not.” That is the
way we talk to a child. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son. His precious Son redeemed those who were under the law that we
might receive the adoption of sons. Because of the work of Christ on the cross,
believers are now no longer under the law and thus subject to ordinances, but
they are given the place of sons.

In our language
today the word “adoption” carries the idea of a child taken into a home and
given the place of a child by a couple who are not themselves its parents. But
in the Bible the word “adoption” has no such meaning. Its literal translation
is “the placing of a son.” When Rome was in power, adoption was a ceremony in
which parents would publicly present their child to society, somewhere at the
age of sixteen or so. That child would thereafter take his place in society as
the acknowledged son of the family.

Upon the death
of Christ, believers are no longer under law—under rules and regulations as a
child is—but are given the dignity and liberty of grown-up sons and daughters
of God. Does this mean that we are now free to do whatever we please?
No, but rather we are now free to carry out the full extent of God’s
will for us instead of confining ourselves to the do’s and don’ts of the law.
The Spirit of God Himself indwells us, thus enabling us to walk to God’s glory
as we are led and instructed by Him (Rom. 8:4). To enjoy the adoption of sons
means to enjoy the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free; thus we walk as
intelligent, spiritually-educated men and women.

Gal. 4:7 adds,
“If a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Thus this predestination to the
adoption of sons in Ephesians 1 carries with it the thought of our being
blessed with all that the heart of God could devise. It is a position that will
be ours throughout all eternity. We are sons of God already; we shall be
manifested as such when Christ Himself is manifested (Rom. 8:19).

(From Ephesians,
published by Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey.)

One lesson I am
learning of late is our absolute dependence upon the power of God every time we
speak; it is not our liberty nor our words, but it is the power of God that
affects the souls to whom we speak (see 1 Cor. 12:6).

We are as
dependent upon God when we speak to one soul as when we preach to a thousand. I
have learned this by experience; I have gone to see a sick person in great
self-confidence and found I had nothing to say. And then the Lord taught me I
must wait upon Him for the message for a single soul as much as when I was
going to preach. May we ever remember this, that there may be no trace of
self-confidence remaining in the heart.  

Of David it is said that he
"went on and grew great," or as translated by another, "went on
going and growing" (2 Sam. 5:10).

"The LORD God of hosts was
with him" (5:10). He was progressing in the establishment of his kingdom.
His enemies were being laid low by his armies. The well-being of his people was
being assured, prosperity was marking his rule. He was going on and growing.

Should it not be thus with us who
believe, in these glad Christian days?  We should go and grow.

We should be found progressing on
our heavenly homeward way. Is there not danger, great danger, of
settling down satisfied with knowing that our sins are forgiven, that our souls
are saved, that eternal life is ours, that heaven is secured for eternity?

In the thought of God for His own
these blessings, great as they may be, are but the beginnings of the good that
is ours as Christians. They are the A, B, C, and not the X, Y, Z; the starting
point, and not the terminus, of the believer’s benefits. Beyond these there is
much land to be entered upon and we should press on to possess our possessions,
to enjoy all that God has made ours in Christ.

This energy of faith is found in
the apostle Paul. Thirty years after his conversion he tells us his earnest
endeavor in the words, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14). He still pressed on his way
to finish his course. He did not stop to count the milestones already past. He
did not measure the distance already traversed. The goal was still before him.
He had been laid hold of by Christ for glory and until that was reached he
would not rest. Meanwhile, his heart was set on the glory of Christ and the
furtherance of His interests. "That I may know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto
His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead" (Phil. 3:10,11). What "going" is in these words! And the
apostle calls upon Christians to be thus minded and to "be followers
together" of himself (3:17). Should we not stir up ourselves to pursue,
shaking ourselves free of all that would hinder us?

                             * * *

Furthermore, we should be found growing.
We begin as babes in Christ. This is right. But we should grow up to be men in
Christ.

Parents rejoice to see their
little ones develop. They delight in the baby ways, but they look for growth as
the days pass by, and that childhood and youth will be succeeded by manhood and
womanhood.

So it is for us to grow up into Christ
in all things, to have our faith grow exceedingly (2 Thess. 1:3), to "grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2
Pet. 3:18), that we may attain perfection, maturity, and full growth as
Christians, and thus be more and more for the pleasure of our Lord, and more
and more fruitful for His praise and for the blessing of others.

Our Lord has graciously provided
for all this "going and growing." We do not have to set about these
things in our own strength. God has given to us the Holy Spirit to empower us
and to guide us in our way. He has given to us boldness to enter into the
holiest, right of access into His immediate presence. There at the throne of
grace we obtain and fine grace for seasonable help. He has given to us His Word
upon which to feed as new born babes, desiring "the sincere milk of the
Word that we may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). Giving diligence in reading
and meditating upon the holy Scriptures, we shall be able to say with the
prophet of old, "Thy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was
unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jer. 15:16). True prosperity
will be ours.

God has given to us for our
encouragement others like-minded with ourselves, fellow-members of His body,
the assembly. Companying with them we shall find mutual help and edification.

May going and growing mark us all
more and more.

"I will go in the strength of
the Lord GOD" (Psa. 71:16).

(From Help and Food, Vol.
45.)

Do you know the
national motto of the United States? It is found on each coin of the realm:“In
God we trust.” While the exact wording of this motto is not found in the Bible,
many verses closely approximate it.

Past:
“God … they put their trust in Him” (1 Chron. 5:20).

Past and
present:“In God I have put my trust” (Psa. 56:4,11; 73:28).

Present:
“We trust in … God” (2 Ki. 18:22; Isa. 36:7; 2 Cor. 1:9; 1 Tim. 4:10). “God,
in Thee do I put my trust” (Psa. 7:1; 16:1; 25:2; 141:8). “God, Thou art my
trust” (Psa. 71:5).

Present and
future:“God … in Him will I trust” (2 Sam. 22:3; Psa. 18:2; 91:2). “God
… I will trust in Thee” (Psa. 55:23).

Imperative:
“Trust in … God” (1 Tim. 6:17).

The Hebrew and
Greek words for “trust” in these passages convey the thoughts of fleeing for
protection, having confidence, being safe, secure, and assured. These are words
that denote activity—such as fleeing to God for safety—more than
passively waiting for God to do something.

As believers in
Christ, we “have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb.
6:18). But the question each believer ought to ask him/herself often is this:
“In whom did I trust yesterday, in whom am I trusting today, and
in whom will I trust every moment of every day of the rest of my life?” 

                   Competitors
for Our Trust

It is well to
be aware of the many competitors for our trust that rise up each day. The Bible
tells us about some of these:

Human
weapons and defenses. “He shall besiege you in all your gates, until your
high and fenced walls come down, wherein you trusted” (Deut. 28:52).

“The children
of Benjamin … were smitten … because they trusted unto the liers in wait”
(Judg. 20:36).

“Some trust in
chariots, and some in horses:but we will remember the name of the LORD our God”
(Psa. 20:7).

“For I will not
trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But Thou hast saved us from
our enemies” (Psa. 44:6,7; also Matt. 26:52).

What is the
first thing we think of when we notice the first symptoms of a cold, get a
headache, have insomnia, or fall and injure ourselves? Is it vitamin C,
aspirin, a sleeping pill, a bandage, a doctor? Or do we immediately flee to,
trust in, and call upon the Lord to help us, heal us, and/or give us wisdom as
to what kind of medical help to seek?

Idols.
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands…. Those who make
them are like unto them; so is every one who trusts in them. O Israel, trust in
the LORD” (Psa. 115:4-10).

“They shall be
greatly ashamed that trust in graven images” (Isa. 42:17).

As Christians,
we do not bow down to idols of wood, stone, or precious metals. But we may put
our trust in other kinds of idols to help us forget the pain of a broken
relationship, a difficult boss, failing grades at school, and the like. These
idols may include alcohol, narcotics, pornography, novels, television, movies,
and many other kinds of amusement. These are all designed to help us forget our
problems, whereas God wants us to cast our burdens upon Himself (Psa. 55:22; 1
Pet. 5:7) and find out how He wants us to deal with our problems and
what He wants us to learn from them. “No chastening for the present
seems to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby”
(Heb. 12:11; also Rom. 8:28).

Falsehood.
“This is your lot … saith the LORD, because you have forgotten Me and trusted
in falsehood” (Jer. 13:25).

If someone is
hurt by an offensive or demeaning comment, do you lie and say, “I was just kidding”?
If you are caught in a sin, do you deny it or blame it on someone else? The
Lord has provided a place of refuge for sinners—repentant sinners, that is.
When we sin, let us humble ourselves, accept the truth about ourselves, confess
our sin, receive a fresh application of God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John
1:9), and be reconciled to the person(s) we have sinned against (Matt. 5:24).

Wealth,
riches. “Lo, this is the man who made not God his strength, but trusted in
the abundance of his riches” (Psa. 52:7; Job 31:24-28).

“Those who
trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
none of them can by any means redeem his brother” (Psa. 49:6,7).

“Charge those
who are rich in this world, that they [not] trust in uncertain riches, but in
the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).

Do you try to
use your riches (or your imaginary riches made available through your credit
cards) to purchase happiness, to make other people like and respect you, or to
influence people (even other brothers and sisters in the assembly) to do what
you want them to do? Or do you have the spiritual maturity to realize (a) that
true happiness and peace are found only in trusting the Lord (Isa. 26:3,4; Psa.
16:11); (b) that only by trusting and pleasing the Lord will we gain the love
and respect of our fellow believers, and often even that of our enemies; and
(c) if we are trusting the Lord, we will want others to trust the Lord as well
so that they might learn to do His will and not what we want them
to do.

Friends,
fellow-men, princes, guides. “Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I
trusted,… has lifted up his heel against me” (Psa. 41:9; Prov. 25:19).

“It is better
to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in princes” (Psa. 118:8,9).

“Trust not in a
friend, put not confidence in a guide” (Mic. 7:5).

Sister A
trusted the Lord for her salvation but she was a fearful, anxious woman. Her
husband had left her and she depended upon her unbelieving and abusive son who
lived with her to take her places and to protect her from a host of imaginary
foes. The Lord took her son away in death at the age of 29 and Sister A
practically went out of her mind. She had not learned to place her trust and
dependence first and foremost upon the Lord. As a possible application to
ourselves, are we so dependent upon our husband/wife that if he/she should die,
we would immediately feel we had to seek a new marriage partner?

Brother B was
brought to the Lord by Brother C, and he became an intensely devoted follower
of Brother C’s teachings. Sadly, he failed to be like the Bereans who “searched
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11), and was
carried away by serious errors taught by Brother C. Do we ever depend more upon
our Bible commentaries than upon the Bible itself, and uncritically accept
everything our favorite writer teaches?

Teenage sister
D had a very close friendship with another girl her age. They hardly did
anything or went anywhere without the other. When D’s friend wanted to try
marijuana, D went along with her, fearing to say or do anything that would
cause their friendship to break up. D’s trust and dependence upon her friend
far exceeded her trust and dependence upon her Lord and Saviour.

Our own
understanding, wisdom, righteousness, works. “Trust in the LORD with all
your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5,6).

“He who trusts
in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 27:26).

“Because you
have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you shall also be taken”
(Jer. 48:7).

“And he spoke
this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous:
two men went up into the temple to pray:the one a Pharisee and the other a
publican….” (Luke 18:9-14).

“For we are the
circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

Most of my
readers have already read (Words of Truth, Sept/Oct 1993, page 113) or
heard me tell of the consequences of leaning to my own understanding and not
trusting in the Lord on an occasion when my car battery was dead.

Now here is
another one that you probably have not heard yet. We once had a wisteria tree
(or more like a bush) in our back yard. However, a honeysuckle bush had grown
up with it and the branches of the one were intimately entwined about the
branches of the other. One day in late winter or early spring I got the idea in
my head (did Satan put it there?) to perform major surgery on the honeysuckle.
I really whacked away with my pruning shears and cut that honeysuckle down to
ground level. However, I made three mistakes:(1) I didn’t ask God for His
help; (2) I didn’t ask my wife for her advice; and (3) as a result of mistakes
(1) and (2) I cut the wisteria to the ground and left the honeysuckle fine and
healthy. “Lean not unto your own understanding” took on a fresh and poignant
meaning to me that day.

Another aspect
of trusting our own wisdom relates to the present day cultural ideal of living
independently. Children and teenagers are taught by their parents how to launch
out on their own and live independently. But God never intended for His
creatures to live independently. He gave us parents first of all for us to
depend upon, and He counts upon parents to help their grown up children to
transfer that dependence from the parents to God Himself. When we become
elderly we will often need more and more help from others, such as our
children. If we have never learned real trust and dependence upon the Lord in
our daily lives, we are going to have a difficult time adjusting to this period
of increasing dependence upon others.

Beauty.
“Your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty, for it was perfect
through my comeliness which I had put upon you, saith the Lord GOD. But you
trusted in your own beauty” (Ezek. 15:14,15).

Young brother
or sister in Christ, are you trying to attract a life partner by means of your
physical attractiveness, strength, or athletic ability? “Favor is deceitful and
beauty is vain:but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised” (Prov.
31:30). If you marry one who is attracted only by your outer beauty, what will
happen to the marriage when that beauty begins to fade. However, if you and
your life partner are mutually attracted by each other’s “inner beauty,” that is,
your spiritual characteristics and love for the Lord and His Word and will,
that inner beauty has the potential of continual, lifelong growth and increase.
As each partner grows in conformity “to the image of [God’s] Son” (Rom. 8:29),
they will grow correspondingly closer to each other, making for a wonderful,
truly beautiful marriage.

In whom are you
trusting?

Jerome (331-420 A.D.), the early
"church father" famed for his Latin "Vulgate" translation of
the Bible, has left an account of the aged apostle, John. The story was
presumably passed down by one of John’s disciples, Polycarp or Ignatius. John,
well past his 90th year, was "carried into a church and, unable to speak
at any length, would say, ‘Little children, love one another.’"

John was probably the youngest of
the Lord’s disciples. We think of him (and rightly so) as gentle and loving,
resembling his Master. But it was not always so. He and his brother James were
fishermen, the sons of Zebedee. But the Lord Jesus "surnamed them
Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17).

Without mentioning his own name,
John often described himself as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John
13:23; 20:2; 21:7,20) and as the one who leaned on Jesus’ bosom at the last
supper (John 13:23). He identified Himself only at the end of the Gospel
bearing his name (John 21:24).

This disciple whom we think of as
kind and forbearing wanted, along with his brother James, to "command fire
to come down from heaven and consume" a village of inhospitable
Samaritans. For this rashness, the Lord Jesus had to rebuke them (Luke
9:51-56).

John displayed his intolerance by
forbidding a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Again, the Lord had
to reprove and correct him (Luke 9:49,50). Misplaced pride and ambition caused
John and James to make a vain request of the Lord:"And James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, come unto Him, saying, Master, we would that Thou shouldest do
for us whatsoever we shall desire. And He said unto them, What would you that I
should do for you? They said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on
Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory" (Mark
10:35-37).

This presumption on their part
displeased the other ten disciples and they were moved with indignation against
them. The Lord told them, "To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not
mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My
Father." He added, "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be
your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:23-28).

It was John’s nearness to the Lord
Jesus that eventually effected the change in John’s behavior and manner of
life. In an earlier age, King David wrote a psalm "in the day that the
Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand
of Saul." In that psalm David praised the Lord:"Thou savest me from
violence." David recognized that not he but "The LORD thundered
from heaven … He delivered me, because He delighted in me… Thy
gentleness has made me great" (2 Sam. 22:1,3,14,20,36; Psa. 18).

Another "Saul" came
violently out of Tarsus, making "havoc of the church … and … breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts
8:3; 9:1). This fanatic dogmatist was also a young man. As he "beyond
measure … persecuted the church of God and wasted it" (Gal. 1:13), he
was confronted on the Damascus Road by the Lord Jesus. There Saul ("asked
for") became Paul ("little")—a new creation in Christ Jesus. He
who had been "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts 23:6) was
transformed, becoming not only a disciple, but an apostle of Christ, even one
who was "not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles" (2 Cor. 11:5;
12:11).

The lesson of his namesake was not
lost on him. King Saul put his own proud, rebellious will ahead of God’s clear
command. When his disobedience was discovered, the prophet Samuel said,
"When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head
of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel? … Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:17,22).

About 25 years after his
conversion, Paul recounted the experience to King Agrippa in which he "was
not disobedient unto the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19). Paul’s
basis for exhorting the carnal Corinthians was not by his former
"threatenings," but rather beseeching "by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1).

Thus did John, a "son of
thunder," become that "disciple whom He loved" to whom
the Lord Jesus on the cross entrusted His mother (John 19:26,27). Thus did
Saul, the "persecutor" of the Lord Jesus, become "our beloved
brother Paul (2 Pet. 3:15) and "such an one as Paul the aged … a
prisoner of Jesus Christ" (Philem. 9). To John was committed the writing
of the last book of the Bible:"The things that you have seen, and the
things that are, and the things that shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19). To
Paul’s trust was committed the "glorious Gospel of the blessed God,"
a "chosen vessel" to bear the name of Jesus Christ "before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (1 Tim. 1:11; Acts 9:15).

The Lord Jesus invites all who
labor and are heavy laden to come unto Him. He can transform even the chief of
sinners into a servant, not striving, but "gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him for his will" (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

I know not the song of Thy praises,

Till Thou teach it, my God, to
me.

Till I hear the still voice of Thy Spirit,

Who speaketh for ever of Thee—

Till I hear the celestial singing,

And learn the new song of Thy
grace,

And then shall I tell forth the marvels

I learnt in Thy secret place.

Thy marvels, not mine, far surpassing

All thoughts of my heart must
they be—

I can but declare the glad tidings,

As Thou has declared them to
me.

                                          
Richard Rolle, 1349

Every believer on the Lord Jesus
Christ is "beloved of the Lord," just as the apostle Paul addressed
the Thessalonian saints:"But we ought to give thanks to God always for
you, brethren beloved of the Lord that God has chosen you to salvation
in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:whereto He has called
you by our glad tidings, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions which you
have been taught, whether by word or by our letter. But our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal
consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts, and establish you in
every good work and word" (2 Thess. 2:13-17, JND).

"To the praise of the glory
of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved"
(Eph. 1:6).

At Jerusalem, a large number of
religious leaders had gathered together in order to interrogate Peter and John,
demanding to know "by what power or by what name" these two disciples
of Jesus had healed a man born lame (Acts 3:1-9; 4:1-7).

Peter straightly answered that it
was "by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom
God raised from the dead," declaring that it was by Him that the once
lame man stood before them, fully healed (4:10). Peter further declared that
salvation is in Christ alone, "for there is no other Name under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved" (verse 12).

Their audience
"marveled" when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,
perceiving "that they were unlearned and ignorant men" (verse
13). Other translations use words like "illiterate,"
"unschooled," "unlettered," "uninstructed,"
"uneducated," "simple," and "home-bred." While it
may be true that these common fishermen had not received much formal schooling,
nevertheless, "THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS," and "who
teaches like Him?" (Job 36:22; Mark 1:22; John 8:28).

Yes, these men may have been
ignorant of many things; but they did understand the concerns of their
livelihood:the mending of nets, the navigation of their boats, and the signs
of changing weather. But their sanctimonious listeners questioned what such
uneducated men could possibly know of the profound and lofty issues of life. In
Matt. 11:25, Jesus said, "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes."

Today, we cannot stand beside
Peter and John in Jerusalem and see their "boldness" that so
impressed the rulers of the Jews. But God, through the operation of the Holy
Spirit, has given us an imperishable record written by those very men. For
centuries, tributes of thanksgiving and praise have been bestowed on their
inspired language. We, too, might well marvel at the bold assurance of these
simple fishermen when we compare their words with the words of the so-called
"wise and prudent" men of the world. The words of the latter are as
"vanity and pursuit of the wind" (Eccl. 1:14; 2:11; JND) when weighed
against those words penned by the disciples of the Lord Jesus. The words of the
disciples are the words of life.

Who were those "holier than
thou" religionists that compared themselves with the apostles of the Lord?
What does Scripture say of them?

The Priests:"For the
priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth:
for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you are departed out of the
way; you have caused many to stumble at the law; you have corrupted the
covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 2:7,8).

The Sadducees:"Then
Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
of the Sadducees … for the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,
neither angel, nor spirit" (Matt. 16:6; Acts 23:8).

The Rulers:"The kings
of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the
Lord, and against His anointed" (Psa. 2:2). "Do the rulers know
indeed that this is the very Christ?… Have any of the rulers or of the
Pharisees believed on Him?" (John 7:26,48).

The Elders:"Now the
chief priests, and the elders, and all the council, sought false witness
against Jesus, to put Him to death" (Matt. 26:59).

The Scribes:"Where is
the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Has not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. 1:20).

Following are a few samples of the
vaunted "wisdom" of this world. Devotees of "New Age"
teachings grow ecstatic over such musings as this from the Hindu:"Then
was not non-existent nor existent. There was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed
depth of water?"

The fisherman, John, wrote:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the
life was the light of men" (John 1:1-4). The Bible’s opening statement of
Creation is unequalled in its majesty, simplicity, and clarity:"In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). The inspired
account continues, describing the creative process in words that "science
falsely so called" (1 Tim. 6:20) may dispute, but never disprove.

From another branch of
"worldly wisdom," we read:"When the oneness of the totality of
things is not recognized, then ignorance as well as particularization arises,
and all phases of the defiled mind are thus developed; but the significance of
this doctrine is so extremely deep and unfathomable that it can be fully
comprehended by Buddhas and by no others" (from Asvaghosha).

"Unlearned" Peter wrote:
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well
that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the Day Star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation [i.e., the prophet’s
own interpretation], for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet.
1:19-21). For the Christian, the doctrine is "sure," and the
clear light of truth dispels the cryptic dogmas of Buddhism.

Unlike the usually temperate
Buddhist, the Muslim is blatantly heretical:"If the Merciful One has a
son, then am I the first to worship him … that is, Jesus the son of Mary …
God could not take to himself any son! … The Christians say that the Messiah
is the son of God; that is what they say with their mouths, imitating the
sayings of those who misbelieved before—God fight them! How they lie!" (The
Koran).

John, the beloved, wrote:"I
have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know
it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus
is the Christ? He is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son" (1
John 2:21,22).

No less an esteemed figure than
Thomas Jefferson thought it "necessary" to rewrite the New Testament.
He gave no credence to what he called "mystical faith," denying the
deity of Jesus while holding His teachings to be "on the road to true
happiness." He believed in the self-perfectibility of humanity, ultimately
leading to a perfect society. Jefferson wrote to John Adams:"In the New
Testament, there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an
extraordinary man; and that other parts are the fabric of very inferior
minds." ("Unlearned men"?)

He snipped out passages from his
King James Bible that he considered "supernatural elements," pasting
the remaining words into a blank book. The result was titled The Life and
Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, popularly known today as The Jefferson
Bible.

In the "Epistle
Dedicatory" to King James I, offered by the 47 translators of the Bible
bearing that monarch’s name, they wrote:"Things of this quality have ever
been subject to the censures of ill-meaning and discontented persons."
Further, the translators wrote of their desire to make "God’s holy Truth
to be yet more and more known unto the people, whom they [i.e., their
detractors], desire still to keep in ignorance and darkness." A
present-day example of such men described in their Dedication as "self-conceited
… who run their own ways, and give liking unto nothing but what is framed by
themselves, and hammered on their own anvil," is the so-called "Jesus
Seminar." This is a panel of 75 "experts" in such fields as
history, archaeology, linguistics, and "biblical scholarship." They
meet periodically, making a selection of words of Jesus in the Gospels. Then
they have the audacity to take a vote on which of those words were
actually spoken by the Lord! They claim that their object is to present the
"authentic Jesus" (surely a blasphemous claim)! The Bible condemns
"falsifying the Word of God" (2 Cor. 4:2, JND).

The old Quaker poet, Bernard
Barton, wrote:

Word of the ever-living God!

Will of His glorious Son!

Without Thee how could earth be trod,

Or heaven itself be known?

Lord, grant us all aright to learn

The wisdom it imparts,

And to its heavenly teaching turn

With simple, child-like hearts!

There is but one Author of the
Bible—God the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). But He has employed human instruments
to complete that Word, which is forever settled in heaven (Psa. 119:89; Isa.
40:8). God has not only used unschooled fishermen like Peter, John, and James,
but also a few highly-educated men like Moses, instructed "in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) and the apostle Paul who was taught
at the feet of the great teacher, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). God has used kings,
herdsmen, and shepherds; cupbearers, warrior, and tax-collectors. He has used
young and old, rich and poor:all working in His service to reveal to a
perishing world His Son and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word.

We do well to hide that Word in
our hearts (Rev. 19:13; Psa. 119:11).

Are you one who just lets your
life take its natural course? Do you tend to say or do whatever pops into your head?
Do you act impulsively? Do you live your life without reference to God’s will
for you?

Jesus had been in the wilderness
40 days. He had not eaten all that time. His human body needed food. Satan was
in the wilderness with Jesus, testing and tempting Him in all kinds of ways
(Luke 4:2). "If Thou be the Son of God," said the tempter,
"command that these stones be made bread" (Matt. 4:3).

Who in the world could ever
imagine there was anything wrong with Jesus providing for His food-starved
body? Besides, the suggested means of provision—turning stones into bread—would
in no way take away from or hurt any other person. So why didn’t Jesus do it?

"He answered and said, It is
written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out
of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Jesus did not turn stones into bread for
one simple reason:His heavenly Father had not instructed Him to do so!
Throughout His 30 plus years on earth, Jesus never once said or did
anything apart from the will of His Father. "I do always those
things that please [the Father]" (John 8:29). "I seek not My own
will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me" (John 5:30). "I
came down from  heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who
sent Me" (John 6:38). In other words, Jesus never acted
impulsively!

Jesus spent much time in prayer
(Luke 3:21; 11:1; 22:41,44). For example, He spent all night in prayer—no doubt
learning His Father’s will—just before selecting His 12 disciples (Luke
6:12-16). He never acted without first speaking to His Father.

Christ is our example (John 13:15;
Eph. 5:2,25; Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:21). The three recorded temptations of Christ
by Satan in the wilderness are examples of ways Satan tempts the followers of
Christ. Satan would love to have every Christian go through each day of his or
her life without ever thinking about the question, "What does my heavenly
Father want me to do?" Satan loves it when God’s children act impulsively
without considering the Lord’s will for them.

What are some areas in which we
act impulsively? As starters, that area in which Jesus was tested by Satan had
to do with food. We may be very religious about giving thanks every time we
eat. But how often do we even think of asking the Lord:(a) whether we
should take a second helping (because there is plenty on the table); (b)
whether we should eat certain things (especially if our doctor has told us not
to); or (c) whether we should buy certain foods when we go grocery shopping?

Secondly, how about our tongues?
Do we think before we speak? Do we pray before we speak? The Scriptures exhort
us, "Let every man be … slow to speak" (Jas. 1:19). Note how the
Bible refers to man’s strong natural tendency to speak impulsively, without
thinking or praying:"The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly
evil" (Jas. 3:8).

There is a beautiful example in
the Bible of a man who was asked a question by perhaps the most powerful ruler
in the world. In that split-second before he had to answer his sovereign, this
man, Nehemiah, "prayed to the God of heaven" (Neh. 2:4).

Thirdly, how about the things we
allow into our minds through our eyes and ears? How about the ways we spend our
time? Do we commit our eyes, ears, and time to the Lord? If we get into the
habit of honestly seeking the Lord’s will in prayer before turning on the radio
or television or before surfing the Internet, we often will know instinctively
(by the witness of the Holy Spirit through our new, Christ-like nature) that
God does not want us to do it. Perhaps we purposely avoid praying about these
things because we know deep-down what God will say about them.

Before beginning to pray about the
use of our eyes, ears, and time, let us spend time in the presence of the Lord
drawing up a list of needs we see around us:family members who need our
attention; our Bible that needs to be studied; unsaved persons who need the
gospel; shut-ins who would appreciate a visit, letter, or phone call; depressed
people who need encouragement; backsliders who need to be restored to the Lord;
all the people we know who need prayer; property (our own or that of others)
that needs to be maintained or fixed up. This way, when we pray about the use
of our time, the Holy Spirit can easily direct us to attending to the needs
around us.

May the Lord help each of His own
to become more aware of our tendency to act impulsively. And may we follow the
example of Christ our Creator, Pattern, and Redeemer in reminding ourselves and
our tempter, "I must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God."