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SUBJECT: Enjoying God's Best 1946 contd1
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Enjoying God's Best 1946 contd
6. Some are likely to complain that our teaching is too idealistic and impractical, that we have presented an unattainable standard, arguing that in our present condition, it is impossible to enjoy God's best — if that be dependent upon our daily life being well-pleasing unto Him. We shall be reminded that only one Perfect Man has trod this earth, and that while the flesh indwells the Christian, failures and falls are inevitable.
Nor should we be surprised at fault being found with that which rebukes the low level of Christian experience in this decadent age: those who are at ease in Zion do not welcome anything which searches the conscience and is calculated to arouse them from their deplorable apathy! But the One with whom each of us has to do declares, "Be holy — for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16), and therefore does He bid us, "Awake to righteousness, and sin not!" (1 Corinthians 15:34), "Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof " (Rom 13:14), "He who says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6).
But we have not said that our enjoyment of God's smile is dependent upon our actually measuring up to that standard, though nothing short of it must be our constant aim and earnest endeavor. There is a great difference between a relative falling short of that standard — and a life of defeat; between daily trespasses — and being the slave of some dominant lust.
Had we said that one must lead a sinless life in order to enter into God's best, the above complaint would have been pertinent. But we have not. If our heart is true to God, if it is our sincere desire and diligent effort to please the Lord in all things — then His approbation and blessing will certainly be upon us! And if such really is our intention and striving — then it will necessarily follow that we shall mourn over our conscious failures in missing that mark, and will promptly and contritely confess the same — it is by that we may test and prove the genuineness of our sincerity. It is not the sins of a Christian, but his unconfessed sins, which choke the channel of blessing and cause so many to miss God's best!
What has just been stated is clearly established by "he who covers his sins shall not prosper" (Pro 28:13). It is always an inexcusable and grievous thing for a saint to commit any sin, yet it is far worse to refuse to acknowledge the same: that is to "add sin to sin" (Isa 30:1); yes, it evinces a spirit of defiance. So far from such a one prospering — he closes the door against God's favors (Jer 5:25).
As the hiding of a disease prevents any cure — so to stifle convictions, seek to banish them from the mind, and then try and persuade ourselves that all is well — only makes bad matters worse. None but the penitent confessor can be pardoned (Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9). In the great majority of cases, the chief reason why believers miss God's best — is because they fail to keep short accounts with Him. They do not make conscience of what the world regards as innocent blemishes and which empty professors excuse as "trifling faults." And the result is, that . . .
the conscience becomes comatose,
laxity is encouraged,
the Holy Spirit is grieved,
Satan gains increasing power over him, and
his unrepented sins hide God's face from him (Isa 59:2).
7. It may be inquired: How do you harmonize your teaching that God's frown is upon His people while they follow a course of self-will and self-gratification — when it is written, "He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10)?
Answer: There is nothing to harmonize, for the two things in no way conflict. That Scripture is not speaking of God's present governmental dealings, but of what took place at conversion, when the penal consequences of all our sins were remitted. That is clear from what immediately follows, for after extolling the exalted character of God's mercy, the Psalmist declared, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:11-12). God has not dealt with the one who savingly believes the Gospel "after his sins," because He laid them upon his Surety and dealt with Him accordingly; and being infinitely just, the divine Judge will not exact payment twice. Therefore, instead of rewarding him according to his iniquities — he recompenses him according to the merits of his Redeemer. If that were not the meaning of Psalm 103:10, we would make the Scriptures contradict themselves — an evil against which we need ever to be upon our guard. Psalm 89:30-32 shows that God does deal with His disobedient children according to their sins — in a disciplinary way, in this life — expressly declaring that "Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes!" (Psalm 89:32). And yet there is a very real and blessed sense in which the principle of the former passage applies here too.
For, first, God is not severe and rigorous in marking every offence: if our love is warm, and the general course of our conduct pleases Him, He passes by our non-willful sins.
And, second, God does not chasten immediately when we offend Him, but graciously grants us space for repentance, that the rod may be withheld.
Third, He does not chasten us fully, according to our deserts, but tempers His righteousness with mercy. Even when plying the rod upon us, "his compassions fail not," and therefore, "we are not consumed" (Lam 3:22). God dealt so with His people under the old economy: Ezra 9:13; Psalm 130:3!
8. Notwithstanding what has just been pointed out, the objection is likely to be made: Such teaching as yours is calculated to afford very "cold consolation" to some of God's afflicted people; you are acting only as a "Job's comforter" to them. Nor is such a demur to be wondered at in a day when the clamant cry of an apostate Christendom is "speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits!" (Isa 30:10). Though that is the language of the unregenerate, yet when Christians are in more or less of a backslidden condition, only too often that becomes the desire of their hearts also; and when the rod of God is upon them, they crave pity and sympathy, rather than love's faithfulness. What such souls most need is help — real help and not maudlin sentimentality. To give soothing syrup to one needing a bitter purgative, is not an act of kindness. The chastened one requires to be reminded that God "does not afflict willingly," then urged to "search and try His ways, and turn again to the LORD" (Lam 3:33, 40), and assured that upon true confession — that he will be forgiven.
9. But it may be objected, Did not David deeply repent of, contritely confess, and sincerely forsake his sins in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah — yet God's rod was not removed from him and his family! That is admittedly, a more difficult question to answer. Nor should we look to the absolute sovereignty of God for its solution, for rather would that be cutting the knot instead of endeavoring to untie it.
It should be evident to all, that David's was no ordinary case, and that his sins were such as the Mosaic Law called for capital punishment. Moreover, his iniquities were greatly aggravated by virtue of the position which he occupied: as a prophet, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, and their king. Crimes committed by those in high civic or ministerial office are far more heinous and involve graver consequences than do those same crimes when committed by private persons. Therefore, though the Lord "forgave the iniquity of his sin" (Psalm 32:5), yet He declared "the sword shall never depart from your house" (2 Samuel 12:10). The guilt and penal effects were remitted, but the governmental consequences remained.
"Howbeit, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto you shall surely die!" (2 Samuel 12:14). And though he "besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the ground," it was in vain; the sin of the father was visited upon the son, to show that God was "no respecter of persons" — even where a monarch, and one beloved by Himself, was involved. And "the sword" never did depart from his house, for one after another of his sons met with a violent end.
Such transgressions of Israel's king received no ordinary chastisements from God, to show that He would not countenance such actions, but vindicate His honor by manifesting His abhorrence of them. Thus, the governmental consequences of David's sins not being remitted upon his repentant confession, is to be accounted for on the ground of his public character.
Another example or illustration of the same principle is found in the case of Moses and Aaron, who because of their unbelief at Meribah, being Israel's leaders, were debarred from entering Canaan (Num 20:12, 24).
10. As our readers have pondered the foregoing articles, it is probable that not a few have reverted in their minds to the experiences of Job, and wondered how it is possible to square with them the substance of what we have been writing. Obviously, it is quite outside our present scope to enter upon anything like a full discussion of the book which describes the severe trials of that holy patriarch. Four brief statements must here suffice.
First, that book presents to our notice something which is extraordinary and quite unique, as well as profoundly mysterious, namely, the position which Satan there occupies and his challenge of the Lord (Job 1:6-12).
Second, it is therefore unwarrantable for us to appeal to the experiences of Job in this connection, for his case was entirely unprecedented. That which was there involved was not any controversy which God had with Job, but rather His contest with Satan in evidencing him to be a liar, disproving his charge that Job served God only for the benefit which he derived from Him for the same. Satan's attack was not upon the patriarch, but was aimed at the Lord Himself, being tantamount to saying, You are incapable of winning the confidence and love of man by what You are in Yourself: deal roughly and adversely with him, and You will find that so far from him delighting in You and remaining loyal to You — that he "will curse you to your face" (Job 1:11, 2:5). Thus the excellency of the divine character was thereby impugned and His honor challenged.
The Lord condescended to accept Satan's challenge; and in the sequel, demonstrate the emptiness of it by delivering His servant Job into His enemy's hand and permitting him to afflict him severely in his estate, his family, and in his own person. The central theme and purpose of the book of Job is not only missed, but utterly perverted, if we regard its contents as a description of God's chastening of Job for his sins (or "self-righteousness"), rather than a vindicating of His own honor and giving the lie to Satan's accusation by the making of Job's love and faith evident. So far from his cursing God, Job said, "Blessed be the name of the LORD," and after Satan had done his worst, "Though he slays me — yet will I trust in him" (Job 1:21, 13:15).
Third, before Satan was allowed to lay a finger on him, the Lord expressly declared of Job, "There is none like him in the earth, a perfect [sincere] and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil" (Job 1:8). Thus, at the outset, all ground for uncertainty of Job's moral condition is removed. The very fact that the first verse of the book contains such an affirmation renders it quite excuseless for anyone to conclude that in what follows, we see the Lord dealing with Job on the ground that he had done something which displeased Him. Instead, no other saint in all the Scriptures is more highly commended by the Holy Spirit.
Fourth, it should be carefully borne in mind that the book closes by informing us that "the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before," that "the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:10, 12, 16). Thus so far from conflicting with or contradicting our thesis that the righteous prosper, that the providential smile of God rests upon those whose ways please Him, the case of Job is a striking proof of the same!
11. The sufferings of our blessed Lord prior to the cross may present a difficulty unto a few in this connection. There was One who "has set the LORD always before me" (Psalm 16:8) and who could aver "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29). How then are we to account for the fact that He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa 53:3) that from the hour of His birth into this world unto His death, trial and tribulation, suffering and adversity, was His portion? Surely that should not occasion a problem or call for much elucidation.
All of Christ's sufferings were due to sin: not His own, but his Church's. God would not allow an innocent person to suffer, much less His beloved Son to be unrighteously afflicted at the hands of the wicked. We never view aright the ill-treatment and indignities Christ experienced — both before and throughout His ministerial life — until we recognize that from Bethlehem to Calvary, He was the vicarious Victim of His people, bearing their sins and suffering the due reward of their iniquities. He was "made under the law" (Gal 4:4), and as the Surety of transgressors was therefore born under its curse. At the moment of His birth, the sword of divine justice was unsheathed and returned not to its scabbard until bathed in the blood of our Savior.
12. Others may ask: What about the severe and protracted sufferings of the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). They were neither extraordinary, like Job's, nor vicarious like Christ's! True, and that leads us to make this important observation: let none conclude from these articles that all suffering is to be regarded as retributive. That would be just as real a mistake as the one made by those who go to another extreme and suppose that all the suffering of saints is remedial, designed for purification and the development of their graces — which has provided a welcome sop for many an uneasy conscience! The subject of suffering is a much wider one than what has been dealt with in these articles, wherein but a single phase — the retributive — has been dealt with. It would take us too far afield to enter upon a systematic discussion of the whole problem of human sufferings, yet it is necessary for us to point out several important distinctions.
Some suffering is to be attributed to the sovereignty of God (John 9:2-3), yet we believe such cases are few in number.
Some suffering is due to heredity (Exo 20:5): the whole of Achan's family were stoned to death for their father's sin (Jos 7:24-25), and the leprosy of Naaman was judicially inflicted upon Gehazi and his children (2 Kings 5:27).
Much suffering is retributive, a personal reaping of what we have sown.
Some suffering is remedial or educative (2 Corinthians 4:16-17; Jam 1:2-3), fitting for closer communion with God and increased fruitfulness.
Other suffering is for righteousness' sake, for the Gospel's sake, for Christ's sake (Mat 5:10- 11), which was what the apostle experienced, and which the whole "noble army of martyrs" endured at the hands of pagan Rome, when Christians were cast to the lions, and equally at the hands of Papal Rome, when countless thousands were vilely tortured and burned at the stake, and which would be repeated today if the pope and his cardinals had the power, for "simper idem" (always the same) is one of their proud boasts.
We must distinguish sharply then between "tribulation" or persecution (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12) for righteousness' sake, and divine chastisement because of our sins. There is no valid reason for why the Christian should be confused in his mind by the above distinctions: nor will he be if he notes carefully the Scripture references given to them. Our purpose in drawing them was not only for the sake of giving completeness to these articles, and to supply preachers with a rough outline on the wider subject of "suffering," but chiefly in order to point a warning. It is entirely unwarrantable for us to conclude from the sight of an afflicted saint — that he or she has missed God's best and is being chastised for his or her offences, though very often such is undoubtedly the case. But in our own personal experience, when God's providential smile is no longer upon us, and especially if the comforts of His Spirit be withdrawn from us — then it is always the wisest policy to assume that God is manifesting His displeasure at something in our lives, and therefore should we definitely, humbly, and earnestly beg Him to convict us of wherein we have offended, and grant us grace to contritely confess and resolutely forsake the same.
The two forms of suffering most commonly experienced by the great majority of Christians are retributive — for their faults; and honorary — for the truth's sake: though where there is much of the one, there is rarely much of the other. Nor should there be any difficulty in identifying each of them, except that we must not mistake as the latter that coldness and estrangement of friends which is due to our own boorishness, for not a few pride themselves they are suffering for their faithfulness — when in reality, they are being rebuked and ostracized for their uncharitableness, or "as a busybody in other men's matters" (1 Peter 4:15).
Close and humble walking with God, an uncompromising cleaving to the path of His commandments, is sure to stir up the enmity and evoke the opposition of the unregenerate, especially of empty professors, whose worldliness and carnality are condemned thereby. But whatever persecution and tribulation be encountered for that cause is a privilege and honor, for it is a having fellowship with Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 4:13), and such should be "rejoicing that they are counted worthy to suffer shame for his name" (Act 5:41). It is the absence of this type of suffering which evinces we are hiding our colors in order to avoid being unpopular.
To sum up. Surely it is self-evident that the attitude of a holy God will be very different toward "a vessel wherein is no pleasure" (Hos 8:8) and one who is "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).
As we pointed out in an earlier article, an enjoyment of God's best will not exempt from the common trials and vicissitudes of life, but it will ensure having them sanctified and blessed to him, as it will also deliver from those troubles and afflictions in which the follies of many Christians involve them. "Say to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (Isa 3:10), on which the Puritan, Joseph Caryl (1602-1673), said, "They shall have good for the good they have done, or according to the good which they have done. If any object: But may it not be ill with men that do good and are good? Does the Lord always reward to man according to his righteousness? I answer, first, It is well at present with most that do well. Look over the sons of men, and generally you shall find that usually the better they are, the better they live. Second, I answer, It shall be well with all that do well in the outcome, and forever!"
Finally, we again urge upon young Christians to form the habit of keeping short accounts with God, to promptly confess every known sin unto Him, even though it be the same sin over and over again. There is no verse in all the Bible which this writer has made more use of and pleaded so frequently as 1 John 1:9. Failure at this point is a certain forerunner of trouble. Only too often Christians, particularly in seasons of temporal prosperity, will not take the time and trouble to search their hearts and lives for those things which displease the Holy One. Hence, it is that God so often has occasion to take His refractory children apart from the world, laying them upon beds of sickness, or bringing them into situations where they will "consider their ways" (Hag 1:5). If they then refuse to do so, they shall "suffer loss" (1 Corinthians 3:15) eternally. It is greatly to be feared that not a few who will, by grace, enter the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shall, through their own follies, fail to have an abundant entrance thereunto (2 Peter 1:11). O that neither writer nor reader may be among those saints who will be "ashamed before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28). We shall not, if we put everything right between our souls and Him in the present!