Order in Worship and Service--Part 10 #1

The following is a concise summary of Ezekiel 16:35-52—I will gather your lovers against you. I will bring on you the blood and jealousy. I will give you into the hands of your lovers. I will calm my fury against you. I will bring your conduct on your head.

A common expression that manifests Biblical ignorance is heard in the religious community: “Let God be God!” How can the effect let the cause be the cause of the effect? (See John 19:11; Acts 17:28; Rev. 4:11.) God’s sovereignty is His absolute, independent right to dispose of His creatures according to His own pleasure. His will is His pleasure in opposition to any constraint and its being under the will of another. The prominent need today is to recognize the God of the Bible as Creator, Ruler, and Sustainer of everything. Therefore, humans live moment-by-moment, breath-by-breath, and heartbeat-by-heartbeat according to God’s will. This information can never be known apart from the Biblical revelation of God.

There may be a degree of constraint in things men do voluntarily. They may choose to do certain things, but their doing them may be constrained by fear. Men do not do things according to their mere pleasure. A servant may delight to do the will of his master, yet he does not do it of his own pleasure. Christians do the will of God freely, but they are under the direction of a superior will. Furthermore, men may have a right to do certain things, but their right is not absolute and unrestricted. Men’s right to dispose of their things as they will is not absolute because they are not independent of, but dependent on, God.

Israel as a nation and Israel as the chosen of God within the national election differ: “…For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED” (Rom. 9:6, 7 NASB).

Election and reprobation are the two most hated subjects of the Bible. Since God elected some for redemption, He passed by those He did not choose. Therefore, a person cannot believe one without accepting the other. Giving grace to the elect is apart from merit. Therefore, it is a “choice of grace”—“God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED THY PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN THINE ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE. But what is the Divine response to him? I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL. In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice” (Rom. 11:2-5 NASB).

There has always been and will always be God’s faithful remnant in the midst of general apostasy. This is a fact whether it is national Israel of the Old Testament or professing Christendom in the New Testament. As there were false prophets in the Old Testament, there are false teachers in the New Testament.

Christians of every age are faced with the issue of truth and error. Truth first courts the understanding: “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:17, 18 NASB). On the other hand, error labors to win the affection and by this approach the judgment is corrupted. The book of the Christian is filled with errors, but he is not a heretic. The word “heretic” refers to a professed Christian who persistently rejects the validity of Scripture as inspired by God.

All error is not heresy, but all heresy is error: “BUT false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves” (II Pet. 2:1 NASB). This verse would have never been difficult for some if Arminians had not twisted it to teach, “If Christ died for the elect only, here is proof that the elect went to hell. If these are nonelect, then He shed His blood for the nonelect.” The Greek noun translated “Master” is despotes, meaning lord, master, or owner. It is never used when speaking of Christ. The noun is used four times when speaking of earthly masters (I Tim. 6:1, 2; Titus 2:9; I Pet. 2:18) and six times when speaking of God the Father (Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; II Tim. 2:21; II Pet. 2:1; Jude 4; Rev. 6:10). When redemption is mentioned, the price (blood) is also usually given (Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 1:18, 19; Rev. 5:9).

Peter’s blunders indicate that the book of the Christian is filled with errors, but he was not a heretic: (1) He rebuked Christ (Matt. 16:22). (2) He wanted to put Moses and Elijah on the level with Christ (Matt. 17:4). (3) He had a mercenary spirit (Matt. 19:27). (4) He got his eyes on circumstances (Matt. 14:28-31). (5) He was self-confident (Matt. 26:33-35). (6) He was not watchful (Matt. 26:40). (7) He did not want Christ to wash his feet (John 13:8). (8) He used the wrong sword (John 18:10). (9) He denied Christ (John 18:25-27). (10) He followed the Lord at a distance (Matt. 26:58). (11) He looked to see what John would do when it was none of his business (John 21:20-23). (12) He acted hypocritically (Gal. 2:11-14). Peter’s blunders do not justify a Christian in any age, but they do reveal the actions of the sinful nature, which must be constantly crucified. Every Christian feels as Paul about himself when he witnesses for the Lord: “…I buffet my body, and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (I Cor. 9:27 NASB).

Afflictions are not a consuming, but a refining, fire to God’s people. Continuing afflictions prove that God sees something in His people that they do not see. After his affliction and refining, the Psalmist said, “Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O LORD, according to Thy word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Thy word” (Ps. 119:65-67 NASB). Affliction is the great polisher of character: “…we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:3-5 NASB).

Joseph exemplifies a person with polished character. The time came when he faced the greatest trial of his life. Conquest in anything is not the triumph during the time of battle, but in the preparation that precedes the battle. What Joseph was in Jacob’s house, he was in Potiphar’s house. What he did in Canaan, he did in Egypt. He stood out like a pearl in a mud puddle. Prosperity is not found in material things because God will have godliness admired for itself: “And the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful [prosperous] man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian” (Gen. 39:2 NASB). When Joseph saw what awaited him in Egypt as a slave, he believed he was in the hands of God. Therefore, he remained faithful and was determined to be the best of slaves.

Joseph’s character was not just skin deep. His strength was more than physical. It went back to God in his life. Although stripped of his garment on two occasions, he was not disrobed of his character. The first time was when his brothers, who were filled with jealousy, stripped him of his tunic (robe) and threw him into a pit (Gen. 37:23, 24). The second was when Potiphar's wife made advances toward him and stripped him of his garment (Gen. 39:1-18). He retained a reverential fear of God because God had placed the fear in him (Jer. 32:40). Joseph had integrity toward his master, chastity toward his master’s wife, and spiritual watchfulness over himself because of the fear God had put in his heart.

Joseph’s action toward Potiphar’s wife was both negative and positive. A “no” was followed by “fleeing.” Being right does not mean that one will be treated right. Therefore, God must not be judged by what happens today because there is a tomorrow. If there were no tomorrow for some, there will be a time of reckoning either before the judgment seat of Christ or at the great white throne judgment (II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15).

Joseph was a victim of false accusation. He was innocent, but innocence is not always recognized when slander is abroad. Potiphar’s wife deliberately lied to save her own face and gain revenge. The statement that where there is smoke there must be fire is false in the case of Joseph. It is also false when Christ was accused.

Mortification of corruption is possible only of persons who are in Christ by regeneration. Mortification implies the agency of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). The duty belongs to the Christian, but the power to mortify comes from God. A mortified sin cannot be a reigning sin (Rom. 6:12-14). The regenerated person continues to cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (II Cor. 7:1). By crucifying the flesh, one must not understand total extinction or complete subduing of the corrupt nature, but the disposing of corruption from its dominion in the soul.

Christ died for sin. Christians die to sin. Christ died to propitiate for sins. Christians die to mortify sin. Scripture does not say Christians have actually died. Neither does it say they are literally dead to sin. However, the basic fact is they are dead to sin through their union with Christ. Therefore, they cannot go from justification in Romans 5 to consecration in Romans 12 without passing through sanctification in Romans 6-8. As the body is weakened more and more by mortification, the inner man is renewed day by day (II Cor. 4:16).

The Christian never makes the blood of Christ a cloak to cover sin, but an instrument to destroy it. Sin, unlike human nature in old people, does not die of its own accord. If the Spirit of God did not kill it, it would continue to live. The sanctifying Spirit is the only effectual principle of mortification: “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13 NASB).

A mortified heart is not ensnared by the pleasures of the world. Mortification is that which makes the way of salvation narrow. Therefore, the life of the Christian is not idle or easy. It is a sin-crucifying work, which the Scriptures call cutting off the right hand and plucking out the right eye. Christ was not talking about physical mutilation of the body, but mortification of the carnal pleasures of the eye and impure practices of the hand (Matt. 5:29, 30). The eyeless or handless man can have as much of a problem with lust as the person with two eyes or two hands. People who understand Matthew 5:29-30 literally are like the religious monk who goes into seclusion thinking he will escape the things that arouse lust. However, he soon learns that he took with him his heart out of which “come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man” (Matt. 15:19, 20 NASB).

Since they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, the number of real Christians is very small: “Now those who belong to Christ have crucified [aorist active indicative of stauroo, meaning to mortify, to deaden, or to crucify] the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24 NASB). Many professing Christians pamper their lusts and hate those who reprove them. They make provision for the flesh and cannot endure to have their corruptions crossed.