C. The Particulars of the Prophecy 1. The context of Christ's coming Verse 27 says that "The Son of man shall come." Why does Jesus call Himself the Son of Man? He used that identification more commonly than any other. It marks His humanness--Jesus was God incarnate. But in the context of verse 27 it has a richer meaning. a) The primary prophecy in Daniel Beginning at Daniel 7:9, Daniel is looking across the history of the world to its conclusion--all the way to final judgment. (1) The throne of judgment Daniel 7:9 says, "I beheld till the thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire." God, who is the Ancient of days, sits in judgment. His garment, white as snow, speaks of His purity. His hair, like pure wool, refers to His wisdom. His throne, like a fiery flame, refers to His majesty. The whirling flames at the foot of the throne represent God's consuming judgment. Verse 10 says, "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him." Judgment issuing from the throne consumes everything in its path. Verse 10 continues, "A thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand [the angelic hosts] stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened." God's final accounting will be based on objective data. He keeps records, and will look at them on Judgment Day. (2) The dominion of the Son Verses 11-12 describe the destruction of the beast--the Satanic world leader. Then in verses 13-14 Daniel says, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." The Son of man will come in glory to receive the Kingdom and to act in harmony with the Father in judgment. b) The parallel prophecy in Matthew Matthew 16:27 is a prophecy similar to Daniel 7:13-14, in that it portrays Jesus as the Son of man returning to judge men on behalf of God. He will take those who belong to Him into His glorious Kingdom, and those who don't belong to Him will be thrown out of the Kingdom forever (Matt. 25:46). 2. The character of Christ's glory Matthew 16:27 says Christ will "come in the glory of his Father." The word glory is one way to express the attributes, nature, and character of God. Jesus will come as a blazing manifestation of the eternal God. a) Christ's deity veiled When Jesus came into the world, His deity was veiled. He was among men, but most didn't know who He was. They didn't receive Him. They saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him (Isa. 53:2). b) Christ's deity revealed When Christ returns the veil will be pulled back, and He will come in the glory of His unveiled Father. There will be a full display of His divine attributes. (1) Exodus 33:18-19--Moses said to God, "Show me thy glory" (v. 18). God replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (v. 19). Moses wanted to see God's glory, so God showed Moses His attributes (grace and mercy in this case). God's glory is His attributes. God's glory is the manifestation of all He is in holiness. (2) Matthew 24:29-31--Jesus said that "immediately after the tribulation ... shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" (v. 29). Revelation 6:14 says, "The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together," as blinds might roll up when they slip from your hand. Matthew 24:30-31 say, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet." Christ will return in the blazing, unveiled glory of God, lighting the whole universe. Men will scream and try to hide from His light. The Bible says that when He touches the earth His glory will fill the earth (Zech. 14:7). He will establish His Kingdom and we will dwell with Him in glory. But those who refuse the Savior will be cast out from His presence forever. 3. The criteria of Christ's judgment Matthew 16:27 says when Christ comes, He will "reward every man according to his works." On what basis will His judgment be made? On the basis of works. Many people misunderstand what Christ is saying here. They note Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, is is the gift of God--not of works, lest any man should boast." Yes, we are saved by faith, but that is a different issue. Scripture also teaches that God will judge all men on the basis of their deeds (e.g., Rom. 2:5-11; 1 Cor. 3:8, 12-13; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7-8; Rev. 2:23; 20:12; 22:12). Romans 14:12 says, "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." a) The purpose of works (1) To verify salvation When Jesus comes in judgment, He "will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6). The point is this: your knowledge of Jesus Christ must be evidenced by your good deeds. Works are not the basis of your salvation, but they are the objective verification that you are saved. James said, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). The Lord revealed that truth in Matthew 7:21: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, who is in heaven." On Judgment Day, God will use objective criteria to verify the faith of the redeemed. Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior will have no righteous deeds accredited to them because God isn't alive in them to produce them. But God dwells in those who are saved through the Holy Spirit. He produces the good works that prove the transaction really occurred. (2) To manifest commitment (a) A righteous heart Romans 2:7 says, "To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." Those who pursue righteousness and seek heavenly glory will receive eternal life. We know that no one will seek such things unless God has regenerated his heart. Romans 3:10-11 says, "There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." The person who pursues righteousness and seeks glory in God's Kingdom gives evidence that Christ has changed his heart. (b) An unrighteous heart Romans 2:8-11 says, "But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek; for there is no respect of persons with God." God doesn't whimsically send people into heaven or hell. A person will enter the Kingdom only if there's proof he belongs there! A person who says he is a Christian, but doesn't live like one, has no assurance of ever entering into God's Kingdom. b) The result of works (1) The promise Matthew 16:27 is a promise to those who love Christ. When I look at my life, I have to admit that I fail a lot. And you can say the same thing about your Christian life. Sometimes failure is all we see, and it's hard to find anything good. Then once you find something you did that you think was good, you have just corrupted it: you've injected pride into what originally was a humble act. We all struggle with that. But I have hope because I've given my heart to Jesus Christ, and I know He is producing through me works worthy of God's reward. When I stand before God, the record will show there is evidence in the life of John MacArthur that God changed his heart. (2) The warning No matter how good you may think you are, your goodness is not produced by God unless God lives in you. You can stand before God and say, "I did all these things in your name," but He will say, "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:22-23). For the unbeliever, that will be a day of great fear. The best description of it is given by the apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10: "This is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints." The saints can rest because their glory is coming and unbelievers must fear because vengeance is coming.
D. The Inadequacy of the Prophecy The prophecy of Christ's second coming was a great encouragement to the disciples, but Christ knew they needed more. They were overwhelmed by their present situation. Their plan wasn't turning out as they hoped. After a brief moment when Christ said He would build His church and give them the keys to the kingdom of heaven, He announced He would die (Matt. 16:18-21). Next He rebuked Peter by saying, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (v. 23). Then he told them they needed to be willing to die for Him and to bear a cross. All they could envision was hundreds of people walking to their own execution. The things they learned that day were difficult to comprehend. They were not the kinds of things they had expected when they chose to follow Christ. So when Christ told them that glory would come, you can imagine their thinking, "Sure it will!" The prophecy was too remote for them because of their present circumstances. We are like that. We become drowned in the present and view the second coming as an event somewhere off in the distant future. But that perception robs us of the purifying hope that the reality of Christ's return should create in us (1 John 3:3). To counteract the disciples' frustration, the Lord illustrates His return in a dramatic and unforgettable way. He goes one step further with them because He knows their faith is weak. IV. THE PREVIEW (16:28; 17:13) A. The Promise of the Preview (16:28) "Verily I say unto you, There are some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." 1. Interpreted That verse could lead you to believe that somewhere in this world are some very old men! What does Christ mean? I believe what Christ was saying can be translated, "Some of you standing here will see the Son of Man coming in His royal majesty before you die." The Greek word translated "kingdom" (basileia) is used over 160 times in the New Testament. It is correct to render it not only as "Kingdom," but also as "the kingliness of the King" "regal splendor" or "royal majesty." The emphasis in verse 28 is on the coming of the King Himself in His royal majesty. a) The incorrect interpretations Some commentators have suggested that Christ was referring to the resurrection--that He would come out of the grave in royal splendor. Some suggest He was referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost--that the Spirit would come in majesty at the birth of the church. Others say He was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in [sc] A.D. 70, when He judged apostate Israel. Some have even suggested He was referring to a spiritual coming--that Christ enters your heart in regal splendor. It is true that all those things happened, but they don't have anything to do with Matthew 16:28. He couldn't have been referring to the resurrection because it is never expressed by the verb translated "coming." The resurrection is the first step in Christ's ascension to heaven, not His coming from heaven. He couldn't have been referring to Pentecost because the Holy Spirit, not Christ, came then. He couldn't have been referring to the destruction of Jerusalem because He said, "Some of you will see the Son of man," and no one recorded seeing Him at the destruction. Finally, there is no justification for a mystical interpretation of verse 28 because the following context makes clear the meaning of the verse. b) The correct interpretation Unfortunately a chapter break was made by the translators at a point where it is important to follow the flow of the text. This same promise in Matthew 16:28 also appears in Mark and Luke. In all three cases it is immediately followed by the same incident, but in Mark (9:1-13) and Luke (9:27- 36), it is not followed by a chapter break. What the Lord was referring to in Matthew 16:28 is interpreted by the event that follows. Three of the disciples were about to have a private showing of Christ's glory.
An Overview of the Transfiguration Matthew 17:1 says, "After six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother." Those were the three who saw Christ in His regal splendor before their deaths. Matthew's narrative continues, "[Jesus] bringeth them up into an high mountain privately, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine like the sun, and His raiment was as white as the light" (vv. 1-2). God flipped a switch and turned on deity from within Christ! To add to this scene "there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make here three booths; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, except Jesus only" (vv. 3-8). What an experience! The three disciples accompanied Jesus on a little retreat up the mountain. Luke says they were sleeping and Jesus was praying (Luke 9:29, 32). During the prayer and just as the disciples were coming out of their sleep, Jesus pulled back the veil and gave them a display of the glory He had promised them. They were terrified. And add to that the voice of God and the presence of Moses and Elijah! They were overwhelmed. What the disciples saw was a preview of the Second Coming. Every single detail of the preview depicts an element of the Second Coming. 2. Internalized a) By Peter That preview changed Peter's life. Don't worry about your pain or suffering; Jesus is coming--that became the theme of his epistles. The one thing Peter knew Jesus would do was return, and the resurrection verified it. He regressed some when Jesus died, but was strengthened by the resurrection. The Second Coming became his great anticipation. I believe he was consumed with it. In 2 Peter 1:16-18 he says, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God, the Father, honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." When Peter preached about the Second Coming, he wasn't talking about something he hoped would happen; he knew it would happen because he had a preview of it. b) By John In John 1:14 John says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." Peter and John saw the partially unveiled glory of God in the transfiguration, and they wrote about it. James didn't write about it that we know of, but I'm sure he talked about it. Conclusion The Lord is so gracious. He didn't just say He was going to come; He gave a preview of what His coming would be like. He encouraged Moses similarly, proclaiming, "It shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back; but my face shall not be seen" (Ex. 33:22-23). Moses then was assured God would lead him. Christ didn't display His glory for the three disciples' benefit only: it is for our benefit as well. In 2 Peter 3:3-7 Peter says, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, by which the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Peter concludes that in knowing all these things, "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness?" (v. 11). Jesus is coming. What kind of person ought you to be? You will be judged by your works. God is keeping records, and there is no escape. For those of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ, there is sweetness in His coming. It is a promise filled with hope. But for those who do not know Jesus Christ, will be terror and anguish. Focusing on the Facts 1. Explain how the disciples could have lost a sense of the Messiah's future glory (see p. 2). 2. What two perspectives can Matthew 16:27 be viewed from (see pp. 2-3)? 3. Why was Matthew 16:27 so crucial for the disciples to hear (see p. 3)? 4. Explain the significance Matthew 16:27 has for unbelievers (see p. 4). 5. Why does Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of man in Matthew 16:27 (see pp. 4-5)? 6. Daniel 7:9 gives a description of God. What attributes are symbolized in that description (see p. 5)? 7. How is Matthew 16:27 similar to the prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14 (see p. 5)? 8. What word can be used to express the attributes, nature, and character of God (see p. 5)? 9. Why didn't most of the world recognize Christ's deity when He first came to earth? How will they recognize His deity when He returns (see p. 6)? 10. What is the criteria God will use when He judges all men (see Matt. 16:27)? Cite some verses that support that fact (see p. 6). 11. Why does God use this criteria in His judgment of man (see p. 7)? 12. Explain how the Christian can have hope in his ultimate reward despite the failures he sees in his life (see p. 8). 13. Why is Matthew 16:27 both sweet and bitter (see pp. 8-9)? 14. Why did the Lord give a preview of His second coming in addition to the prophecy in verse 27 (see p. 9)? 15. What are other ways to translate the Greek word translated "kingdom" in Matthew 16:28 (see p. 9)? 16. What are some of the incorrect interpretations of Matthew 16:28? Why are they incorrect (see p. 10)? 17. Where can you find the correct interpretation of Matthew 16:28 (see p. 10)? 18. How did the transfiguration of Christ change Peter's life (see p. 11)? Pondering the Principles 1. As a Christian, you have great hope for the future because Christ will come in glory to reward you. But what about those who don't know Christ? Read 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 and 2 Peter 3:7. According to those verses, what does the future hold for unbelievers? Read 2 Corinthians 5:11. What kind of attitude did Paul have toward unbelievers? It is important that you develop that same attitude. If you know of some unbelievers you need to persuade, begin to do so. But remember, don't try to save them yourself. First, ask God to work in their hearts to prepare them to receive the gospel. Be faithful to use the opportunities God gives you for sharing the gospel. Don't presume on God's patience in delaying the return of Christ (2 Peter 3:9-10). Use the time He has given you. 2. The disciples became discouraged when Christ told them about the heavy requirements of discipleship. The same can be true of us. But Matthew 16:27 serves to encourage us as well as the disciples. To begin developing a better perception of Christ's return, look up the following verses: Matthew 24:29-31, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 1 John 3:2-3, and Revelation 19-20. Record all your observations of what that time will be like. Meditate on those things and develop a mental picture of the glory to come. Choose the verse most meaningful to you and memorize it for future times of discouragement. 3. Read 2 Peter 3:11. As a result of what you have learned from this study, what kind of person should you be? Record these attitudes and actions you need to develop. Ask God's guidance in implementing them in your life.
"The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul."âPsalm 19:7. When he spoke of "the law of the Lord, David did not merely mean the law as it was given in the ten commandments, although that also is perfect, and is used, to some extent, in the conversion of souls. The term includes the entire doctrine of God,âthe whole divine revelation; and though, in David's day, there was not so full and clear a revelation as we have,âfor the New Testament was not then given, nor much of the Old Testament, yet the text has lost none of its former force, but has rather gained more; so I shall use it as applicable to the entire Scriptures,âto the law and to the gospel, and to all that God has revealed; and speaking of it in that sense, I may truly say that it is perfect, and that it converts the soul. A tree is known by its fruit, and a book must be tested by its effects. There are some books which bear their fruit for the hangman and the jail; and such books are very widely spread nowadays. They are frequently embellished with engravings, and put into the hands of boys and girls, and a crop of criminals is constantly the result of their publication and circulation. There have been books written which have spread moral contagion throughout centuries. I need not mention them; but if it were possible to gather them all together in one heap, and burn them as the Ephesians burnt their books of magic, it would be one of the greatest blessings conceivable. Yet, if that were done, I fear that other wicked brains would be set to work to think out similar blasphemies, and that other hands would be found to scatter their vile productions. The Word of God must be tested, like other books, by the effect which it produces; and I am going to speak upon one of its effects to which many of us here present can bear personal witness. The old proverb says, "Speak as you find;" and I am going to speak of the Bible as I have found it,âto praise the bridge that has carried me over every difficulty until now, and that has carried a great many of you over also. We know that the law of the Lord is good because it converts the soul; and, to our mind, the best proof of its purity and power is that it has converted our soul.
HOW THE WORD OF GOD CONVERTS THE SOUL. Man's face is turned away from his Maker. Ever since the fatal day when our first parents broke the law of God, we have been, all of us, guilty of the same great crime. We stand as men who have their backs to the light, and we are going the downward road, the road which leads to destruction. What we need is to be turned round, for that is the meaning of the word "converted"âturned right about. We need to hear the command, "Right about face," and to march in the opposite direction from any in which we have ever marched before. Our text truly says that the Word of God turns us round. It does not mean that the Word alone does that apart from the Spirit of God, because a man may read the Bible through fifty times, and, for fifty years, hear sermons that have all come out of the Bible, and yet they will never turn him unless the Spirit of God makes use of the Word of God or the preacher's sermons. But when the Spirit of God goes with the Word, then the Word becomes the instrument of the conversion of the souls of men. This is how the work of conversion is wrought. First, it is by the Scriptures of truth that men are made to see that they are in error. There are millions upon millions of men, in the world, who are going the wrong way, yet they do not know it; and there are tens of thousands, who believe that they are even doing God service, when they are utterly opposing him. Some who, as far as it is in their power, are even slaying Christ, know not what they are doing. One of the pleas that our Savior used upon the cross was, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." To take my own case, I know that, for years, I was not conscious of having committed any great sin. I had been, by God's restraining grace, kept from outward immoralities, and from gross transgressions, and therefore I thought I was all right. Did I not pray? Did I not attend a place of worship, Did I not do what was right towards my fellowmen? Did I not, even as a child, have a tender conscience? It seemed to me, for a time, that all was well; and, perhaps, I am addressing someone else who says, "Well, if I am not right, I wonder who is; and if I have gone wrong, where must my neighbors be going?" Ah, that is often the way we talk! As long as we are blind, we can see no faults in ourselves; but when the Spirit of God comes to us, and reveals to us the law of God, then we perceive that we have broken the whole of the ten commandments in the spirit, if not in the letter of them. Even the chastest of men may well tremble when they remember that searching word of Christ, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." When you understand that the commandments of God not only forbid wrong actions, but also the desires, and imaginations, and thoughts of the: heart, and that, consequently, a man may commit murder while he lies in his bed,âmay rob his neighbor without touching a penny of his money or any of his goods,âmay blaspheme God though he never uttered an oath, and may break all the commands of the law, from the first to the last, before he has put on his garments in the morning;âwhen you come to examine your life in that light, you will see that you are in a very different condition than you thought you were in. Think, for instance, of that solemn declaration of our Lord, "I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." It is by bringing home to the heart such truths as these that the Spirit of God, through the Word, makes a man see that he is in error, and in danger; and this is the beginning of his conversion. You cannot turn a man round as long as he believes he is going in the right way. While he has that idea in his head, he goes straight on, marching, as he supposes, safely; so the very first thing to be done to him is to let him see that there is a terrible precipice right before him, over which he will fall if he goes on as he is going. When he realizes that he stops, and considers his position. Then the Word of God comes in, in the next place, to take the man off from all attempts to get round by wrong ways. When a man knows that he is going wrong, his instinct should lead him to seek to get right; but, unhappily, many people try to get right by getting wrong in another direction. A good man sent me a volume of his poems, the other day. As soon as I looked into it, I saw that there was one line of the verse that was too short, and the good brother evidently felt that it was, so he tried to set the matter right by making the next line too long, which, as you see at once, made two faults instead of one. Inâlike manner, you will find that men, who are wrong in one direction with regard to their fellow-men, often become very superstitious, and go a great deal further in other directions than God asks them to go, and so, practically, make a long line towards God in order to make up for the short line towards men, and thus they commit two errors instead of one. Here is a sheep that has gone astray; it has wandered so far to the East that, in order to get right, it tries to go just as far to the West; and if convinced that it is in the wrong road, all it does is to stray just as far to the North; and, by-and-by, to the South. It is wandering all the while in a different way, with the intent to get back to the fold; and, in this respect, sinners are just as silly as the sheep. Now, the Word of God tells a man that, by the works of the law, he cannot be justified; it tells him that his heart is defiled, that he himself is condemned already, that he is shut up under condemnation for having broken God's law, and indicates to him that, whatever he may do, or however much he may struggle, if he does not seek salvation in God's way, he will only make the bad worse, and be like a drowning man who sinks the faster the more he struggles. When the Word of God shows a man that, and makes him feel though he were hopeless, helpless, shut up in the condemned cell, it has done a great deal towards turning him round. The next thing the Word of God does is to show the man how he might get right. And, oh, how perfectly it shows him this! It comes to the man, and says to him, "Your sin deserves punishment. God has laid that punishment upon his only-begotten Son; and, therefore, he is ready to forgive you freely for Christ's sake, not because of anything good in you, or anything you ever can do, but Entirely of his free mercy. He bids you trust yourself in the hands of Jesus that he may save you." Come, then, and rely upon what Christ has done, and is still doing for you, and believe in the mercy of God, in Christ Jesus, to all who trust him. Oh, how clearly the Word of God sets Christ before us! It is a sort of mirror in which he is revealed. Christ himself is up in heaven, and a poor sinner, down here on earth, cannot see him however long he looks; but this Word of the Lord is like a huge looking-glass, better even than Solomon's molten sea; and Jesus Christ looks down into this mirror, and then, if you and I come and look into it, we can see the reflection of his face
There is scarcely one chapter in which Christ is not, more or less clearly, set forth as the Savior of sinners. So the Word of God, you see, shows the man that he is in the wrong, takes him away from wrong ways of trying to get right, and then puts him in the way to get right, namely, by believing in Jesus. But the Word of the Lord does more than that. In the power of the Holy Spirit, it helps the man to believe; for, at the first, he is quite staggered at the idea of free salvation,âinstantaneous pardon,âthe blotting out of sin-all for nothing,âpardon for the worst and vilest freely given, and given now. The man says, "Surely, it is too good to be true." He is filled with amazement, for God's thoughts are as high above him, and as far out of his reach, as the heavens are above the earth. Then the Word comes to him, and says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." The Word also says to him, "All manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." The Word says, "The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever." "He delighteth in mercy." "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins." I need not go on repeating the texts with which I hope many of you have long been familiar. There is a great number of them,âprecious promises, gracious invitations, and comforting doctrines; and, as the sinner reads them, with trembling gaze, the Spirit of God applies them to his soul, and he says, "I can and I do believe in Jesus. Lord, I do gladly accept thy pardoning mercy. I look unto him who was nailed to the cross, and I find in him the cure for the serpent-bites of sin. I do and I will believe in Jesus, and venture my soul upon him." It is thus that the Word of God converts the soul, by helping the man to believe in Jesus. And when it has done that, the man is converted; for when a man looks to Christ alone, he has turned his face towards God. Now, he has confidence in God, and out of this grows love to God, and now he desires to please God because God has been so very gracious in providing such a Savior for him. The man is turned right round; from rebelling against God, he has come to feel intense gratitude to his Redeemer, and he seeks to live to God's glory as he would never have thought of doing before. I ask you, who are the people of God, whether you have not felt, since your conversion, the power of the Word of God in sustaining you in your converted condition. Do you not often feel, as you hear the gospel preached, your heart grow warm within you? Some time ago, when I went away for a week's holiday, I was more than a little troubled about many things. I had been, for a long while, preaching to others, and I thought I should like to feel the power of the Word in hearing it myself. I went to a little chapel in the country, and there I heard a lay brotherâI think he must have been an engineerâpreach a sermon. There was nothing very grand in it, except that it was full of Christ; and as I listened to it, my tears began to flow. I wish that, sometimes, some of you, my brethren, would preach, and let me take my turn at listening. Well, on that occasion, my soul was melted as I heard the gospel proclaimed very simply, and I thought, "After all, I do feel its power; I do enjoy its sweetness;" for, while I listened to it, my heart overflowed with joy and delight, and I could only sit still and weep as I heard the simple story of the cross. And have not you, beloved, often found it so, in your experience, as you have been reading the Word of the Lord? If you ever get dull in the things of God, it is not the Bible that has made you so. If ever your heart grows cold, it is not the promises of God that have made you cold. If ever you cannot sing, and cannot pray, it is not the searching of the Scriptures that has brought you into that condition; and if you ever have the misery of hearing a sermon that deadens your spiritual life, I am quite certain that that sermon is not in harmony with the mind of God, and not according to the teaching of the Word of God. But when you hear the gospel fully and faithfully preached, if your heart is at all capable of feeling its power, it stirs your spirit, it wakes you up, it produces holy emotions,âlove to God, love to your fellow-men, heart-searching, deep humiliation, ardent zeal, and all the Christian graces in full exercise. The Word of the Lord is perfect and its effect is continually to restore and revive the soul of the Christian. This has been to me one of the great evidences of the truth of inspiration. Standing alone at night, and looking up to the starry vault of heaven, I have asked myself, "Is this gospel, which I have believed, which I have reached to others for so many years, really true?" Being absolutely certain that there is a God,âfor none but a fool can doubt that,âI have said, "Well, this gospel has made me love God. I know I love him with all my heart and soul. And whenever it exerts its rightful power over me, it makes me try to please him. Whenever I am under its influence, it makes me hate all wrong, and all meanness, and all falseness. Now, it would be a very strange thing if a lie could lead a man to act like that, so it must be true." The moral effect of the Word of God upon one's own nature, from day to day, becomes, in the absence of all other proof,âeven if we had no otherâthe surest and best evidence to a man that "the law of the Lord is perfect," for it converts his soul. I once heard a charming story of Robert Hall,âthat mightiest of our Baptist orators,âperhaps one of the greatest and most eloquent ministers who ever lived. He was subject to fits of terrible depression of spirits; and, one night, he had been snowed up, on his way to a certain place where he was going to preach. There was such a great depth of snow that he was obliged to stay for the night at the farmhouse where he had stopped. But he must preach, he said, he had gob his discourse ready, and he must deliver it; so they fetched in the servants, and the farm people, and he preached the sermon he had prepared,âa very wonderful one to be delivered in a farmhouse parlour; and after the others had all gone, he sat down by the fireside with the good man of the house, and he said to him,âa plain, country farmer, "Now tell me, Mr.-and-so, what do you think is the sure evidence of a man being a child of God, for I sometimes am afraid I am not one?" "Oh!" said the farmer, "my dear Mr. Hall, how can you talk like that?" "Well, what do you think is the best evidence that a man is really a child of God?" "Oh!" replied the farmer, "I feel sure that, if a man loves God, it must be all right with him." "Then," said the farmer, as he told the story, "you should have heard him speak. He said, 'Love God, sir? Love God? If I were damned, I would still love him; he is such a blessed Being,âso holy, so true, so gracious, so kind, so just!' He went on for an hour, praising God, the tears running down his cheeks as he kept on saying, 'Love him! I cannot help loving him; I must love him. Whatever he does to me, I must love him.'" Well, now, I have felt just like that sometimes, and then I have said to myself, "What made me love the Lord thus? Why, this that I have read about him in this blessed Book; and this that I believe that he has done for me, in the person of his dear Son; and that which brings me into such a state that I love him with all my nature, must be a right and a true thing."
The Word of God is perfect, converting the soul. You will find it to be so the longer you live, and the more you test and try it. Whenever you go astray, it is because you get away from the Word of God; and as long as you are kept right, it is because you are drinking in the precious truth concerning Jesus as it is revealed in the Bible. That is the one perfect Book in the world, and it will make you also perfect if you will yield to its gracious influence. Only submit yourself to it, and you will, one day, become perfect, and be taken up to dwell where the perfect God, who wrote the perfect Book, will reveal to you the perfection of bliss for ever and for evermore. God grant to you, dear brethren and sisters, to know the power of this converting Book! If any of you have backslidden, I pray that this same blessed Book may bring you back. I had a letter, the other day, from the backwoods of America that did my heart, good. It was from a man, who was one of my first converts at New Park Street Chapel. He had been for years a member of the church, but he grew cold, and ceased to attend the means of grace; and, at last, he had to be excommunicated from the church. He went out to America; and there, far away, he began to examine himself, and the Spirit of God brought home to his heart the old texts which he used to hear. He writes that he was brought to his knees, and now he is actively engaged in the service of God, endeavoring to bring other backsliders and sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ It is the Word of God that will restore you, backslider; I hope it will do so this very hour, and that, soon, you will come to us, and say, "Take me into the church again, for the Lord has restored me to fellowship with him through his blessed Word."
Aapex, Do you really believe that your ridiculously long, consecutive posts are actually being read? If so, then you truly are a man of faith. Also, is it just coincidence that you happen to be papering over ZZZzzzzzzz's multiple gaffs in this thread, thereby effectively burying them?
That was quite a mouthful, however it does not address my question or the issue. Exodus 21 deals with the ownership of other persons as property. If God's law is perfect, as is stated in Psalms 19:7, and Moses gave the Hebrews God's law concerning the treatment those persons who were the property of others, then that law must also be perfect. The inescapable conclusion to be drawn is that God condones the ownership of people as property of other people, i.e., slavery. If this were not the case, then God would have commanded that the Hebrews set their slaves free, just as Pharaoh was commanded to set the Hebrews free. But, God did not do so. Therefore, God condoned the Hebrews' ownership of slaves. During the U.S. Civil War, advocates of the antebellum movement used Exodus 21 as a rationale for the maintenance of slavery. This same rationale continued to prevail in the South and has been advanced by many political leaders throughout U.S. history as a moral theory which advocates that slavery is condoned by God, under the Rules stated in Exodus 21. The rationale continues to this day within the membership of the Ku Klux Klan. My opinion of the above is simply that the Bible is not a perfect rendering, but is rather an interpretation by the men who wrote it, and therefore it cannot be read as the literal revealed truth of the Almighty. If you are sincerely interested in teaching me what you believe and why, I would appreciate your direct response to the issue, rather than by means of allegory.