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Who is He that Condemneth?

9/26/2016

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There are a few scriptures to which I frequently fly. They are my surest refuge and standing against all doubts and fears. When I am alone and read them, I sometimes laugh with delight and a tear in my eye. One of these is Romans 8:34. I suppose no text in all the Bible is more comforting to my soul than this one. If I could afford it, I would have it chiseled on my tombstone. Think of what passersby would say when they look down to read that headstone, wondering who might be buried there: “It is Christ that died!” It might confuse them. I would hope that their confusion would be turned to bright shining by this glorious truth, that they would be enabled to take to themselves this truth as the whole truth about the way things are between believing sinners and God (John 3:33)!

Ruth desired only what she had with Naomi: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried” (Ruth 1:16-17). Every believer desires only what they have in Christ. May His life by my life. May His death be my death. May His blood and righteousness be my justification. May I be in Him and be where He is. May my only desire be what He desires!

Romans 8:34 answers every question, does it not? What is God like? How holy is God? What is sin? What is grace? What is the center stake in the tent of history and God’s eternal purpose? What is the center and circumference of God’s glory? What silences every doubt in the weakest believer? What gives assurance in conscience? What is my answer in judgment? What emboldens weak men in the face of death and against every enemy? Christ and Him crucified is the one answer to every question: “It is Christ that died!”

If it is Christ who died, God must have required Him to die. If it is Christ who died, He must have given His own life. If it is Christ who died, He must have accomplished God’s will in His death. Because it is Christ who died, God in His wisdom calls forth this answer to every question that plagues the conscience of believing sinners: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died!” Every enemy must stand down at His answer. It comes from the highest tribunal.

The Son of God, the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, descended from heaven. He took our nature. He was made under God’s law. He perfectly obeyed in all things (Heb. 10:7; John 19:30). He then took our sins in His own body and carried them up to the tree of cursing (1 Pet. 2:24; Gal. 3:13). He was punished as a transgressor, because He took the trespasses of His people as His own (Isa. 53). He answered every claim that God Himself could ever have against chosen sinners. The ordinances that were against us were nailed to His cross (Col. 2:15). He suffered the punishment of those broken laws. The court of heaven ruled in His favor. The decision of the court was rendered. He that first descended, now ascended (Eph. 4:9)! All for whom He stood received God’s answer with Him. As those were silenced who dragged the adulterous woman to Jesus to condemn her, the devil was then cast out heaven (John 8:1-11; Rev. 12:10-11; John 12:23-33).


The peal of this bell from the courthouse of God’s throne resounds eternal in God’s word, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifieth! Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33-34)! There has never been a time that any could condemn one of God’s elect: not in time, not in eternity. Before creation was called from the page of God’s eternal will out of its nothingness, nothing could be laid to the charge of God’s elect. Before Adam fell and after Adam fell in the garden, nothing could be laid to the charge of God’s elect. Why? Because in choosing His people, God the Father chose them in Christ. By Him, He answered all for them. His answer is Christ. And His answer is now my answer. It is the answer of every believing sinner. Christ must answer for me at all times: before the world began, in His life, when He offered Himself to God, when He rose, now in my conscience, in the Day of Judgment, and throughout the everlasting ages of eternity. The devil is silent against Him who is my answer! But God is not silent. He declares this good news in the hearts of believing sinners and to sinners far and wide. The King has triumphed (Col. 2:15)! God is glorified in Him (John 13:32)! The elect are justified! The Gospel proclamation therefore goes forth: “Be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20-21)!
Rick Warta
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Hear Ye Him!

9/18/2016

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I recently talked with a young man who got himself into a great deal of trouble. He is resolved to never do it again. Reflecting on his prospects, he expressed his confidence and thankfulness that the Lord has important things for his life. He said that he thinks this is why the Lord allowed him to get into trouble and spared him.

A couple of thoughts immediately come to mind. First, I think of all the times I have said something very wrong and foolish in my ignorance. Things I believed at the time were true. But in most cases I was dead wrong. God’s word and time have proved me wrong. Second, I remember, to my comfort, how many times Peter spoke out of ignorance. Remember Matt. 17:1-ff? Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. He appeared in His glory. “His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matt. 17:2). Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus at that time. They spoke to Him of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). The sight was overwhelming. Peter spoke, as if he had to say something, but he spoke ill-advisedly. He said, “Let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias” (Matt. 17:4). By so saying, Peter put Christ, Moses and Elijah on equal footing. He blurted it out, intending to contribute something spiritual and meaningful, but it was blasphemy. As soon as he said it, immediately, a cloud overshadowed them. A voice spoke from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;  hear ye him ” (Matt. 17:5)! It was God the Father who spoke! He spoke to correct Peter. He indirectly corrects us of similarly misguided thoughts and words. Scripture says that when the disciples heard God thus speak, they fell on their faces and were sore afraid. No wonder! They heard the voice of God the Father correct their foolish, ignorant thoughts and words. How many numberless times have I thought and said so many more foolish things than this! Yet hear what the Lord Jesus, our great Mediator did. “He came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid” (Matt. 17:7).


When the young man with whom I spoke told me he was confident God had important things for him to do in his life, I thought of all the times in my youth that I thought similar things. Now, I look back at the mess of my life, and wonder that the Lord saved me at all! I am beginning to see that if the Lord has something important for me, it will be that I am an object of His saving grace (John 17:1-4)! He will give me faith to see that Christ is all. If He thus has compassion on me, and gives me eyes to see that with Christ alone, God is well-pleased, that I am to hear Him only, and that in believing Him I give glory to God, then my eyes are open (1 Cor. 1:30-31; John 6:29). The Lord Jesus Christ will receive all of the glory in our lives and our salvation. I must hear Him. I must see Him, and I must see and hear Him only. “If thine eye is single, thy whole body shall be full of light" (Luke 11:43) “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity (the only way, truth, and life) that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3, Acts 4:12; Col. 2:9-10). Faith establishes the law because faith sees that Christ fulfilled it and pleased God by His obedience unto death (Rom. 3:31; Philippians 2:6-8). Will God do great things with me? If He does, He will bring me down and bring me to Christ. He will put me in the dust, and teach me that I am nothing and that Christ is all. He will cause me to see beauty and greatness in Him alone, and increasingly loathe myself. The Son of God is great. He has done great things for us. God the Father is pleased with Him. God does great things when He raises dead sinners to life, and gives them eyes to see Christ, and a tongue to tell of His greatness. When He does, it is in spite of our evil, ignorant, arrogant, foolish thoughts and words. I need the Lord Jesus Christ to come to me, to touch me and to tell me to “Arise, be not afraid.” Then I see that He is great. God’s grace is made perfect in weakness. There is no greater strength than knowing I am nothing and Christ is all (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
Rick Warta
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Be Not A Terror Unto Me

9/12/2016

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There are four verses in Jeremiah 17 that stand out to me.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it” (Jer. 17:9)?

“A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary” (Jer. 17:12)!

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise” (Jer. 17:14)!

“Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil” (Jer. 17:17)!

From the first verse, Jer. 17:9, I feel the pain of the truth of myself before God. My heart is deceitful above all things. It hurts to know it. My case is bad. I cannot recover myself. Nor would I know this unless God revealed it in His word. I would deceive myself into thinking I was acceptable, or could make myself acceptable to God. I can’t. My heart is thoroughly corrupt by nature.

In the second verse, Jer. 17:12, we see the only place of safety. We learn where our eternal refuge is. What is it? It is the throne of Christ! He has risen victorious over all of our enemies (1 Cor. 15:57; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12)! This believer’s only ground of confidence before God is that Christ lived and died and rose for me. He has risen because His obedience and sacrifice for me fulfilled all, and was accepted by God, in my place. He now reigns to bring to pass in my experience all that He accomplished on the cross. He intercedes at God’s right hand in His own person, as my Mediator and successful, conquering King (Rom. 8:34). This is my sanctuary. Here, I am accepted by God. Here, I am safe. Here, I know God. Here, I commune with God.

In the third verse, Jer. 17:14, we see the salvation that flows to us from the throne of Christ. “Heal me, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved. For thou art my praise!” Though we were chosen by God in Christ before the world began (Eph. 1:4), and though Christ redeemed us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), yet God has ordained that we will only be saved if we are born of God. The salvation to which we were ordained and which Christ purchased with His own blood for us, must be given to us. It is given in the new birth. We are thus healed of our sin plague and raised from spiritual death to the praise of the glory of His grace.

In the last of these four verses, Jer. 17:17, we feel a great comradery with Jeremiah. Destruction and captivity were determined by God upon Jerusalem. In all of life we face untold enemies and anxieties. Yet in all of them, our hope, our certain expectation, is in Christ (2 Sam. 23:5; Rom. 5:3-10). The Spirit of God, by the mouth of Jeremiah, puts this prayer into our heart and mouth to carry to the throne of grace: “Be not a terror unto me, for thou art my hope in the day of evil” (Jer. 17:17)! Evil is constantly with us. Paul said, “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (Rom. 7:21). Evil is found inside and outside of us. Inward corruption, the flood of deception from false religion, dangers from wicked men who hate Christ and His people, and the devil himself would swallow us up (Ps. 124:1-8). Yet in all of these, we look to Christ. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11; 1 John 5:4).

Often I feel as if God’s own word raises objections to my salvation: requirements and evidences, all things I am loath to find. I cry, “Lord, be not a terror unto me, for thou art my hope in the day of evil!”

The woman in Matt. 15:21-28 is of great comfort here. Christ’s words must have struck terror into her heart. First, no answer. Then, the rebuff of His disciples. Then, His own purpose for coming seemed to leave her out (but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel). And finally, bread for the children only! No bread for dogs?! I can almost hear her cry, “Lord, be not a terror unto me! For thou art my hope in the day of evil!” Whatever your fear, never let that thing drive you from Christ’s mercy. “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Ps. 62:8).
Rick Warta
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My Foot Slippeth!

9/5/2016

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“When I said, My foot slippeth! Thy mercy, O LORD, held me up” (Ps. 94:18)!

Psalm 94 is a prayer of the Church for deliverance from her enemies. Our enemies are diverse and they are strong. But Christ is almighty. Sin is my greatest enemy. It is relentless. It opposes me every moment of every day. It is strange to find that my chief enemy is what I am by nature. Were it not for Christ, it would be my eternal ruin. And if it were not for God’s word, I could never admit it, nor would I have any reason to hope in spite of it. Yet certain and ultimate victory is exactly what God has promised and what Christ has accomplished in His triumph over my sin!

“Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins” (Isa. 40:2).

“Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away” (Ps. 65:3).

“He will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).

“This is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Rom. 11:27).

“The LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex. 17:16). (The Amalek of our flesh.)

"Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me" (Ps. 119:133).

“Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).

“24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:24-25).

You would think that this one enemy would be enough. But there are more. The world is our enemy. The world of antichrist religion and antichrist philosophy oppose and persecute Christ and His people throughout time. These two go arm in arm against Christ and His Church. They oppose with false gospels. And they oppose with physical persecutions. Once again, it is to Christ we flee by faith. His triumph is our victory. “In the world, you shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).

Then there is God’s own law! His law calls for God to curse me. Yes, the law is good. And, yes, I deserve the curse that it demands. Yet for all of the light in God's law that uncovers what I am, it offers no help to cover my guilt or enable me to keep one of its demands. Yet God has reconciled me to His justice in the propitiating blood of His Son (Gal. 3:13; 1 John 4:9-10; Rom. 3:24-25; Luke 18:13). Grace will and must prevail (Rom. 6:14)! Indeed, it is grace that has prevailed. Were it not for grace, I would not and could not see beauty in Christ, could not trust Him, could not know God, could not love Him (Rom. 6:17).

Death and the grave are my enemies too. Yet, because Christ took away the sting of sin, death cannot hurt my soul any more than a shadow can hurt my body (Ps. 23:4).

And the devil is my enemy. Were it not that I found grace in the eyes of the LORD in Christ (Eph. 1:2-4), he would murder me by tempting me to evil, then rising in accusation against me, using God’s law to make his case in the court of heaven (Matt. 6:13; John 8:4-5). But to His cross, Christ has nailed every accusation against me from God’s ordinances (Col. 2:13-15; Lk. 10:18; Jn. 12:31). By His death, Christ silenced all that would condemn me (John 8:11; Rom. 8:34-39). And now it is by faith in Him that every fiery dart of the devil is quenched, and that I actually overcome (Rev. 12:11; Matt. 4:4,7,10 - "It is written!").

Every believer cries by the Spirit of God to Christ in Psalm 94 for the destruction and deliverance from all of their enemies.

"17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. 18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. 19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul" (Ps. 94:17-19).

Our cry goes up to our Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of the fiercest part of the battle. When it seems that our enemy has overcome us in the battle and we are ready to fall, we cry out in our trouble to the Lord Jesus on His throne of grace, the only One who can save us, "My foot slippeth!" Like Peter ready to sink, we cry out, "Lord! Save me" (Matt. 14:30)! When we do, His word concerning Christ enters our thoughts and the multitude and glory of Christ's achievements and promises do then comfort and delight our souls (Ps. 94:19). In all of these, the trial of our faith works this patience of continuance in looking to Christ (James 1:2-4; Col. 1:21-23). Truly, "
Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence!"


What a mercy, that God takes sides with sinners against our sin, against the world, against the curse of His law, against death and the grave and against the devil. It is now truly said, and will be sung throughout eternity, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:7; 2 Cor. 1:10). “5 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
” (Rev. 1:5-6).
Rick Warta
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