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a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 7). Read all of the third chapter of John, in which Christ told Nicodemus that the sinner must let the Holy Spirit of God regenerate the heart, giving him new life in Christ, before he can be saved—much less grasp spiritual truth! Do not make a god of your intellect, my unsaved friend. Go to Calvary’s cross, and “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). One other word: we are not saved by our own goodness. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). Good works should fol low salvation, but they can never be the means of salvation. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 2:23). Let no man trust in his own self-righteousness to make him fit for the presence of a holy God; for all our righteousness are as filthy rags in His sight. (See Isaiah 64:6.) FORGIVENESS OF SINS Q. Enlighten me as to the meaning of the latter part of Matthew 16:19, where it says “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven.” A. Every believer in Christ, in his dealings with men, declares sins for given or unforgiven according to what the inquirer does with Christ. This text has no other meaning. To a man who has taken Christ as his Saviour, we bring God’s message and “declare sins forgiven.” To the man who spurns Christ, we bring the mes sage according to God’s Word, that his sins are retained, and that he is (according to Acts 8:23), “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” We find Peter declaring remission of sins in the household of Cornelius, in Acts 10:43: “To
him [Jesus] give all the prophet wit ness, that through his name whoso ever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” THE CHURCH UN IVERSAL Q. Why do some churches recite the Apostle’s Creed and say “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church,” when we know there is no such thing? I always substitute “the Holy Chris tian Church.” A. These words merely mean the church universal, and pertain to all Christendom, not to the Roman Catholic or the Greek Catholic Churches. This definition is given in all good dictionaries. FULNESS OF GRACE Q. What is the fulness of grace de clared to be the possession of Chris tians and how may I have this ful ness ? A. I would suggegt that this fulness is free for all believers. It would be well for you to make sure of the new birth by reading John 1:11-13, and when you have made sure that you are a child of God, then it is that Christ becomes an everlasting occu pant of the heart, one who will never depart. You are His, and He is yours throughout eternity. It is here that grace flows like a river. That great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon declared: “I have heard our Lord compared to a man carrying a water- pot. As he carried it upon his shoul der, the water, yielding itself to the movement of his body, fell dropping and spilling about so that one could easily track the water-bearer. So should all of God’s people be carry ing such a fulness of grace that everyone should know where they have been by the tracks-they leave behind. . . . He who hath lain in the beds of spices will perfume the air through which he walks; others will follow the scent and rejoice in the fulness of grace.”
ANATH EM A M A RAN A TH A Q. What do the words Anathema Maranatha in I Corinthians 16:22 mean? A. Literally: “Acursed; the Lord cometh.” It describes the fate of those who do not receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. When He comes, there will be no further oppor tunity to accept Him. While the com ing of Christ for the believer will be a time of joy, for the unsaved it will mean that his eternal doom is set tled. Let us seek to win more souls to Him. Q. Why do you insist upon a belief in such doctrines as the Virgin Birth of Christ and His bodily resurrection as essential to salvation? I think I am about as good as most Christians who profess to believe these things. A. Let me seek to answer your ques tion by two passages of Scripture; there are many other passages which might be used. In the first place, “the natural man [the unsaved man] re- ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, be cause they are spiritually discerned [that is, by the power of the Holy Spirit].” (See I Cor. 2:14; cf. I Cor. 1:17-2:16. In this entire passage we find a contrast between man’s wis dom and the wisdom which cometh from above.) My friend, the Chris tian faith is based upon the super natural, from beginning to end, and makes no attempt to satisfy man’s intellect; rather it satisfies the heart. There is no place for rationalism. “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but un to us which are saved it is the power of God.” In the second place, let me exhort ,you, in the words of the Lord Jesus, “Ye must be bom again . . . Except BELIEF IN THE V IRG IN BIRTH ESSENTIAL
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