Distorted Scriptures

Berean Baptist on January 22, 2018

The Bible is the only record we have of the way God works, and so it stands to reason that if Satan wants to confuse people about who God is he would work very hard to distort the only record we have that tells us what God is like.

The scriptures give a very clear description of what happens when people do not have the Bible to tell them what they must believe in order to know God. The knowledge of God’s existence is revealed in the creation, but this revelation is not enough to tell us His plan of redemption. It reveals His transcendence and His providence but does not tell us how we can have a personal saving relationship with Him. When people do not understand this, they have a tendency to transform God into an idol fashioned by their own hands and make Him into things that match even the lowest forms of the created order. This is a conscious effort to push God down. As Paul said, God is made into an image like corruptible man and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things (Romans 1:23). Though most today do not have a visible idol of God as do the pagans, they still reinvent Him as the invisible likeness of man who thinks and acts like us. In this scheme, God becomes the approver not reprover of our sin.

Conversely, when we have the scriptures, we learn who God really is. As David said in Psalm 119, “I love thy law.” This was not because David had a special propensity for doing what was right, but he saw in the law of God a reflection of God’s true character. He learned to love and trust God because of it. He learned these things while possessing only a small portion of the scriptures. He had access only to the books of Moses and a few of the historical books. How much greater is our ability to know God’s goodness when we have the full complement of the sixty-six books of the canon of scripture?

Before the completion of the Bible and the globalization of it we enjoy today, Satan had to contend with only a very small population that possessed any of the Word. Today the world is filled with copies of the Bible and Satan must work overtime to confuse the minds of those who read it. For this reason, he attacks the Word at its core. He twists not only the concepts of scripture but also the very words themselves. How does he do it? By flooding the marketplace with counterfeit scriptures. He plants mistranslations—even missing translation such as is found in the NIV. Once the words of scripture are changed or eliminated, he has great success at changing the doctrines. When we concede that the Bible has errors, it is only a short step to include men’s ideas of how those errors should be corrected. Thus, we get Bibles with interpretation instead of translation.

This is just one of the many tactics Satan uses in relation to the Word to distort the truth of God’s character. How do we avoid these errors? Without question, the first measure is to stick to a tried and true translation. We have a reliable text that God has used to save the souls of millions of English speaking people. For more than four hundred years, the King James Version has led people to Christ and established believers in the faith. Why change what we know God has approved? Be safe—stay with the Bible of our English forefathers. We are determined to do this at Berean. The foundation of truth must be solid before the faith built upon it can stand. Satan has many avenues of attack. This is one we refuse to allow. We will not let him begin his deception by taking away the true Word of God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

I Hate Every False Way

Berean Baptist on January 15, 2018

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. (Psalms 119:104)

Edward Reyner an English nonconformist of the early 17th century wrote, “Hatred is a stabbing, murdering affection.” If this were all we knew of Reyner’s quote, we would assume hatred is perfectly inconsistent with Christian teachings about love. However, we go on to read the rest of his thought in which he said, “Hate sin perfectly and perpetually and then you will not spare it but kill it presently. Till sin be hated, it cannot be mortified; you will not cry against it, as the Jews did against Christ, Crucify it! Crucify it! but show indulgence to it as David did to Absalom and say, Deal gently with the young man—with this or that lust, for my sake. Mercy to sin is cruelty to the soul.”

Reyner’s thoughts capture the meaning of Psalms 119:104 extremely well. Knowledge of God’s Word will cause us to hate every false way. The Word enlightens the mind to the destructive nature of sin. We hardly believe sin will kill us, and yet it was sin that brought death to the world. As Reyner said, “Mercy to sin is cruelty to the soul.” Sin always leaves death in its wake. To allow it and tolerate it, is to let it ruin us. Jonathan Edwards said hatred of sin is the way true religion may be known and distinguished.

These quotes show the great disparity of understanding about what Jesus taught. It is not uncommon in today’s world to hear Jesus’ approval attached to support nearly every false way rather than to hear Him thundering against sin. God’s love is defined. It exists within the parameters of His holiness, so that it cannot embrace sin any form—not the act nor the ones who commit it. The scriptures say God is love and God hates sin. Therefore, it is nonsense to create in our minds a Jesus who loves and is at the same time tolerant of sinful lifestyles.

From this point, I could go on to enumerate the multitude of sins that have become accepted as normal behavior, but I am sure you are very aware of our church’s position on these. Rather, I prefer to take a moment to speak of other false ways we must hate. We must hate and take to task any religion that denies the deity of Jesus Christ. We must hate and strongly preach against those religions that deny justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ. We must hate and take a resolute stand against religions that claim there is any other God but Jesus Christ, and any other way to the Father but Him. We must hate the influx into our society of those who say they practice their religion peacefully when that same religion teaches them to be violent and to kill those who disagree with them. We dare not fool ourselves that a religion is peaceful when its history is one of murder, especially murder of those who since Abraham have been called God’s chosen people. We are fooling ourselves to think we can take a cold, dormant viper into our bosom, warm him up, and not expect him to bite.

Sin in any form always destroys. Your personal sin will do it; your toleration of sin in others will do it. Your compassion to give it mercy is cruelty to your soul. When the preacher preaches against sin and those who perpetrate it, do not think he is without love. Hatred of sin distinguishes true Christians. No one can love your soul more than one who says, Crucify sin! Crucify it! Stand with the preacher who stands for God. Stand with the preacher who stands against a society without God, or one that tolerates the wrong god. Anything less is cruel death.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Can You Thank God for Everything?

Berean Baptist on January 8, 2018

Psalms 119:71

In Psalm 119, there is an unexpected blessing for which the psalmist gave thanks. He said in the 71st verse, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.” Could you see yourself writing this line? Most of us would never welcome hardships as a teaching method, so we are not likely to ask God to send us pain in order to teach us a lesson. It is only after the pain is endured and has yielded the benefit of bringing us closer to the Lord that we appreciate it.

This thought is expressed in Hebrews 12 regarding chastisement. The writer said chastisement is always grievous, but it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Even when chastisement is not the issue, suffering has great benefits for the soul because it teaches us to pray and depend on God. The Bible never tells us to ask God that we would never suffer and neither does it promise we will not. God knows how to bless in mysterious ways and this is the realization of the psalmist after considering his problems.

While preparing this article, I found another interesting perspective on suffering. J.R. Illingsworth wrote: ”The earliest form of trouble is for most of us physical pain, and our instinctive tendency is to view pain as an unmitigated evil. But such a view of pain is not in accordance with the facts of life. Pain is beyond question the great educator of the soul. Pain makes men real. It indurates their character. It endows them with spiritual insight. But, beyond all this, pain invests a man with a mysterious attractiveness for others. There is a heroism in the very fact of suffering which lifts the sufferer above us, and makes us feel that he is moving in a realm of being to us unknown, till our sympathy is hushed into something of awe-struck admiration, and from the blending of sympathy with awe comes love.”

I thought this was a truly sublime thought. Think of those you have seen endure pain for long periods of time. Do you admire them for their courage to suffer without complaint? Isn’t there something about them that causes you to lift them up as a model you think you could never attain?

I still remember a lady that passed away more than fifty years ago from cancer. My dad would go to visit her and many times I went along somewhat reluctantly because I did not like those kinds of visits. She suffered terribly, and yet her faith was firmly in God and she never complained that God had been unfair to her. What caused me to remember her when there are so many in my dad’s ministry I have forgotten? Pain etched her memory in my mind. Her ability to endure it left an indelible impression. Did this lady know her pain was for this purpose? She probably never imagined it. But, such things God knows. Blessings do not always seem to be blessings until they have yielded the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

Learn to bless God in the bad times as well as the good. Either way, God works all things for your good. Patient endurance of suffering may very well be the work that attends your entrance into heaven and causes others to rejoice with thanksgiving to God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

The Supremacy of God’s Word

Berean Baptist on January 1, 2018

Psalm 119

 

The 119th Psalm which is rightly called “The Ode to the Word.” Here are 176 verses of the psalmist’s praise for the Holy Scriptures which are the source of life for the Christian. Peter said we are born again by the Word of God, which shows the indispensable nature of God’s perfect revelation. The Holy Spirit uses the truth to speak to the heart and with the Word He regenerates to make us new creatures in Christ.

Upon conversion, the Word does not stop its powerful influences. It also sanctifies us (John 17:17) which means it perfects us in the holiness of God. Throughout our Christian lives, we can never depart from its usefulness for without it we have no means to discover how we can be pleasing to God. The Word declares Christ who is the Son of God, and is the model of God’s expectation for every son of God. It is the revelation of precepts by which we are given understanding of all false ways (119:104).

All roads to successful, victorious Christian living run through the scriptures. There we find all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The psalmist makes this same point repeatedly. Each section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet which is God’s way of showing us His word is A-Z of divine revelation. Everything that can be said in English must be said with 26 letters from A-Z. Our Bible is God’s complete revelation so that everything God has to say to the human race is contained in these 66 books we call the canon of scripture. There are no other revelations that will be given. There is no outside source that will discover to us anything more God wants us to know. Paul wrote that scripture is able to furnish unto all good works, so there is no area that needs further elucidation to increase our understanding of Him and make the servant of God complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The Bible’s internal claim holds great significance. It at once dismisses the doctrines of cults that are claimed authoritative by their extraneous revelations. When groups like the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses knock on your door with a claim they have another testament, another communication from God, you can dismiss them at once without further investigation. They are deemed deceivers by this criterion alone. Likewise, those who seem to be more orthodox can be turned away. Pentecostals must be rejected because they seek more revelation through tongues, dreams, and visions. Roman Catholicism must be rejected because the traditions of their church are claimed to be as authoritative as scripture. One thing is abundantly clear about this psalm—the psalmist has no patience for anything considered more valuable than scripture. He finds in it all he needs.

As I write this article, there is a knock at my door. The Jehovah Witnesses are peddling their literature. To them I say verse 29: “Remove from me the way of lying.” I say to them verse 95: “The wicked have waited for me to destroy me.” I say to them verse 115: “Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.” And finally I say verses 118 and 119: “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.”

I advise you to love the Holy Bible as the psalmist loved it. Feast on it every day. It has the power to change you and make you righteous. Let nothing come between you and the Word. To do so is to let something come between you and God.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Devil in the Details

Berean Baptist on December 18, 2017

Satan is an intriguing character, is he not? It is with guarded interest that we delve into the subject of Satan because it is possible to become too fascinated with him until the interest itself becomes a snare he can use to lure us in and captivate our thoughts. Many have become too interested in the details of the occult and of the supernatural. People have always been enchanted with the spiritual world which has led many to delve too far into the subject to the detriment of their eternal souls. As Paul said, we are not ignorant of his devices. This should keep us at arm’s length when we investigate the Bible’s descriptions of him.

In light of this, what I am about to say may see strange. Each of us should have profound respect for Satan’s capabilities. We do not admire them for their virtues since he has none, but we do respect the craftiness by which he deceives. Like a man has respect for the quick strike and deadliness of a cobra, so we should respect Satan’s prowess. His counter wisdom in all ways of evil is unparalleled in the spiritual world. No person possesses the power to outwit him. Indeed, he was brazen enough to approach our Lord with temptation. If not for Jesus’ complete reliance on the Holy Spirit for His protection, we might well perceive that Jesus the man would have given in to Satan’s offers. While we do not believe Jesus was capable of sinning, we do believe God used means to protect Him. The means unfailingly kept Him from sin because He is God, but to tempt God certainly speaks to Satan’s confidence in his ability.

Jesus never dismissed Satan out of hand. He first took him to the Word of God to dispel any hope of his success. The Scriptures are also our means for nothing is accomplished against Satan without the power of the Word. I believe the temptation is the Bible’s most formidable example of Satan’s power. It is interesting that no demon ever challenged Jesus like Satan. Even thousands of them begged for a measure of mercy when they were cast out of the Gadarian maniac. Satan boldly approaches God as he did in his accusations against Job.

None of this speaks to any real threat to God’s supremacy. Satan’s courage in the face of God belies his uncommon wisdom. While he deludes us, no doubt his greatest deception is perpetrated upon himself. He is relentless in his pursuit of God’s throne without understanding he is more of a pawn in God’s scheme than he makes us to be in his. God is setting Satan up for a destruction that will exalt God in ways that could never be accomplished by any other means. Satan’s destruction will cry out a confession of the one true living God. God has never done anything that does not redound to His glory, so you can be sure this present time of putting up with the devil will find out the ultimate greatness of God.

God continues to tell us to fear Satan. He tells us to walk circumspectly with eyes always scanning for places the devil might attack. Even though God promised to defeat Satan, the danger is real. Satan’s potency teaches us to fully depend upon God, which is God’s way of using Satan to strengthen His people rather than demoralize them. We can defeat the devil now in this life, but only with God’s help.

All the myths you hear about him are part of Satan’s disguise. He uses them to throw us off track. Chasing the myths divert us from the truth about him. This will get you in trouble if you are too interested in the wrong details.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Conclusion of Matthew

Berean Baptist on December 11, 2017

Matthew ends with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that has through the centuries changed the lives of millions of people. We are sure of the scripture’s promise that heaven will be filled with a vast number of people who will praise the name of our Lord forever and forever. Their salvation was made possible in only one way—the good news that Jesus came to earth, lived, died, was buried, and then arose from the grave. The sacrifice of our Saviour at Calvary satisfied every demand of God’s justice that was laid against the vile repentant sinner.

The gospel is good news; the best news any person can hear. It does indeed change many hell-bound sinners into heaven-bound saints. For this reason, it is strenuously resisted by Satan and his followers who do everything in their power to corrupt it. The gospel alone can save which means a perverted gospel cannot save. Unfortunately, for the unsuspecting, the means of corruption can be so subtle that many who promote Satan’s methods do not even realize they are helping him accomplish his goal of keeping people blinded to the truth.

Energetic soul-winners who are no doubt often sincere in their efforts to see people saved are often guilty of giving people false assurance by leading them through cheapened presentations of the gospel. When the gospel is reduced to a three to five-minute presentation in which repentance from sin is not mentioned and faith is presented as nothing more than intellectual assent, the ingredients of a false gospel are there. This is not the true gospel of Christ. The true gospel demands genuine sorrow for sin, a sense of self-loathing because of offenses against the holy God, a forsaking and turning from sin in deep contrition, then turning to Christ alone in faith as the only hope of salvation. It also includes the surrender of all we are to the Lordship of Christ over our lives.

Quick five-minute presentations will rarely bring a person to the understanding of these important truths. Enthusiastic soul-winners are lightning fast in their efforts to get people to pray the sinner’s prayer when they have not adequately dealt with the demands of Christ for repentance and faith. This method of soul-winning is never found in scripture. There is not one instance of it in the ministry of Jesus, the apostles, or any evangelist in the New Testament. None of them asked anyone to pray what we call the sinner’s prayer. None of them would have sanctioned this method as an indication of real conviction and turning to Christ in repentant faith. Does this mean we are not to call on the Lord in prayer for salvation? No, we must, but not before we have rejected all that we are and are ready to be humbly obedient to all the Lord commands.

I want you to see these truths. We do not want to sell the gospel short. Never let it be said we have wasted time because our converts never really understood the gospel. Jesus is Lord and Jesus saves! But, Jesus never saves with a false gospel. Repent of all your sins, place your faith in Christ with a faith that leads to obedience to His Lordship.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

For Sale: The Gospel: Are You Buying?

Berean Baptist on December 4, 2017

Our focus in this article is the real meaning of the gospel, which sadly is distorted and misunderstood by many. The gospel is the good news, but what particularly is this news?

Some say it is the news that God has a wonderful plan for your life. I believe this is far too simplistic even to the point of being almost heretical. There are many who have a very bad plan mapped for their lives because God has no dealings with them. To assume God has a good plan for them that might not happen is too have too little confidence that He is able to make any plan happen. On the other hand, for those who hear and believe, it is rare their lives include much good—at least not an attractive good that would cause them to come to Christ. Jesus said the lives of His people would be filled with suffering. They would be hated, ridiculed, and considered the scum of the earth.

As we know, God’s wonderful plan is for the afterlife which puts us in the position of enduring the world until this plan is realized. This is not to say a Christian cannot be happy and find peace and contentment in this life. The apostles suffered beatings for their preaching, and yet they rejoiced they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Most do not consider this their kind of joy.

Rarely do we find an honest approach with the gospel. Most feel they must sell the gospel as the most attractive offer you can get. If the pot is not sweetened enough, nobody will buy. However, the real gospel does not need to be sold. The Holy Spirit is not concerned whether people weigh the pros and cons of believing and decide accordingly. The Spirit convicts the heart and brings the person to Christ despite all his objections. He makes us willing to receive the gospel when before we were dead set against it. No matter how bad it looks, people will come to Christ because they have been made willing through His power (Psalms 110:3).

In the days of the apostles, it was impossible to hide the negative aspects of belief in Christ. People could see what it meant to follow Him. Christians lining the roads for miles on crosses was a pretty good indication what it meant to trust Christ. If this is what you were selling, they weren’t buying. In one interesting case in Acts 5, it wasn’t enemies that killed Christians—it was God. Two believers were struck dead for lying to God. In that passage, it says fear came on the people. Many wanted nothing to do with the apostles for fear they would be killed as well. Interestingly, those that were drawn to Christ continued to come and the church continued its rapid growth.

Is it necessary to resort to deceitful tactics and hide the truth? A gospel that is not radical and changes the lives of those who believe is no gospel at all. The good news is the saving power of Christ not a short, sweet version that involves little to no commitment. The gospel may cost your life. It declares the wrath of God against sin and the penalty in hell for those who commit them. It provides the alternative for eternal death by repentance from all sin, faith in Jesus Christ alone, and surrender to His Lordship over the life.

This kind of commitment is not good news for those looking for comfort. Christianity does not end life’s problems. It may very well create many more. You cannot sell this because nobody is buying. Tell the truth. The truth is used by the Holy Spirit to save no matter how difficult it is to believe.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Attitude of Gratitude

Berean Baptist on November 27, 2017

What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. (Psalms 116:12-14)

The phrase “attitude of gratitude” is one you will often hear Bro. Gary Moline use in his offertory prayers. The phrase is certainly biblical and a really good time to use it is just before we give our tithes and offerings. This thought is contemplated by the psalmist in Psalm 116 as he asked, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?”

This is a great question since we are too often prone to ask, “What shall I complain to the Lord about all the problems I have?” This seems to be our primary thought when we go to the Lord in prayer. There is always some trouble that fills our mind so that our purpose in praying is only to lift up our complaints. We ignore prayer unless there is a problem just like many people ignore church until they figure things are so bad they had better resort to church attendance as their last best hope. Prayer is often viewed the same way.

In teaching the model prayer, Jesus said God knows every problem before we have a chance to tell Him. We do not bring Him any information He has not already considered. In fact, He brings many of our trials upon us to teach us to trust Him. The model prayer teaches that before making any petitions we should express glory to the name of God. We do this in several ways, among which is thanking Him for being our benefactor in His providential care of our lives. In this way, we acknowledge His sovereign control and remember we cannot exist a minute without Him.

The psalmist goes on to say how he will show his appreciation for the Lord’s benefits. He knew it is impossible to repay the Lord, but the Lord is not really looking for repayment. His benefits are by His free grace bestowed because of love. This is all the more incentive to show our appreciation. How would the psalmist show his gratitude? He began by thinking of the wonderful gift of salvation. It is hard to imagine anyone saved by God’s grace could be forgetful of this, but this is precisely what Peter described in 2 Peter 1:9. He said some have forgotten they were purged from their old sins. Their sins kept them from God’s favor, and yet it is to the old sins they return. The forgiveness of sin brought us into right relationship with God and turned His wrath away from us. Forgiveness removed all legal claims for punishment. How can we not be grateful for His salvation? What shall I render to God? First, my undying thankfulness for the salvation of my soul.

The second action of the psalmist verifies the first. The demonstration of thanksgiving is obedience to His commands. The Jews expressed their gratefulness by taking vows in which they promised certain acts of service. These vows were to be strictly observed. In like manner, we must strictly observe our vows to God. The first vow is the one made in baptism. Baptism is the acknowledgment of our belief in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. It is also a vow that we have died to our old way of life and we will no longer allow the old life to control us. We are risen to walk in the new life of Christ. In other words, in your baptism you promised to obey Christ as the Lord of your life.

There are also times we make vows that are bargaining chips to receive something from God. We do not need to make these vows but nevertheless if we do, we had better be sure to fulfill them. In Old Testament times, it was good to make a vow. It showed willingness to surrender to the Lord in service. The idea of it was good but the idea became very bad if there was no follow through. The scripture says it is better not to make a vow than to make one and not perform it (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5).

The most important point for today is to show gratitude by honoring Christ with faithful service. No one likes ungrateful people, and neither does God. Stop complaining for a while and show an attitude of gratitude. God is pleased when we remember His abundant mercies.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Legalism vs. Discipline

Berean Baptist on November 13, 2017

Recently I read an article that was helpful for those who misunderstand the dichotomy of legalism and discipline for Christians. As you know, I decided long ago as the pastor of Berean not to adhere to a lengthy list of rules that are enforced by the “holier than thou committee.” Many churches use rules to sit in judgment of others’ Christianity. Legalism is a theological issue in these churches and often they do not understand they are legalists.

Strictly speaking, legalism is the belief that salvation is obtained by keeping commandments (rules), or in other words that we are justified by works rather than by faith. This strict definition causes many legalists to say they are not legalists because they would never teach that salvation is by any other means than grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

However, a broader definition is needed because legalism also concerns an inordinate preoccupation with the Law. Legalism may be defined as “excessive adherence to law or formula.” This is where many churches fall into legalism. Their issue is not usually justification but sanctification. Unfortunately, these two doctrines are often blended until unbiblically, sanctification becomes justification. These churches become excessive and insistent about rules for the membership to follow. This definition of legalism must be resisted as much as the other.

We have our own problems to deal with in this area, and my purpose is not to throw stones at those we disagree with. Our problem is not legalism—it is lack of discipline. In our efforts to combat legalism, many have fallen away from good Christian discipline. Discipline may be defined as “activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training.” As the author of this article said, “The danger of confusing the two [legalism and discipline] is that we can lose the important spiritual disciplines which are crucial to our growth, sanctification, protection, and intimacy with Christ.”

This author did not address personal appearance issues but went on to describe other spiritual disciplines that are not optional if a person wants to grow in his walk with the Lord. These are extremely important, and we discussed those things in our Living for Jesus series. I want to turn our attention instead to the issue of how we appear to others.

How we dress is also a spiritual discipline. The teaching of our testimony before the world in all its facets forms an integral part of New Testament instructions for Christian living. How we appear can cause instant formation of opinions, and whether it is right or wrong to form an opinion of someone merely by the way they dress is immaterial to its being a fact of life we must live with. We have few opportunities to sit down with people to explain what we believe. The limited amount of information someone knows about you—who you are and what you are in their minds—is communicated instantly through your appearance. An unkempt appearance, sloppiness, even the wrong swagger evokes its assessments. A clean-cut conservative appearance does the same. We tend to form good opinions of the latter and poor opinions of the former.

Likewise, assessments of moral values are made by appearance. Provocative clothing does not speak a character of godliness. It characterizes the wearer as conforming to the purpose of modern fashion, which is to entice, exude sexiness, and invite the onlooker’s inspection. We can make all the excuses we want, but we can never escape that exposing the body invites examination of things which should never be seen.

What is my point? Disciplining ourselves in appearance is godly and expected. We cannot justify our resistance to legalism by developing habits that kill our influence for Christ. Think about the testimony of your appearance wherever you are. From what I see inside in our church services, more personal discipline is needed, which no doubt means it is needed much more outside among those who do not know us personally.

Personal appearance is not all there is to godliness, but surely it has its important part to play.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

God’s Works Remembered

Berean Baptist on November 6, 2017

He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

(Psalms 111:4)

As I was thinking on the 111th psalm, verse 4 reminded me of a negative application of the same thought in 2 Peter 1:9:  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. The psalmist said God has made His work to be remembered while Peter said the one who does not care to build on his faith by adding Christian graces will soon forget the mighty works that God has done in his life.

I think it is interesting how many times the Old Testament retells the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. I have commented on this before from other psalms and scripture texts, and here we find it again in more subtle references in the 111th psalm. It seems the crowning achievement of all God’s wonderful works for His people is how God humbled the defiant Egyptian Pharaoh and brought His people out with a mighty strong arm. He brought them through the perils of the wilderness and gave them the land promised to Abraham. This is reflected in verse 6: He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. The scriptures continue to remind of this fact so that Israel would never lose the assurance that God was on their side and would always fulfill His promises to them.

The same is true for the Christian today. Our deliverance in the moment of our salvation when God broke through the stronghold sin had on our hearts is a grand touchstone to return to time and time again. God brought us into the marvelous light of the gospel of Christ and became the author of our eternal salvation. Like Israel’s remembrance of deliverance from Egypt, this is our place of remembrance of God’s wonderful works.

There is, however, another similarity between the 111th psalm and the quest for holiness in 2 Peter 1. Israel was taken into captivity because they forgot what God did for them. They were not careful to maintain their obedience which caused them to fall and to experience bitter chastisement. The Christian has the same propensity if he is not careful to maintain his focus on Christ. We will also fail and find ourselves back in the captivity of sin.

This is what Peter warns against in 2 Peter 1:9. The person who forgets that he was purged from his old sins will soon fall into those old sins again. We are doomed to repeat our past mistakes which is the exact problem with Israel. Old sins always yield the same results—it never changes. The loss of assurance is its fruit; when the fruit of the Christian life should be grace, peace, and the contentment of resting in God’s promises.

As I read the psalm and compared it to 2 Peter, I was also reminded how scripture says Old Testament stories were given to warn us not to fall in the same holes as Israel. We must guard ourselves and be diligent to add all spiritual graces. This is the sure method of never failing to remember God’s wonderful works. Look at the world around you and see the immensity of His power. And then, look into your heart once blackened by sin and see it cleansed by the gospel of Christ. Keep looking and you will never forget the joy of being purged from your old sins.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith