A Hiding Place

 

A Hiding Place

 

Isaiah 32:2

 

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

 

Behold the grace of God in Jesus Christ, that The Triune Jehovah has established a hiding place from the storm of God’s fierce wrath, which shall fall when the judgment of God is fulfilled on the men of this world because of their sins, as it is written: “A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind” This Man is the God-Man Jesus Christ, in whom those who are made willing may safely hide from the winds of God’s wrath. For this Man has satisfied the justice of God concerning the sins of His members who are the body of Christ and they are His church and people. They are known by their God given faith.

 

This Man has ascended to the right hand of God and has sat down where man never sat before. He has sat down there because he has glorified the Father by finishing the work that the Father gave Him to do, as it is written: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). He has glorified both the justice and the mercy of God by His death on a cross in the room and stead of His members and with all His members in Him, as it is written: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12-14). Christ Jesus has sat down with His members in Him, having made them the righteousness of God in Him, as it is written: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

 

The members of Christ having been made the righteousness of God in Him are perfectly at ease in the presence of the Thrice Holy God because they are: “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22). Each and every member in particular is built together for this habitation of God through the Spirit, as it is written: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Corinthians 12:27). The work that the Man Christ Jesus undertook in His Own Person was a work that is incomprehensible and unspeakable by creature intelligence. It is of such great moment that no created being is capable of properly understanding its value. For the Prophet has written: “Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both” (Zechariah 6:12-13).

 

Christ Jesus undertook to satisfy the inflexible justice of God on behalf of a multitude that no man can number. And He undertook to do it by one offering of His Own body and blood for the satisfaction of the justice of God. God poured out His just wrath on His only begotten Son because of the sins that were made to meet on Him. Christ Jesus is the Surety of the of the New Testament, as it is written: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:26-29). Just before His crucifixion our Lord Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him” (John 13:31-32).

 

The love of God was glorified in the cross death of His only begotten Son. The apostle John has written: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). And Jeremiah speaking as one among the chosen has written: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). It was the love of God for His “dear children” (Ephesians 5:1) that prompted the Father to send His only begotten Son into this world, as it is written: “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:42). The purpose of the Father in sending His Son was that the Son should redeem the children of the everlasting Covenant, who were predestinated from eternity past to the adoption of children, as it is written: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).

 

The mercy of God was glorified in the cross death of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will not accept the guilty into His fellowship, as it is written: “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7). And again it is written: “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup” (Psalm 11:4-6).

 

Christ Jesus endured this cursedness (brought on by sin) for the children of the covenant of grace, as it is written: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). Christ Jesus bore the sins of His elect on the cursed tree, as it is written: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). When Christ Jesus bore the sins of the elect children of God on the cursed tree He made an end of sins, He finished the transgression and He brought in everlasting righteousness for those who were of the election of grace. Therefore they are holy and unblameable in the sight of God, as it is written: “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1;20-22).

 

The mercy that is upon the elect (the mercy that is by the death of Christ) is that they are no longer in themselves, that is they are not in the flesh, but are in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, as it is written: “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:8-9). And someone may ask, how shall I know that the Spirit of Christ dwells in me? It is by the Spirit of Christ that the sons of men believe the gospel report of the Son of God and what He accomplished, as it is written: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). For: “..no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I Corinthians 12:3). Reader if you are taught of the Spirit of God that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God then you, Dear Reader, are born of God, as it is written: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (I John 5:1). Those who are born from above are hid in the only hiding place that hides from the judgment of God, that is they are hid in God Himself, and their sins are blotted out by the blood of God, as it is written: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).  And His blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant, as it is written: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20). And the blood of Jesus Christ is the blood of the New Testament, as it is written: “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

It is evident by these appellations that the Holy Ghost delights to declare the glory and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God.

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Work Not Believed

 

A Work Not Believed

 

Acts 13:41

 

Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

 

True faith in the blood of the Christ of the Holy Scriptures is a miracle of the highest sort. True faith is the personal gift of God. God the Holy Ghost is He who is the giver of true faith by His personal action. It is He who imparts faith. He instills the belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God in the hearts of the elect of God and He does it by the preaching of the gospel in the ear of the children of God whose ears He has prepared to hear the truth concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost not only teaches the historical facts about the death of the Christ but He causes the object of His saving work to understand the things that were accomplished in the death of the Savior.

 

The Spirit of God teaches the children of the covenant the means that God has used to perfectly justify His elect from all sins. This justification in the sight of God involves the saints of God being perfected by the imputation of the merits of Jesus Christ to them as their justifying righteousness. And those merits having been imputed to them because of the eternal covenant union that has (from eternity past) existed between the Savior and the saved. That union is set before all who read the scriptures; but it is made manifest to the children of the covenant who exclusively are given ears to hear it, eyes to see it, and a heart to believe the truth of it. Justification in the sight of God is through the merits of Jesus Christ alone. There are none of the sons and daughters of Adam who have a righteousness in themselves that is equal to the demands of the law of God.

 

The Law of God was given to the sons of men: “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). That is because all our attempts at holy exercises: “are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Reader all the sons and daughters of Adam are of one blood, as it is written: “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). And it is written: “..the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22). All the children of Adam are taken from the same lump of corrupted humanity, as it is written: “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor” (Romans 9:21)? The children of God have nothing to boast of except: “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2), as it is written: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:30-31).

It is against this bondage of corrupt human nature that God invincibly calls His elect to eternal life in Jesus Christ. This is a miracle of the grace and power of God. It is a miracle of unspeakable grace that God calls any of the sons of men to salvation in Jesus Christ: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18).

 

The apostle Paul has cited the subject verse in connection with the establishment of the gospel of the grace. As it is written: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you” (Acts 13:38-41).

 

The work of the establishment of the gospel of pure grace that is not dependent upon the sinner for any contribution in any manner or degree is a thing that man according to his ruined nature will not believe. As it is written: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned: “(I Corinthians 2:14). Not only are the things of God foolishness to the natural man; but the carnal mind despises and rejects them and is continually hostile to the mind of God, as it is written: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). God has established a work by His sovereign grace that no natural man will believe because of the corruptions of His Adamic nature. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the truth incarnate has said: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). And again it is written: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” (John 6:63-65).

 

True faith is the gift of God and it is the evidence of covenant union with Jesus Christ from eternity past, as it is written: “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:13-14). True faith is the evidence of eternal life, as it is written: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). It is the living that believe: “the dead knoweth not anything” (Ecclesiastes 9:5): “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-6).

 

Faith is exclusively the gift of God, as it is written: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). And again it is written: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Reader if God has given you the gift of believing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth, it is by His own purpose and grace and it is according to eternal covenant promise that He has visited you and instilled the faith of God’s elect in you. Therefore thou child of God, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the whole of your salvation. It is not Christ and your faith, not Christ and your repentance, not Christ and anything that is from you or of you. Christ Jesus alone is God’s salvation, and being joined to Him the saints of God believe on Him, as it is written: “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (I Corinthians 6:17). Water baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. It is our testimony that we, as the covenant people of God have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), buried with Him (Colossians 2:12), quickened with Him and raised form the dead (Ephesians 2:5-6). If God has given you faith in Christ Jesus, then witness His infinite goodness and grace to you through believer’s baptism.

 

Reader, baptism is the believers acknowledgement of the truth of the doctrine of Christ. Churches that claim to believe the truth concerning Christ and His finished work while holding views that are in opposition to the scriptures are not submitted to the scriptures and they are not submitted to the righteousness of God. The spirit of error is widespread in these days. Before submitting to baptism by any religious organization you should acquaint yourself with the gospel that is set forth by their preacher, or preachers. Only attend and be active in a church that is of the truth. “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.