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The Gospel Glass

2/1/2020

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People used to refer to mirrors as “looking glasses.” Moses made the laver that Aaron and his sons washed in from the women's looking glasses (Ex. 30:18; 38:8). My mom always told us we were being "vain" to look at ourselves in the mirror. She said her mother was always telling her, “Stop looking at yourself in the mirror; you’re vain!" We all probably remember the witch in the Disney movie, “Snow White and the seven Dwarfs.” She constantly looked at herself in the mirror, saying, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

When we look into a mirror, we see ourselves. Why do we look into the mirror? We look into the mirror to see how we look. The mirror reflects our image. We have a mental image of what we look like. We've seen ourselves countless times before. But we forget, or we wonder how we might have changed, or maybe we simply want to comb our hair to keep from embarrassing our family by our appearance! But we look repeatedly to remind ourselves of what we saw only moments before (James 1:23-25).

Why? If our appearance pleases us, we maintain our sense of pride. If our appearance displeases us, we grow despondent. How many times have you heard of a beautiful woman who thought she was ugly, or saw a person withdraw from the public eye because they thought they had a blemish or defect in their own appearance? How many advertisements focus on improving our outward appearance? Merchants promise to rejuvenate hair loss, remove wrinkles, make our skin look younger, remove unwanted hair, hide blemishes, tighten sagging skin, and many other things. Such appeals bring wealth to merchants who promise beauty in creams, pills, surgery, masks, makeup and so much more.


My mom's mother was right. It is vain to look at ourselves. If we are pleased by our estimation of our appearance, if we vainly think more of ourselves than others, then we are vain. Scripture says, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:30). In this proverb, the woman who fears the LORD is every believer in Christ. She is beautiful in her Savior!

Spiritual navel gazing is a common trap. We look at ourselves to see how we are doing. If by our own measure, we are pleased, we go away in self-contentment. If we are displeased because the mirror reflects somewhat of our true self, we feel ashamed, knowing others will see that we are not pretty. The problem is that we will never find in ourselves what God requires, what pleases God, what God can accept. All interest in our appearance and concern for our self-reflection arises from our sinful hearts. Outward "beauty is vain.” We must look away from ourselves. We must look only to Christ.

The natural man can only see outward appearance. "
Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). This truth is extremely significant. It teaches us that we must be concerned with what the LORD thinks! "The LORD looketh on the heart." And yet, apart from grace, because our heart is deceitful above all things, knowing that God looks on our heart can actually lead us into an even more sinful self-reflection. The admonition, "Examine yourselves" (2 Cor. 13:5) does not mean to examine our own worth or works. The exhortation is to examine whether we are "in the faith." In other words, examine yourself to determine if Christ is all in all of your salvation. Examine yourself to see if you derive your confidence and peace and joy from what God thinks of Christ, not yourself.

Faith is looking to Christ. Faith sees the only object in the Gospel looking glass (2 Cor. 3:18). Christ is that object. He is our confidence and comfort by the Gospel glass.
 Scripture in 2 Cor. 3:18 compares the Gospel to a mirror. Only spiritual eyes can see the image in that mirror. The Gospel reveals — not the image of ourselves — but Christ! The Gospel mirror reveals what God sees in Christ, and that He sees His people in Him! So seeing us in His Son, we are beautiful to God (Rev. 21, the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem).

Unlike all mirrors on earth, the Gospel mirror, by the light that the Spirit of God shines in our hearts, we are enabled to see and glory in Christ crucified (2 Cor. 4:6). We find our joy and confidence before God in Christ alone because He alone is beautiful to God in Himself, and because God sees His people in Him (1 Cor. 1:30).

The good news of the Gospel is that God looks upon His Son as our Surety and sees us in Him.
By God’s grace, He enables us by God-given faith to see Christ crucified, and so seeing, to find all of our acceptance and beauty before God in Him. So finding our all in Christ by faith, we know peace that passes understanding (Isa. 26:1-3) and the joy of the LORD that is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). We have confidence before God by Him (Rom. 15:13; Php. 3:3).

When we look with physical eyes into a mirror on earth to see our outward appearance, our fleshly mind is either vainly puffed up, or our we are disappointed. This is because we put our trust in how we appear to ourselves and to others. This vanity occurs not only when we look at our physical appearance, but much more when we try to measure our own spiritual condition. But when with God-given sight, we look away from ourselves to Christ alone, and by Gospel truth, rely on what God says in His word — that He looks upon His Son and sees His people in Him — then we delight with joy and come to God only by the blood and righteousness of Christ (Heb. 10:19; Isaiah 45:24-25). We go in boldness through faith in Christ, praising God in our hearts because He finds us beautiful in Christ’s comeliness that He has put upon us, the garments of His salvation, the robe of His righteousness (Ezek. 16:14; Isaiah 61:10). In other words, God looks upon us and thinks of us only as He thinks and looks upon Christ, our Surety. This is all-important. This is how we are justified. This is all of our assurance.

Perhaps the greatest and most delightful truth revealed in the Gospel is that, though in Adam and in ourselves we have offended God in all of His holiness and are condemned and under the sentence of death (Rom. 5:12-14), yet before God laid this world’s foundations, He chose us in Christ and accepted Christ as our Surety (Heb. 7:22). From then on, He received from Christ all He required of us, and received us for all that He found in Christ and what He has done to God as our Substitute and Representative Head (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 8:34). Thus we are commanded to look to Christ in the Gospel (Isaiah 45:22; John 3:14-15; Heb. 12:2). In looking to Him, we are "changed into the same image, from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18).

Believers live and walk by "
the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20). They see Christ, the only object in God’s Gospel mirror. They see only Christ and Him crucified, risen, exalted and reigning in the glory of His person and salvation (Psalm 21:5; Heb. 1:3; Php. 2:5-11).

There will be no mirrors in heaven. The One we see in the Gospel glass with eyes of faith now, will be our only vision then. He will appear to us as He is. Then we shall be like Him (Psalm 17:15; 1 John 3:1-2). We are never to think of our condition before God by what we are in ourselves. We are to look away from ourselves as curse-bitten sinners, and look upon Christ as our curse-bearing Savior. In so looking we will find our all in Him: all of our righteousness, all of our acceptance, all of our holiness, all of our beauty, all that pleases God, all that we shall find when we see His face. One day, we shall see Him as He is (John 3:14-15; 1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 10:4; Rev. 22:4).

Isn’t He altogether lovely (Song 5:16)? Isn't He lovely in His humility, in His cheerful giving of Himself to God in love and total sacrifice for our sins to bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18)? Why would we ever be tempted to look to ourselves rather than finding our all in Him? Why would we ever seek honor to ourselves in light of His glory in our salvation, because God has told us what we are in Christ and because He receives us for His sake alone?

We are complete in Him in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9-10)! Isn’t that enough! God says this is true for every believer (Rom. 10:4; Isaiah 45:24-25).

Faith enables us to see what is true of Christ for sinners. In so seeing, faith brings near what God says is true. In so seeing what is true, we have what we see.
Forget all that you are by your own estimation of yourself. Abandon your own righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). Forget the ugliness of your sin by looking to Christ lifted up on the cross and risen and ascended to glory at the right hand of God.

In the Gospel mirror, there is only One who is fairer than them all. It is Christ Jesus our Lord (Psalm 45:2).

Rick Warta
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The Living Shall Praise Thee (Isaiah 38:19)

1/11/2020

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In the days of Isaiah, king Hezekiah fell sick. God revealed by Isaiah that it was a sickness unto death (Isa. 38:1). Isaiah spoke the word of the LORD to Hezekiah. He said, “Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isa. 38:1). Hezekiah then prayed to the LORD. The LORD heard his prayer. He promised to recover him from his sickness and to add fifteen years to his life.
I often thought Hezekiah was to be faulted for this because he did not simply acquiesce to the LORD’s revealed will. Isn’t the LORD’s will always good and right (Psalm 145:17)? Wasn’t Hezekiah overly concerned for himself? After all, wasn’t it the LORD’s revealed will that he should die from his sickness?

But see in his prayer the reasoning and importunity of faith (Luke 18:1-8). Hezekiah made his plea to the LORD. There is a great lesson here. We may know God’s revealed will with certainty. Certainly, we all shall die someday. But do we know God’s secret will? Who can tell if God’s secret will is that we should implore importunately to live? And how shall we live if Christ does not live in us by His Spirit (Gal. 2:20)? Isn’t this reasonable, since God has promised, “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord [Jesus Christ] shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13)?

Didn’t the woman of Canaan, who was clearly a Gentile and whose daughter was vexed by a devil so plead with the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh (Matt. 15:21-28)? Didn’t it seem by the Lord’s first three answers to her that He would not help her? First He answered her not a word (Matt. 15:23). Then the disciples made intercession to the Lord against her (Matt. 15:23; Rom. 11:2)? Then He told her He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And finally, He told her it was not right to give the children’s bread to dogs! I am sure at Christ’s first silence I would have given up. But here again, the Lord’s revealed will was one thing, but His secret will was another. It was His secret will to try her faith that He might draw out the gift He had given to her, that He might be glorified by His work of faith in her. He gave her faith. It was He who persuaded her not to give up. She believed the truth about Him: He is ever compassionate, merciful and ready to save needy sinners. Like the king of Nineveh, “
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?” (Jonah 3:9).


Now, let us draw great encouragement from Hezekiah and from the woman of Tyre and Sidon, those cursed cities (Joel 3:4). Let us reason from God’s word in prayer as Hezekiah and the woman of Tyre did. Let us go in faith to our all-compassionate, merciful God and Savior in prayer with God’s own word (Hosea 14:1-3).

“Can the dead praise Thee, O Lord? Can I live and praise Thee if I do not know Thee? Can I believe you if you do not first open my heart by life-giving operations of your Holy Spirit from the Gospel (Acts 16:14; Eph. 2:4)? Have you not given your faithful word that you came to save sinners, of whom I am chief (1 Tim. 1:13-15)? Would it please you therefore, O my Savior, to glorify your grace by granting me repentance to the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, to believe and love you, Lord Jesus (2 Tim. 2:24-25; Titus 1:1)? Can I praise you, O merciful Savior, if you do not make yourself known to me from the Gospel and give me eternal life (John 17:2-3)? There is nothing too hard for Thee (Gen. 18:14)! ‘The living, the living, he shall praise thee’ (Isa. 38:19). Therefore, I do beseech Thee, O Lord: make me know your lovingkindness in the low bosom of my heart, and give me eyes of faith to see Christ and Him crucified, and turn my eyes toward you in your saving work on the cross (John 3:14-15). Uphold and increase that faith too that I might make mention of your lovingkindness and teach sinners that they might be converted unto Thee  (Psalm 51:13). It is true, I deserve to perish for my sins. But is it not better that I should praise Thee for your so great salvation, than that I should perish in my sins? ‘The living, the living, he shall praise Thee.’ Therefore, gracious Savior, cleanse me of my sins and subdue them too, that I might see and believe and know and worship you forever and ever, to the praise and glory of your grace.”
Rick Warta
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The Obedience of Faith (Romans 16:25-26)

1/4/2020

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By God’s design, we are saved through faith so that our salvation might be all of grace and have nothing to do with our works (Rom. 4:16). Faith is not of ourselves (Eph. 2:8). It is not inherent in us. We cannot produce it. God gives faith as it seems good to Him. It is the gift of His grace. Not all men have faith (2 Thess. 3:2). No man by nature understands or seeks God (Rom. 3:11). God has concluded all in unbelief (Rom. 11:32). Yet Paul said he was "an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect" (Titus 1:1). Faith is therefore the unique possession of God’s elect alone, which He gives out of grace alone (Titus 1:1; Acts 13:48; 2 Pet. 1:1).

Scripture speaks of the Gospel as the revelation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified (Romans 1:1-5, 16-17; 1 Cor. 1:17-31; 2:2; 15:1-4). It is “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8). Christ is the One revealed in the Gospel. He is the Truth (John 1:17-18; 14:6). The Gospel is the truth of Christ and our salvation in and by Him (Eph. 1:13; Isa. 12:2; Matt. 1:21, 23). And “the faith” is another name for the Gospel, the truth of our salvation (Acts 13:8; Rom. 3:3; Gal. 1:23; Eph. 4:13). Our faith holds Christ, the Son of God, the crucified, risen and reigning Lamb of God as all of our confidence (Php. 3:3; Matt. 16:16) and hope (1 Tim. 1:1). Our faith in Christ is called “obedience.”

In 1 Peter 3:1, wives are instructed to submit to their husbands that if any husband “obey not the word”, he may without the word be won (converted) by the conversation (manner of life) of his wife. The unbelieving husband is disobedient to the word. Therefore, faith is obedience to the word, that is, the Gospel.
​

In Romans 10:16, the Apostle Paul cited Isaiah 53:1. He equated what Isaiah called disobedience to unbelief of the Gospel.  “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel,” for Isaiah said, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” (Rom. 10:16). Here again, we see the equivalence between Gospel obedience and faith in Christ. Faith in Christ is Gospel obedience.

We find Gospel obedience defined in several scriptures. In Romans 10:8, Paul quotes and explains God’s words by Moses from Deuteronomy 30:12-14. Paul says, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (Rom. 10:8). But in Deuteronomy. 30:12-14, Moses told Israel not to think in their hearts or ask, “Who shall go into heaven to bring this commandment to us that we may do it? Or, who shall go beyond the sea (into the deep) and bring it to us that we may do it?" Moses went on to say, “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” (Deut. 30:12-14). Thus, the Spirit of God by Paul explains Moses’ words to us. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (Rom. 10:8). The obedience of which Moses spoke and which Paul explained is faith in Christ and Him crucified. That obedience is faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator, who descended from heaven to Calvary's cross and ascended back to heaven to heaven's throne (compare John 3:13-15 and Eph. 4:10-11 to Romans 10:6-9). Thus, the Gospel is sent by God and preached by His servants and “made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:25-26).

Peter spoke of the obedience of faith by inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he said, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). The Holy Spirit gives us faith in Christ, and in believing, He sprinkles our conscience with the blood of Christ. This is God's application to us of our salvation that Christ finished at Calvary. In believing Christ and Him crucified, Christ becomes our only and all-sufficient confidence and hope before God, now in our conscience and in the day of Judgment. And as God has given us to believe Christ according to the truth of His word, so it is that we already possess the salvation that was accomplished by Christ and finished in heaven. Faith brings near to us what is true in heaven (Matt. 6:10; Heb. 11:1).
​
Peter also spoke of the obedience of faith in 1 Peter 4:17. “
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” And Peter said
again, “Who by him [Christ] do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:21-22). Thus, we believe Christ through the work of the Spirit of God. In so doing, we receive application in our own experience of Christ’s blood and His justifying righteousness. Believing Christ is the obedience of faith.

The Apostle Paul spoke in numerous places of the obedience of faith: at the outset of his epistle to the Romans (Rom. 1:5), in the middle of that epistle (Rom. 10:16-17) and at the close of it (Rom. 16:25-26). Paul referred to this obedience of faith as being freed from enslavement to sin. "God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you" (Rom. 6:17).

Gospel obedience is faith in Christ. Faith is God’s gift (Eph. 2:8-9). It is the gift of His grace (Acts 18:27). All who believe Christ were ordained to eternal life and are therefore drawn to come to Christ by faith in Him (Acts 13:48; John 6:29, 35, 65).

Saving faith has but one object of confidence and hope: it is Christ who finished the work of our salvation and who — as Son of Man and Son of God — is crowned with glory and honor (John 3:13; Eph. 4:9-10), the same glory He had with His Father before the world was (John 17:4-5). Faith looks to Christ as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). Faith looks to Him who was lifted up upon the cross as our sin-bearing, curse-bearing Substitute. Faith is the realization and persuasion that He was successful, and that proof of His success is that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10). Faith sees Christ exalted in glory, reigning with universal dominion for our eternal salvation to bring about the eternal will of God (Rev. 21:1-6), that we might know God in Christ, and see His glory in Christ’s person and work (John 1:14-18, 29; 2 Cor. 4:6).


Faith is the transformation of our thinking from all that is false to the truth. Faith is seeing and thinking rightly of Christ. Repentance is being brought to faith in Christ (Luke 15:1-6). It is that change of mind to see and think about ourselves and Christ and God and salvation and life as God teaches in His word. We view all of these things through the light of the Gospel of Christ.

Jude calls this faith our “most holy faith” (Jude 1:20). It is only in believing Christ as all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption that we are holy. We are made holy before God by the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:10; 13:12). To be holy in our life is to fashioned, conformed and transformed by the renewing of our mind. This is only possible by God-given, holy faith that sees Christ with new eyes, believes Him and lives upon Him by His life in us (Gal. 2:20).

Faith touches all of our lives. The new man lives by faith, looks to Christ for all, trusts Him in all, and hopes to the end for the glory that shall be revealed at His appearing (1 Pet. 1:13). We must be alert. We must see clearly by this obedience of faith. Peter says, “Gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Pet. 1:13).

​May God give us grace to hear and obey Christ’s voice, to look to Christ as our all in all, to expectantly look for the revelation of Him in His word, by His work, in His providence and at His appearing.
Rick Warta
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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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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)!
  4. 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).
  5. 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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