The Gospel makes you tremble with fear... but it also makes you tremble with Joy!
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3. It Makes The Gospel Cheap
How does it make the Gospel cheap?
You see, people are naturally lovers of self and their money. They are boastful and proud, making a profit out of God, calling out to God only for the benefit they can get out of Him for themselves, not even thinking about how holy God is and the sacredness of truly honoring God(1Tim3:2).
Again, let us stress out, had it not been for the grace of God continually changing and transforming our hearts, we would still be lovers of ourselves only. It's only because of God's grace we are changed! In our natural state - that is, apart from God's transforming grace - there would only be love for ourselves and totally empty of true love for God. All men are haters of God, because loving the world and its pleasures is hatred toward God!(1John2:15-16) In fact, everything that takes God's place in our hearts is hatred towards God, it's called idolatry!(1John5:21,Ex20:1-3,Rom1:30,1:21,3:9-14)
Now, Let's take this case...
Here is a natural man, naturally self-loving and God-ignoring.......
Then here you come.................
And you added..................
When we come to men refusing to proclaim the message of sin, judgement and repentance, humility and brokenness will not be fostered. Much worse, it will foster selfishness and idolatry... before announcing to men "Just Believe!", make sure that they are cut to the hearts first... Announce this first with boldness "Repent or Be judged!", "Repent or Perish!"... This is the message of the apostles...
"Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, "brothers, what shall we do? Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins."(Acts2:37-38)
From the old to the new testament, when the prophets and the apostles call people to return to God, it was said in a way that would foster humility and reverence towards God. Their messages were "Selfishness-Breaking!", it calls men to abandon self love and turn to love God instead! It calls men to forsake his mother, father, property and pleasures for the sake of the Ever-Worthy Master... It decreases man and increases God. It is man-degrading and God-exalting
Here are few examples of biblical messages that is unlike most modern methods... The message of Jonah: "Jonah 3:1-9",The message of John the baptist: "Luke3:18,Luke 3:7-8,Matt3:10", and the message of Jesus: "Mark 9:43-49,Luke14:25-27"...
All their messages were messages of Judgement... and it fostered humility and true repentance to the people they were preaching... Again, it's man-degrading and God-exalting...
Let's quote few examples about what true repentance looks like..
If I am to summarize the prayer of Daniel for salvation, it would go like this:(Dan9:4-19)
"O Lord, You are right by judging us according to your laws. You have been good to us from the beginning but we have sinned and are full of wickedness, we refused to listen to you and your servants. Oh Lord, You have the right and it's only righteous to be angry at us.
O our God, hear you servant's prayer! Listen as I plead! For your own sake, smile at us again O Lord, forgive, for your own sake, have mercy on the people who bear your name."
Oh the humility in Daniel's prayer. It exalts God and humiliates man. It says again and again, "for your own sake Lord"... not for our sake, but for the honor and glory of God's name...
The case of the Pharisee Vs. Tax collector (Luke 18:11-13)
"11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’"
All their messages were messages of Judgement... and it fostered humility and true repentance to the people they were preaching... Again, it's man-degrading and God-exalting...
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And anyway, what is true repentance?
Let's quote few examples about what true repentance looks like..
If I am to summarize the prayer of Daniel for salvation, it would go like this:(Dan9:4-19)
"O Lord, You are right by judging us according to your laws. You have been good to us from the beginning but we have sinned and are full of wickedness, we refused to listen to you and your servants. Oh Lord, You have the right and it's only righteous to be angry at us.
O our God, hear you servant's prayer! Listen as I plead! For your own sake, smile at us again O Lord, forgive, for your own sake, have mercy on the people who bear your name."
Oh the humility in Daniel's prayer. It exalts God and humiliates man. It says again and again, "for your own sake Lord"... not for our sake, but for the honor and glory of God's name...
The case of the Pharisee Vs. Tax collector (Luke 18:11-13)
"11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’"
The prayer of the pharisee is man-exalting, but the tax-collector is man-degrading and God-exalting. It's a humble prayer, it's not about how precious or worthy we are, but it's about how merciful God is.
The case of the Jailer:
Before Paul announced "Believe! And you will be saved!" the Jailer was broken first:
1. He attempted suicide first - he first did not consider His life worth living.
2. He fell down in humility - he forgot the pride of his position.
3. He trembled before God's messengers - thus he trembled at God Himself.
4. He felt utter helplessness - he asked how to be saved in desperation.
The simple but fragrant announcement "Just Believe" is announced only if the unbelieving person is BROKEN! Without brokenness, there won't be repentance, and without repentance, there's no salvation. You can't just go around telling unbelieving persons "God loves you for who you are"... if we do that, it would remove the place for holy trembling, broken repentance, utter self-helplessness and the place for desperate crying our to God for salvation : "lord! Save me! a sinner!"...
Many of us use this cliche' as an emotional trick to move the emotions of unconverted men and bring them to church. We use it to somehow remove the natural tendency of natural men to reject us so we say what they wanted to hear. It really fit's what the passage says: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own evil desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear." (2Tim4:3)
Honestly, this verse is scary. Our gospel must not be primarily about "saving men", it must be about "proclaiming the glory of Christ!" (Rom1:3-5). When we use appeal to the emotions of men, then their "conversion" will only be emotional. And when they don't feel it anymore, they go back to the world - where that rightly belong.
True conversion - unlike emotional conversion - is lasting. We will continually and certainly be changed and be conformed to the image of Christ until our death.(Rom8:29-30,Phil1:6). It is not just emotions, it is regeneration!(Ezek36:26,Deut30:6,Jer32:40,33:8-9)
True conversion is not just a mere decision of men, it is God's power fulfilling His promise to His covenant. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me."(Jer32:30)
Our goal is not to convert men. If that is our goal, it would turn us to use human techniques and "rockets" or tricks just to make them come to church. We would even give our motors to them just to make them decide to be converted. Our goal is to proclaim; "Repent and Believe or Perish!" and it's God's job to convert.
Let's take the case of Lydia:
"The Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying"...(Acts 16:14). As we can see, conversion of the heart comes first before decision. In simple terms, conversion is not a product of decision, rather, decision is a product of conversion. It wasn't merely our decision, but it was His plan all along before the foundation of the world He planned to convert us through the sanctifying work of the Spirit(2Th2:13).
It's only by God's grace that we became a Christian. It's only because of God's eternal love for us, not for who we are but because that is His identity, a God of Love! How wide and deep then is that love? How much He lavished us with His love that He calls us His children, as unworthy and undeserving as we are!(1John3:1) This is true love, not that we love God but that He loved us first!(1John4:10)
Love Him back beloved! Love Him back! (2Cor16:22)
True conversion is not just a mere decision of men, it is God's power fulfilling His promise to His covenant. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me."(Jer32:30)
Our goal is not to convert men. If that is our goal, it would turn us to use human techniques and "rockets" or tricks just to make them come to church. We would even give our motors to them just to make them decide to be converted. Our goal is to proclaim; "Repent and Believe or Perish!" and it's God's job to convert.
Let's take the case of Lydia:
"The Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying"...(Acts 16:14). As we can see, conversion of the heart comes first before decision. In simple terms, conversion is not a product of decision, rather, decision is a product of conversion. It wasn't merely our decision, but it was His plan all along before the foundation of the world He planned to convert us through the sanctifying work of the Spirit(2Th2:13).
It's only by God's grace that we became a Christian. It's only because of God's eternal love for us, not for who we are but because that is His identity, a God of Love! How wide and deep then is that love? How much He lavished us with His love that He calls us His children, as unworthy and undeserving as we are!(1John3:1) This is true love, not that we love God but that He loved us first!(1John4:10)
Love Him back beloved! Love Him back! (2Cor16:22)
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TO ACCESS PART I AND PART II, CLICK ON THE IMAGE LINKS
John Colquhoun, Repentance: "Consider, I entreat you, that without an affecting sense of the hatefulness of sin, there is no humiliation; that without humiliation, there is no true repentance; and that without such repentance, it will be impossible for you to escape the wrath to come. Study then in dependence on promised grace, and that without delay, to obtain a true and a deep sense of the exceeding sinfulness of your sin."
ReplyDeleteRepent or Perish!!!