June 25, 2017

9:30 am ------------------------------------------------------------------Walking In The Daylight – John 11:7-10

10:00 am ------------------------------------------------------------He Whom Thou Lovest Is Sick – John 11:1-6

Let Us Break Their Bands Asunder – Psalm 2:3

They will not be under any government; they are children of Belial, that cannot endure the yoke, at least the yoke of the Lord and his anointed. They will be content to entertain such notions of the kingdom of God and the Messiah as will serve them to dispute of and to support their own dominion with: if the Lord and his anointed will make them rich and great in the world, they will bid them welcome; but if they will restrain their corrupt appetites and passions, regulate and reform their hearts and lives, and bring them under the government of a pure and heavenly religion, truly then they will not have this man to reign over them (Luke 19:14). Christ has bands and cords for us; those that will be saved by him must be ruled by him; but they are cords of a man, agreeable to right reason, and bands of love, conducive to our true interest: and yet against those the quarrel is. Why do men oppose religion but because they are impatient of its restraints and obligations? They would break asunder the bands of conscience they are under and the cords of God's commandments by which they are called to tie themselves out from all sin and to themselves up to all duty; they will not receive them, but cast them away as far from them as they can. –M. Henry

Can We Do Nothing But Sin?

It has been said that a sinner is one who can do nothing but sin. I have said it and heard others make that statement. It is said to show us our utter depravity by nature and inability to do anything without sin. While it is true that in and of ourselves we can do nothing but sin, it is also true that there is a new man within the child of God; a new creature, one who has been saved by the grace of God, has been given the Spirit of God to lead, to guide, to direct, to teach, reprove, rebuke, correct, to lead in paths of righteousness, to restrain from evil and constrain to good. The child of God has been given a new nature that does not sin, loves holiness, loves righteousness, hates sin, and eschews evil. He was ungodly but is now godly. He was once unrighteous, he is now righteous. Scriptures calls God’s people ‘good’ people (Ps. 37:23, 112:5, Prov.12:2, 13:22, Mt.12:35, Acts 11:24). They once could do no good, but now by grace they do good works. They once were worthless and unworthy, but now the grace of God and the blood of Christ hath made them worthy, the salt of the earth, of whom the world is not worthy. The Lord said of Job, “There is none like him in the earth.” So it is with all of God’s people. They are not of this world, but are like Jesus Christ; conformed to His image and growing more and more like Him.

It is a denial of the grace of God to say that a believer can do nothing but sin; a denial of the power of God to save a sinner from the reigning and ruling power of sin. It is a denial of the power of the Holy Spirit to say that the saint, a child of God, can do nothing but sin. Hebrews 11 is God’s commendation of the things His people did by faith (which glorifies God’s work in them). Yes, the child of God can do something other than sin. He or she can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. I know many ‘super Christians’ love to use that verse, but it is God’s blessed promise to His people and we love it and get strength from it. We are not talking about merit and our own righteousness, but the grace, Spirit, and power of God that reigns in the heart and life of the child of God. This gives the sinner hope (in God) that he is not under the reign and rule of sin but has been saved from sin. It was John Newton who said: ‘If I look within all is vain and dark and wild.’ He also said: ‘I’m not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world: but still, I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” It is not being like the Pharisee in the temple to recognize what God has done in us and for us, and to rejoice in that work. Scripture says: “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another” (Gal. 6:4). We can see the fruit of the Spirit and growth in grace in our brethren and rejoice, but have a hard time seeing it in ourselves. But ‘ If we can find some measure of genuine spiritual growth and some evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, we can rejoice in what God has truly been pleased to do for and in us’ (H.T.M.). Don’t seek assurance from fruit or evidences, for when you can’t find any fruit you won’t find any assurance. Our assurance is only found in Christ. But the saints may truly rejoice in what Christ has done for them and in them.