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"Them also I must bring" (John 10:16)

12/29/2019

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“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16).

These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great Shepherd (John 10:11; Heb. 13:20). It is therefore certain that these words are true (John 14:6). It is also certain that these words cannot fail (Matt. 24:35), because Christ cannot fail (Isaiah 42:4; 53:1-12). We learn from this short text of scripture that Christ must bring His sheep to Himself and to His Father. This was the eternal will God gave to Him to do (John 6:37-40; Eph. 3:11).

We learn from this scripture that all of Christ’s sheep shall hear His voice (John 10:16). We also learn from John 10 that Christ’s sheep hear His voice and follow Him. To hear His voice is not to hear His audible voice as a sound, but to hear the truth of His voice in our souls concerning His person, offices and saving work.

John 10 teaches that we are saved, given life in abundance, fed and watered, given rest, made to lie down in pastures of plenty, given everlasting life, saved from all enemies and kept without fail by the great Shepherd of the sheep. This is soul comforting, soul strengthening news. It is the certain promise of our Savior.

In Ezekiel 34:16 we learn that we, as sheep, get ourselves into many troubles (Psalm 73:20-24). But He saves us out of them all. We are lost, driven away, broken and sick. Much of this is our own sinful, dumb fault. Some of it is the result of false shepherds. False shepherds have no interest in the flock, but what they can get for themselves. Their feet foul the deep waters and pastures that the sheep drink and feed upon (Ezek. 34:18-19). Their feet are not shod with the Gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), but they are shod with false gospels and pollute the clear water of salvation by grace with the self-righteous works and free will of religious men. But the sheep will not hear them (John 10:5).

God’s people know Christ. They know Him because they are taught of God (John 6:44-45). They hear His Gospel with God-given faith. Christ and Him crucified is their life and food and drink (John 6:35, 48, 50-51, 54-56) and strength and rest (Heb. 4:1-10).

There is nothing more cherishing and more needful to God’s elect, redeemed, believing sheep than Christ and Him crucified, opened from the word of God, brought forth as pastures of green grass by clear shining after rain in the Gospel of His grace (2 Sam. 23:4). Thus, our Shepherd has given pastors to feed His sheep with knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-3; Heb. 13:7). Let us thank our God and Savior for His provision of Himself in life, in death and now in heaven and from His word.

Rick Warta

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The Friend of Sinners (Matt. 11:19)

12/20/2019

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Jesus said, “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children” (Matt. 11:19).

Christ is most sweetly known by His people as the Friend of sinners. He is their Savior. He is my Savior because He saved me from my sins. He did it by Himself (Heb. 1:3). He did it even though I offended God and made myself shameful, and remained dead in my sins until, by His grace and almighty power, He raised me from spiritual death to life and gave me faith in Christ (Eph. 2:1-10). In myself, I have but one distinguishing character trait, but one label to own: I am a sinner. Yet Christ saved me without any help from me. When dead in sins, He raised me to life in my soul. When I was impenitent in heart, He changed my mind. When I was enslaved in pride and blindness to spiritual things and was without faith, He showed me that Christ was all He required from me and persuaded me that He is all my salvation. He saved me when I was ignorant and proud and full of all manner of sin against Him. He did the unexpected. He did the impossible. He overcame every barrier that my sinful condition raised. He saved me when His justice seemed to make my salvation impossible. He gave me unimaginable blessings in Christ.

Though my title is “sinner,” His title is the most endearing. He is the “Friend of sinners.” His enemies used this title to slander Him. But He owned it, and by His Spirit forever recorded it in scripture so that sinners in heart and life would be irresistibly drawn to Him. They meant this label to reproach Him. He meant it for His praise and glory and honor. In the heart of every believing sinner there is this God-given view of Christ, that He is the Friend, the truly compassionate, all-knowing friend, full of tender mercies and lovingkindness, the true friend of sinners, who is able to save to the uttermost in honor of God’s justice and righteousness, His truth and His grace (Isaiah 12:1-6; Psalm 85:1-13; John 1:17).

What does every believing sinner say about his Savior? “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem” (Song of Solomon 5:16).

May God give me and you this view of Christ at all times. May we be honest with God in our hearts about ourselves, and may He enlighten us that we might be honest about Christ. He is truly the friend of sinners. What compassion! What condescension! What grace! What confidence! What expectation in hope! What everlasting, sovereign love!

Rick Warta

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"This Man Receiveth Sinners" (Luke 15:2)

12/20/2019

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“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:1-2).

The Pharisees meant reproach to Christ when they charged Him with this: “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” But what they meant to shame Him is to His great, eternal glory (1 Cor. 1:30-31; John 10:17-18; 17:4-5)! They separated themselves from Christ because sinners joined themselves to Him. They could not fathom that their need exceeded the needs of those upon whom they looked with the greatest disdain. They must be saved in the same way that the prostitutes and tax collectors were saved: by Christ alone, out of God’s free grace alone, as a sinner, in looking to Christ alone, bringing no merit or works of their own (Eph. 2:4-10). We can learn about ourselves from these men.

Legal requirements imposed on the proud heart of sinners blinds them to their own sinfulness. Men naturally turn the requirements God puts on them — which are designed to humble them by exposing their true nature, their wickedness, their guilt and corruption and helplessness before God in their sins — into a weapon against others. They use God’s law, not as a testimony against their own sinfulness and of their own helplessness, but to highlight wickedness in others, to condemn others so that they might exalt themselves by comparison (John 8:1-11). Such is the natural tendency in the heart of man. Shamefully, this is my tendency. I believe it is the tendency of us all by nature (Psalm 14:1-3; Jer. 17:9-10). We deflect the light that God shines in our own conscience in an attempt to produce the opposite of what it is designed to do. We turn God’s law outwardly towards others, highlighting the failures of others so that we might exalt ourselves on their ruins. We try to make ourselves acceptable by our occasional and superficial efforts to live right (Isa. 64:6). But this is printing a counterfeit righteousness. It surprises us when by God’s grace we learn that the law of God is not meant to set a standard before us so that we might obtain promised blessings and favor from God, but to show us that we have already forfeited all rights to blessing and earned only the wages of eternal death from God’s hand (Rom. 6:23).

When we strive to conform to God’s law with the motive of making ourselves acceptable to Him — trying to please God by our own personal obedience — we hide our own failures, and the true nature of the evil of our minds and motives. When we do this, we remove ourselves from the company of people Jesus came to save: sinners in heart and life, helpless and apart from grace, utterly hopeless.

The law of God exposes what we are. It leaves us guilty and naked before God. In the light of the law of God, we try to hide in His presence (Gen. 3:10). But the law will leave us naked in the presence of God until God comes to our rescue by His salvation in Christ alone, which is by His grace alone, and which we receive only by faith that He gives: sight by which we see that we have failed in everything, are horribly evil in our very heart, shameful and excuseless, and yet, by that same faith, see that God has overcome every barrier in Christ (Gen. 3:21).

It is impossible for us to overcome even one barrier that separates us from God. But “with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). He appointed and accepted Another, the Lord Jesus Christ. By His obedience, the Lord Jesus did all that God required for righteousness, and by His own blood cleansed sinners who had made themselves enemies of God, and are unwilling and unable to do one thing about it. This is salvation by grace alone, through Christ alone, received and applied to us by the Spirit of God in God-given faith alone, and all to God’s glory alone! It is because He was lifted up on the cross, that the Lord Jesus draws men of every nation to Himself (John 12:32). Because He was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, to taste death for every son, He is crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9). The salvation of sinners is God’s great glory (Isaiah 45:21-25). God is love. It is His glory to forgive sin (Ex. 34:7). May we see the glory of God in Christ our Savior and Lord!

Rick Warta

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Circumcision

10/26/2019

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“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11).

Circumcision in the OT was a physical, outward act. The sinful flesh of the foreskin through which a man’s seed passed and by which children were conceived, was cut off. That physical act was designed by God as a typical figure of true circumcision. It signified a spiritual fulfillment.

It is clear from Colossians 2:11 that there are two ways in which this type is fulfilled. First, in this scripture, Christ is said to have been circumcised: “...by the circumcision of Christ.” Second, in this same scripture, the believer is said to be circumcised. “Ye are circumcised.” Christ is Abraham’s Seed. Christ would be born to him. Abraham’s foreskin was cut off. Christ would be cut off. Why?

Circumcision cuts off sinful flesh. Moses said, “I am a man of uncircumcised lips” (Ex. 6:12). Isaiah said, “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). These men understood and confessed that their sin needed to be cut off. This cutting off of sinful flesh as it relates to Christ is how we are saved. God imputed the sins of God’s elect to Christ. Christ was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). As Abraham’s foreskin was cut off in circumcision, Abraham’s sins were cut off in Christ’s death. Abraham was one of Christ’s people. All who believe Christ as Abraham did, are those whose sins were removed in Christ’s death. They are Abraham’s true seed (Gal. 3:29). Like Abraham, they believe Christ. Like Abraham, their sins were cut off in the circumcision of Christ, in His death on the cross. Our sins were made Christ’s and cut off by God in Christ’s death. Christ, Abraham’s Seed, was crucified by the will of God (Heb. 10:5-14). Our sins were made Christ’s and removed from us by the will of God (Psalm 103:12; Lev. 16:21-22). Christ’s circumcision and our justification in Him was accomplished outside of our own personal experience. God did the work in Christ before we were born. This makes any contribution to our salvation by us impossible. When Christ, by Himself, offered Himself to God for our sins, our sins were removed from before God’s face. They were blotted out of God’s accounting, forever remitted (Isaiah 43:25; Heb. 1:3; 7:27; 9:14, 26, 28; Heb. 10:14-18; Rom. 8:32-34).

Because our sins were removed before God’s face when Christ died on the cross (Heb. 1:3; Lev. 16:30), the Spirit of God applies that circumcision to our hearts in the time-experience of our lives. The Spirit of God applies the work of Christ to our hearts when He gives us faith in Christ as our sin-atoning Savior and risen Lord. The application of Christ’s blood to us by the Spirit of God is our own personal, spiritual circumcision. This is an inward work (Rom. 2:28-29; Php. 3:3). It is a work we cannot perform (Deut. 30:6). It is the operation of the Spirit of God (Col. 2:11-12). The result of that work is that the law of God is fulfilled in us. How is the law fulfilled in us? The law is fulfilled when we are rewarded life for Christ’s righteousness that God put to our account. Where sin once reigned
to death, grace now reigns over us through Christ’s righteousness unto our eternal life (Rom. 5:21). The law is fulfilled in us when by the Spirit of God we are given everlasting life because of the righteousness of Christ. The Spirit of Christ gives us life when He gives us faith in Christ our Savior (John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6). Then we see and rely on what God has done for us in Christ (John 3:14-15). By the life and grace of the Spirit of God in us, we live by faith upon Christ who died for us. This is proof that the law of God was fulfilled for us in the life and death of Christ (Rom. 8:1-4). It is by this proof of life by Christ that the law is fulfilled in us. This faith is proof that we were justified in the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 5:9; 4:25).

We receive this faith through hearing the Gospel applied to us. The Gospel applied to us is “The spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” The justification Christ accomplished and obtained for us at the cross is declared to us and received by us when God gives us a life look to Christ as our suffering, curse-bearing Substitute (John 3:14-15). This faith is the evidence of our birth by the Spirit of God as the sons of God the Father (1 Pet. 1:23; James 1:18). When it pleases God, He reveals His Son in us (Gal. 1:15-16; Gal. 3:13-14; 4:1-6; Eph. 1:13). We call upon Christ in the cry of faith. This faith is the inward circumcision of our hearts. Our inward circumcision enables us to see and trust and receive our justification before God in the circumcision of Christ’s death.

God chose us to salvation in Christ before time (2 Thess. 2:13). During Christ’s history on this earth, by His one offering of Himself, He redeemed and sanctified and perfected us (1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:12; 10:10, 14). This is our circumcision in the death of Christ. Our sins were cut off in His death. In our lifetime, He sanctifies us by the operation of the Spirit of God through hearing the Gospel of our salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14). By His grace we are enabled to believe Christ. If we believe Christ, we have been raised from death to life. We have been born of God. We have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. Our conscience has been sprinkled by the redeeming blood of Christ, our Redeemer (Heb. 9:12-15).

Thus it is that OT circumcision is fulfilled. We are the true circumcision, “which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh” (Php. 3:3). The result of circumcision in our hearts is true worship of God by the Spirit of God who lives in us. It is true joy in Christ’s redeeming work for us. It is abandoning all confidence in self and finding all confidence in Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20). May God so circumcise our hearts and minds to know Him and love Him and worship Him in Christ.

Rick Warta

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All for the lifting of Jesus on high

10/25/2019

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"1. JEHOVAH, in council
Resolved to fulfill
The scheme from eternity,
Laid in His will;
A scheme too profound for
A seraph to pry,
And all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

2. ’Twas not from the creature
Salvation took place,
The whole was of God, to
The praise of His grace,
And all to His glory
Shall tend by and by,
To accomplish the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

3. His wisdom contrived the
Adorable plan,
Grace, mercy, and peace, and
Good-will towards man;
The Great Three-in-One did
The same ratify,
And all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

4. Here all the perfections
Of Deity shine,
Love, wisdom, and power,
And goodness divine,
His justice and grace
Received honor thereby;
‘Twas all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

5. When first the great project
To angels was known,
They hailed Him in songs as
The Lamb on His throne;
The concave of heaven,
Resounds with their cry,
God-man, Mediator,
They lift Him on high.

6. Creation proclaims the
Great work of thy hand,
All beings and things in
The order they stand;
Productions of chance they
Are led to deny,
’Twas made for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

7. All things for His sake did
Jehovah prepare,
For of Him, and to Him,
And through Him, they are;
All systems and worlds, that
Revolve in the sky,
Were made for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

8. Set up the Head of
His mystical frame,
He honored the records
Of Fate With His name;
And nothing was wanting,
Which God could supply,
To aid the uplifting
Of Jesus on high.

9. When man was created,
What wisdom we see,
The whole he possessed was
The image of Thee;
But, oh! in his fall, we
Are led to espy,
’Twas all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

10. When Adam to eat of
The fruit was inclined,
It answered the end which
Jehovah designed;
No purpose or wisdom
Was altered thereby,
’Twas all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

11. Here Satan was nonplussed
In what he had done,
The fall wrought the channel
Where mercy should run,
In streams of salvation
Which never run dry,
And all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

12. From hence it appears, he
Made nothing in vain,
For Adam, thus formed, was
A link in the chain;
In him ’twas decreed, that
His members should die,
And all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

13. The man that betrayed Him
Prediction foretold,
The pieces of silver
For which he was sold;
To prove His salvation
The world we defy,
He fell for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

14. The law that was given,
On Sinai of old,
Was still the great mercy
And love to unfold,
Which did in the womb of
Eternity lie,
And all for the lifting
Of Jesus on high.

15. In fulness of time he
Came under the law,
Its jots and its tittles
He answered we know;
And, stretching His arms, did
On Calvary die,
To accomplish His lifting
To glory on high.

16. He slept in the tomb till
The morning arose,
That signed His release, and
Confounded His foes;
Then, bursting its bars, He
Ascended the sky,
To reign in His glory,
Eternal, on high."

John Kent (1766-1843)

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Redeemed

10/25/2019

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“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13)

This is one of those key verses of scripture we often turn over and over in our hearts and minds, declare in preaching, mention to one another in fellowship, and bring before the throne of grace in our prayers. It is the truth of the Gospel in a sentence. Thank God that He frequently speaks so clearly of the work of His Son in our salvation (Rom. 3:24-25; 5:10; 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Heb. 1:3; 9:12, 14, 26; 10:7-14; Col. 1:21-22; Eph. 2:1-10; John 3:14-15; 10:11, 15). Here are some clear lessons taught from Galatians 3:13.

Substitution. One bore the sins and endured the penalty of God for many who sinned: for “us.” Christ is the One. God’s elect are the “us,” who believe Christ crucified as all of our salvation (Acts 13:48). Their sins were laid on Him. He confessed them as His own (Lev. 16:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:21). He bore them in His own body up to and upon the tree, the place of cursing (1 Pet. 2:24). Now we receive the blessing of His sacrificial love (Gal. 3:8). He was cursed with the curse we deserved that we might be released from that curse and blessed with the blessing that He deserves.
Satisfaction. Christ, by His death, satisfied God in the justice called for by His law. Full satisfaction was made to God for His elect because Christ made full payment when He willingly gave Himself in total sacrifice, in His own blood. The curse of God’s law is therefore removed from them. “Justice will not twice demand, payment first at my bleeding Surety’s hand, and then again at mine” (from John Newton).
Grace. Mercy and Truth met together in Christ on the cross. Righteousness and Peace kissed each other (Psalm 85:1-10; Isa. 12:1-3; 53:3-12). God delivered up His Son to the full judgment of His curse against sinners. Zechariah 13:7 draws the dramatic picture for us. The curse of God’s law is compared to His sword. God the Father, in unspeakable grace and inflexible justice, drew the sword of His judgment and plunged it into the bosom of His own Son in full satisfaction to Himself, both in justice and in His grace towards the most ill-deserving of sinners (Eph. 5:2). Nowhere is the glory of God’s grace seen more brightly than here (Heb. 1:3; John 12:23-33; 17:1-4). Christ bore our sins in His own body under the curse that was pronounced upon us. My sins, our sins, our guilt, our shame before God, and God’s curse, all came upon the "Fellow" of Jehovah God the Father: upon God the Son. The Son of God in our nature bore our sins and curse under the hand of God’s chastisement. He bore the beatings my sins deserved (Isaiah 53:5). There, then, God smelled a sweet-smelling savor (Eph. 5:2). My sins with all of the sins of God’s elect, were removed from me. Full payment has been made and received. God Himself has given the glad news in the Gospel Report (Isa. 53). He shall never remember our sins anymore (Heb. 10:17-18; Jer. 50:20; Num. 23:21)!
Success. Christ obtained eternal redemption by the payment of His own blood (Heb. 9:12): One offering, satisfaction to justice received, eternal redemption obtained. There is no possibility here. It is irrevocably done. All of the redeemed shall be with Christ in glory (John 6:37-40; 17:1-5, 23-24; Isa. 53:11; Luke 15:3-7). It happened once in history, on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem. The Son of God made a complete atonement to God for our sins. God is completely satisfied. We are utterly clean (Lev. 16:30; Heb. 1:3). And we are free. We are no longer servants. God's predestinating purpose of grace by Jesus Christ has been fulfilled in us who believe (Eph. 1:4-7). We are sons. God Himself has given His Spirit to us to bear witness from His word in our hearts that it is so (Gal. 4:1-6; John 1:12-13).
Witness. From His exalted throne, Christ sends His Spirit from the Father to chosen, redeemed sinners (Acts 2:33-36, 39). He takes away the stony heart and gives us a heart of flesh (Rom. 6:17). The curse is broken. We are born of God. We live because Christ lives in us by His Spirit. He has given us faith in Himself (Acts 3:16; 20:21; Heb. 12:2). We now see and are persuaded and trust Christ by God’s testimony concerning His Son. By this God-given faith, we receive the witness of His Spirit in our hearts. We have God’s own warrant to call God our Father, because by His adopting choice of us in Christ, by Christ’s redeeming work, and by the Spirit of Christ in us, we know we are the sons of God, heirs of God Himself with Christ (John 1:12-13; Gal. 4:4-6; John 20:17).

Rick Warta

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Christ exalted above our praise (Neh. 9:5)

10/25/2019

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To be made to own my sin and the punishment I deserve before God in my conscience, is the posture in which God brings us before Himself as guilty, filthy, naked and helpless, without one plea, but that Christ died for sinners, even sinners like me (Luke 18:13; 1 Tim. 1:15). Being thus brought into His presence by His grace, He points poor sinners to Christ and tells them how Christ, by Himself, purged our sins and then sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb. 1:3). He makes us know that the answer He received from Christ is the only answer God has and accepts for sinners, and therefore, the only answer sinners must have.

Oh my soul! The Lord Jesus Christ is a complete answer! He is the answer God determined before time to provide and give and accept for His people (1 Pet. 1:18-20). Christ gave Himself for His people (John 10:11, 15; Gal. 2:20). He answered every charge and every requirement with Himself as our Surety. His offering of Himself to God for our sins is so complete and perfect and holy that God couldn't be more satisfied (Eph. 5:2; Rom. 4:25). He couldn’t be more pleased. He wants nothing more to accept us with full delight than Christ and Him crucified. Christ is the Answer God determined and provided and offered up and accepted for His people (Rom. 8:32-34). Christ is the only possible answer the justice of God will accept for sinners. He is the only possible fulfillment to the requirements of God (Rom. 10:4; Heb. 7:11, 19; 10:14-19). He alone is wise enough to answer God for His people (Isaiah 53:11; 1 Cor. 1:30). He answered with Himself. He is the Answer. He gave Himself by His word in pledge for them before time (Rev. 13:8; Eph. 5:25). He gave Himself when He came into the world (Heb. 10:5-7). He answered with Himself for them when the soldiers came for Him, sent by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God (John 18:8; Acts 2:23). He answered with Himself on the cross when those nails were driven into His hands and feet to fasten Him to the curse assigned to us (Luke 23:34; Gal. 3:13). He answered justice and righteousness publicly when He hung on the cursed cross, enduring the wrath of God, and when He rose again from the dead in triumph over sin and death (Rom. 4:25; 5:21). Upon assuming His throne, He sent His answer by His apostles and prophets and servants to sinners far and wide: “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). He purged our sins by His answer of Himself in sacrifice to God for us (1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5; Lev. 16:30). The confirmation of God that His answer was accepted in heaven is that He rose from death, ascended to glory, is exalted to God’s right hand, and has sat down there to reign over all (Acts 2:33-36). He now answers with Himself at God’s right hand in advocacy and intercession (1 John 2:1-2; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). In Judgment, He will Answer by Himself again (John 5:24-25; 8:11; Rom. 8:1, 34). The onlooking universe will wonder at His answer. They will wonder because then, against all accusers, God will receive His own without sin, justified in Christ and by Christ the Judge. They will appear dressed in the splendor of Christ’s own everlasting righteousness to the everlasting glory of all the perfections of God. God the Father will then consummate His eternally determined will to have a people for Himself as His sons. He will perform the ceremony of marriage between Christ and His Church that His eternal decree made before time (Eph. 1:4; Rev. 13:8). All whose sins Christ purged will then be presented in the presence of God in Christ without fault, holy and without blame (Jude 1:24). And God will receive them to His exceeding great joy, because Christ fulfilled His eternal will to save them, and glorified His name and presented His people to Himself in all of His glory, infinitely better than if they had never sinned in their own person.

Christ purged ours sins before God (Lev. 16:30; Heb. 1:3). He washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1:5). There is absolutely nothing left for us to be reconciled to God. Our past sins and present sins and future sins are now as though they never were (Rom. 8:1). We are as holy as God Himself is holy by the blood of Christ (Heb. 10:10, 14; Jer. 23:5-6; Isa. 45:24-25; Isa. 61:10). There is no other place or time of purging in this universe than when Christ purged our sins at Calvary, and when He sprinkled that cleansing on our conscience (Heb. 9:12-15). What could be more glorious?! It is the most glorious thing in all this universe that God, whom we offended by our sins, chose us and knew us in Christ before time, that He provided Christ, and that Christ performed all to God for us in our place and in our behalf, and that God is completely and utterly satisfied with the blood of Christ as full payment, in full remission, in perfect satisfaction and glorious fulfillment of all that He requires and demands in all of His holiness. And yes, it is the most glorious thing that Christ crucified is all that God desires to receive us as He receives His Son to the praise of the glory of His grace!

What shall we say to these things? If the Levites who ministered the law of Moses to the people said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" (Neh. 9:5); how much more shall we stand up and forever and ever bless the LORD our God who became our Savior (Isa. 12:1-3)! His glorious name is exalted above all blessing and praise. Our greatest gratitude, our most ardent praise, our highest admiration, all fall far short of His glorious name. But by believing Christ crucified with the God-given sight and persuasion and trust, that He has by Himself cleansed us of all our sins, we come as close to pure worship in this life that we will ever know. We now live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. He has done all for us. The Gospel is as much greater than the law than the ministration of life is greater than the ministration of death. It is as much greater than the law than our justification in the court of heaven is greater than our eternal condemnation under the wrath of God. It is as much greater than our liberty from sin and satan and death and the shackles and fear of God's law is greater than our curse by the law to our eternal perdition.

May we therefore have grace, by this salvation that is all of grace, to serve our God and Savior acceptably with reverence and godly fear. His glorious name is exalted far above all that we could thank or praise.

Rick Warta

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Faith comes by hearing the Gospel

10/25/2019

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Believers believe. They do not hold to faith they had sometime in the past. Rather, by their daily thoughts and words and actions, especially their prayers, they exercise a present, active dependence upon Christ. This dependence comes from looking upon Him. It comes from handling Him in consideration of His saving mercy to me and His saving work for me personally. This dependence is looking to Him. It is taking and handling Him in our hearts by faith, turning Him over in our mind, holding Him in our conscience against every accusation and in hope of eternal life (1 Tim. 1:1; Gal. 5:5). The believer’s mind is shaped and corrected and guided away from all that is false to Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Our sinful attitudes are thus checked and confessed as wrong. We call on God to conform us to Christ’s image and teach us and change our minds and turn us to Christ again and again (Psa. 80; Jer. 31:18-19; Hosea 14:1-4). We eat and drink of Christ and Him crucified (John 6:35-56). We are conscious of our need of Him moment by moment. He is our life. This looking, taking, handling, eating and drinking for instruction and in admiration and dependence on Christ and Him crucified is our daily walk. But it did not and does not arise from ourselves (Eph. 2:8-9). It is the operation of the Spirit of Christ in us (Gal. 2:20; 3:14; 4:6; Col. 1:27; 2:6, 12). It is the work of His grace (Php. 2:12-13). It is the believer’s walk of faith in Christ (Rom. 8:1-4).

Now, this seeing and eating and drinking and taking and handling -- this walk of faith -- is enabled by a continuous intake of the Gospel. Faith comes to us in one way only: from God, by grace, through hearing His word concerning Christ and Him crucified (Rom. 10:16-17). The hearing of faith is not merely hearing the words of scripture as words. Nor is it only an intellectual understanding of the truth of scripture. But it is hearing the message of Christ’s person and work as the truth of my salvation (Eph. 1:13). It is the revelation of God’s own glorious person to me in the truth of the Gospel of Christ crucified (Heb. 9:12-15). It is therefore essential that we hear the Gospel of Christ continuously. In this way, we live upon Christ. Because we live upon Him, because He is our life, we want those we love and know to also hear of Christ: to live by Him and to live upon Him. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by hearing the Gospel of Christ preached. The Gospel is the “report” from heaven. It is the good news from God, the teaching of Christ’s sin-atoning death and everlasting righteousness, that righteousness which He established for His people. All who are born of God believe in Christ and are persuaded they must hear of Him all the time (Isa. 53:1; Rom. 10:16-17).

I must believe and I must be believing. I must therefore hear and I must be hearing. I live in Christ and by Christ only if I live upon Christ by faith. I must therefore be eating and drinking by faith of His flesh and blood as I hear and muse upon the Gospel in my heart, turning it over and over again as a precious gem, as savory meat, as cool water to a thirsty soul. As a continuously needy sinner, I must go in my heart as a sinner to God by the blood of Jesus Christ. I must freely take the water of life from Him. I must handle Him and look upon Him and taste and eat and drink of Him with the hands and mouth and ears and eyes of God-given faith. Oh Lord, increase our faith (Luke 17:5)!

Rick Warta

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Salvation is of the LORD

10/25/2019

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In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul surveys the national privileges the nation of Israel enjoyed and the promises God made to “Israel.” Paul loved his countrymen. But He wanted to justify God. He wanted to remove any thought that God did not accomplish His will, or that He was unfaithful to His word. He wanted to dispel any claim that His word had somehow failed. He also wanted to silence the objection that salvation must in some way depend upon sinful man. He wanted to do these things in light of the fact that only a small remnant in Israel were saved. Therefore, by the Spirit of God, Paul wrote, “6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Romans 9:6-8). God’s promises, covenants and our salvation depend on God alone. They do not depend on us in any way. God purposed and promised and has spoken. He Himself, by Himself, brings His own word to pass (Isaiah 46:10-11; Hebrews 1:3).

The lesson is clear. outward, national, religious privileges; family relations, general promises and associations with God's people, are not enough to save you and me. Election and redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ and God's call to life must be individual, definite, specific and effectual. God must show each of us individual sovereign mercy and special grace. It must be by His own purpose of grace, by His determinate counsel and will. It is not enough that God chooses to save some. He must have chosen me. It is not enough that Jesus died. He must have died for me. It is not enough that God is the God of all grace. He must be gracious to me. It is not enough that the Gospel is preached. The Spirit of God must write it upon my heart. He must make me hear His Gospel with life-giving power and raise me to life with Christ. It is not enough that we are saved through faith. God must give me faith to believe. I must see with God-given sight. I must hear with God-given ears. I must live upon Christ with God-given life. And all of this must be by God’s sovereign grace. If you and I are persuaded of this, we will individually cry, call, come, take, handle, eat and drink of Christ in His work to save sinners by the sacrifice of Himself according to the eternal will of God.

Rick Warta

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Cause and Effect

10/11/2019

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“That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom He hath called…” (Rom. 9:24).

This past week has been very windy here in northern California. You know when it’s windy. It’s easy to tell. I expect you didn’t even think to question how I knew it was windy here. We all know when the wind is blowing because we see its effects. Wind exerts a force. You can’t see the force, but you can see the effects of it. Trees bend. Clouds move. Leaves fly about. You feel the pressure and cool sensations on your skin. You easily recognize these as the effects of wind.

An invisible cause is known by its effects. The cause of our salvation is the eternal love and electing grace of God in Christ. If God’s eternal love and electing grace is the cause, what is the effect? How do I know if I am one whom God loves, one He chose in Christ, one He predestinated to be His son by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ and by the birth of His Holy Spirit? As we know a cause by its effects, we know our election and justification by God’s call. Election is the cause of our salvation. God’s effectual call by His Spirit through the Gospel is the effect of His saving grace to us. How do I know if I am “the called of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:6)? Because “the called” call (1 Cor. 1:2). How did John’s disciples know that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ? Because, He fulfilled the scriptures that spoke of Messiah: the deaf hear. The blind see. The dead are raised. To the poor, the Gospel is preached. The unbelieving believe. The mute call. These are the effects. God’s electing grace in Christ is the cause. God calls all of His chosen in Christ.

Who are the “vessels of mercy which He had prepared afore to glory?” The answer is given to us. “Even us, whom he hath called” (Rom. 9:23-24). As God the Father chose His people in Christ and predestinated them to be His sons by Jesus Christ, even so, He recorded in scripture that He would call them (Hosea 1:10; 2:23; Rom. 9:24). If God wrote it before in scripture, He determined it before He wrote it. As early as He determined to save, He chose whom He would save in Jesus Christ. As early as He determined to save, He determined to call them. He promised in scripture that He would perform what He determined to do from eternity. And in our lifetime, in our personal history, when it pleases Him, He calls us in fulfillment of His promise (Gal. 1:15). His call is the open manifestation to us that we are His, that we are the called of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:10; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:2). It is clear from Romans 9:23-24 that God prepared His vessels of mercy to glory before He called them. And so we know that our election to salvation was before He called us by His Holy Spirit.

I know it’s windy. How? I see tree branches bend and leaves fly about. I know my election. How? My understanding and will and affections are turned from unbelief to behold and trust and love Christ by the grace of God. God did it. He sent His word in the Gospel (Rom. 10:16-17). He still sends the Gospel of Christ to us. He applies Christ crucified to my heart by His Holy Spirit. We know these things because He Himself revealed them to us (John 3:8-15; Rom. 10:13-17; John 6:44-45, 63). And thus we know not only our election, but our justification and our future glorification with Christ. God has revealed it. “29 Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30). Who will be with Christ in glory? All whom God justified by the blood of Christ on the cross (Rom. 5:9, 19). Who did God justify in Christ? All those He called to life and faith in Christ (Rom. 8:30). Who did God know in love before time? All those He predestinated to be unfailingly conformed to the image of His dear Son. When we see the vessels of mercy with Christ in glory, we will see the effect of God’s electing, predestinating grace. When we are conformed to the image of His dear Son, then we will know that we were loved and predestinated in Christ before time by God our Father. But we don’t have to wait that long. If we find ourselves believing on the Son of God as our Savior and Lord, believing His work as all of our righteousness and life, then the irresistible scalpel of the Gospel applied by the Spirit of God to our hearts has given us life with faith in Christ (Col. 2:12). The wind blows where it pleases (John 3:8). You hear the sound of it. You see its effects. You therefore know it is the work of the wind. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. They show the effects. They look to Christ. They see and are persuaded by the grace of God, that God made their sins Christ's own and cursed Him for them and therefore, God justified me by Him.

Do you believe on the Son of God? Then you were chosen in Christ before the world began by God the Father, chosen to know Christ, chosen to salvation and eternal life and glory, to sonship, to justification and forgiveness of sins by the blood and righteousness of Christ; chosen to bear the seal of God’s sons, the witness of the Spirit of God in your heart, the Spirit of adoption. You therefore cry, “My Father! My Savior! My Lord! My God!” (John 20:28; Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4-6).

Rick Warta

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