October 7, 2008
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Forgiveness & cleansing of sin leads to God's Commission: "Penitents should be preachers"
I believe this is the last in my series on "Dealing with sins and guilt."
As I write this post, I confess I do not have a heart for the lost like I should. God has saved us so we might go and tell, to freely give as we have freely received. We are entrusted with the deposit of the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to a world dead in sins, but I admit I am sometimes apathetic toward the world. I am also sometimes fearful of what people might think of me when I share Christ with them. And then I remember Jesus' words...
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:27-39.
...and pray...
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.for You, my Redeemer, You alone are worthy of my praise and of my life...
* * *With God's cleansing comes His commission. For example, think of Isaiah and Peter (see Isaiah 6, John 21). We don't receive cleansing and forgiveness to give us warm fuzzies or merely as a "Get out of hell free" card. God's purpose in redeeming a people to Himself by the precious blood of Christ is to bring glory to His Name. He intends His people to publish His great salvation and proclaim the praises of a God who loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. As much as we may think it, salvation isn't really about us, it's all about Him.
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him...This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. Isaiah 43:7, 21.But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. I Peter 2:9-10.
God has chosen us and called us out so we can make much of Him.Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. Psalm 51:12-15.Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name...Psalm 142:7a.
In Christ we are are new creations and we are no longer our own. We are no longer to live to ourselves but to Him who lived and died for us. Part of the Spirit's regenerating work is God's recreating our mouths and putting praise in our hearts so we might use our mouths to testify of His great salvation offered through Jesus Christ.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 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 5:17-21.Matthew Henry wrote of how David proclaimed God's praises.
David had been himself a transgressor, and therefore could speak experimentally to transgressors, and resolves, having himself found mercy with God in the way of repentance, to teach others God's ways, that is, (1.) Our way to God by repentance; he would teach others that had sinned to take the same course that he had taken, to humble themselves, to confess their sins, and seek God's face; and, (2.) God's way towards us in pardoning mercy; how ready he is to receive those that return to him. He taught the former by his own example, for the direction of sinners in repenting; he taught the latter by his own experience, for their encouragement. By this psalm he is, and will be to the world's end, teaching transgressors, telling them what God had done for his soul. Note, Penitents should be preachers.[1]God pulls up out of the pit of sin and guilt and gives us a new song to witness to His goodness so His great Name might be praised and many would come to trust in Him:
I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Psalm 86:12-13.O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. Psalm 96:1-3.I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD...I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. 10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Psalm 40:1-3, 9-10.When God delivers us He puts a new song in our mouths. Are we singing it?
The power of the Holy Spirit to witness
After the Holy Spirit fell in Acts 2, the early Church was certainly singing a new song on the day of Pentecost. The disciples began proclaiming the wonderful works of God. People from many nations heard the early church speaking in their tongues the wonderful works of God. Some said they were drunk with wine, but those disciples of Christ were only intoxicated with the Spirit of God and overwhelmed by His goodness to them so they could not help but praise God. Their lips were not refrained. The new song was going out loud and clear. On that day, 3000 souls heard that song and trusted in Christ that day and were added to the Church. The day of Pentecost was the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus' words in Luke 24 and Acts 1:And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Luke 24:26-49.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8.
The key here is that the Church was not unleashed and emboldened to testify until the Spirit fell. God calls us to continue the mission He began in Jerusalem that day. We can never expect to accomplish God's work apart from God's power. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. We must ask God to continue to fill us with His Spirit so we can fulfill His commission to us. The Spirit writes on our hearts and in our souls what mere head knowledge and doctrine cannot do. We can understand the message of salvation with our heads but unless we are endued with power from on high, when we share the message, it won't have the same impact on the hearers (or on us). The Living Water won't flow.
* * *Some questions to ask ourselves
Have we forgotten the great grace God has showered on us when He pulled us up out of the horrible pit of sin and death from which we were powerless to escape? Have we come to take our salvation for granted? Do messages on the cross no longer move us? Does the Gospel seem old hat to us?
Are we singing the new song He has put in our mouth or are we refraining our lips? Are we shining forth the light of the knowledge of the glory of God or are we hiding our light under a bushel?
Are we asking God to fill us with His Spirit, so we might be Spirit-intoxicated to the point that we cannot help but praise God to a lost world? Acts 4:20.
...let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. Psalm 70:4b.Do we love our Savior and His salvation so much that we cannot help but say continually, Let God be magnified?
Are we telling others what God has done for our souls?
In case you might be thinking, "Oh, telling others about Christ–isn't that what we pay our pastor to do?" No, brothers and sisters, we're all called to preach the Gospel, to proclaim the Good News of great joy to all people. The Church is a royal priesthood; we're all commissioned to be witnesses.
Penitents should be preachers.There is an entire world of people out there waiting to hear, those not of the fold. God sends us out to publish His great salvation to those who have not yet heard and He gives us the power to do so.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. John 20:21.How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, Your God reigns. Isaiah 52:7.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! Romans 10:14-15.
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice , the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. Isaiah 42:8-12.
to make Your Salvation knownI Waited for the Lord Most High[2]
You may also be interested in reading:
- Psalm 98, Acts.
- "Satan tempted me to hold my tongue..." (Whitefield)
- Bible Reading: Things To Look for in a Church: What We Find in Solomon's Temple, 3: Worship
- Bible Reading: Things to Look for in a Church: What We Find in Solomon's Temple, 7: Missionary Zeal
- The Present of Pentecost/Bible Reading: Lessons for the Church from the Queen of Sheba, part 2 and Solomon's Prayer for the Foreigner (The Holy Spirit gives us a burden for the lost, cleanses us and empowers us to witness)
- What Is Success? What Is Making a Difference? Part 16: "What Is Success in Evangelism?"
- What Is Success? What Is Making a Difference? Part 9-What the Apostle Paul Teaches Us
- Found in my fortune cookie
[2] "I Waited for the Lord Most High," verses 1, 2, 4 and 6. The Psalter, 1912, alt. 1990, mod. From "Trinity Hymnal" (Suwanee, Georgia: Great Commission Publications, 1990), # 622.
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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