Unquestioned Revelation

by Mike Ratliff

23 And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.John 16:23 (LSB) 

In our journey these past several weeks we have looked at the nature of faith, the veracity of the Bible as the Word of God, and the deity of Christ. Much of this has been done as the result of or in response to attacks by liberals, Christian and otherwise. I often ponder what could possibly be their goal. Why should they care that we proclaim that Jesus Christ is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE and no one comes to Father except through Him? When we analyze that then it becomes clear that their attacks are on the exclusivity of the genuine Gospel.

Genuine faith, the product of God’s grace (Romans 4:16; Ephesians 2:8,9) is possessed only by the regenerate. This faith is alive whereas before God’s grace quickened it, it was completely incapable and unwilling to believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour. This dead faith is inherited from Adam and the product of the fall. (Genesis 3) Without God’s grace according with man’s faith, there is no possibility of belief and, therefore, no possibility of salvation. However, when God quickens a sinner (we are all sinners) his or her faith comes alive. The spiritual blindness that marked them before regeneration is washed away.

God is Merciful to Us

By Mike Ratliff

Heth
57 Yahweh is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.
58 I have sought to please Your face with all my heart;
Be gracious to me according to Your word.
59 I thought upon my ways
And I turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62 At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all those who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64 The earth, O Yahweh, is full of Your lovingkindness;
Teach me Your statutes. Psalms 119:56-64 (LSB) 

God does not need us. God is holy; therefore, He is fully fulfilled in Himself. His holy attributes show us His perfection and infinite power. At the fall of man, found in Genesis 3, God would have been perfectly justified in wiping out Adam and Eve then starting over. However, He did not. Praise the Lord He did not! God was merciful to Man whom He loves. He still is.

God Saves Us

by Mike Ratliff

Vav
41 May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Yahweh,
Your salvation according to Your word;
42 So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me,
For I trust in Your word.
43 And do not take away the word of truth utterly from my mouth,
For I wait for Your judgments.
44 So I will keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever.
45 And I will walk in a wide place,
For I seek Your precepts.
46 I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings
And I shall not be ashamed.
47 I shall delight in Your commandments,
Which I love.
48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I love;
And I will muse on Your statutes.Psalms 119:40-48 (LSB) 

The more I study doctrine and research the incredible variances of those held by theologians and denominations the more I realize there are really only two types. One type is focused solely on God’s Glory and is dynamically linked to His sovereignty. The other type (which includes all but God-focused Christianity) is Man based. This type either elevates man above or equal to God in responsibility and glory. The latter type will be those doctrines which “seem right” to most people. When the former are presented, they will cause those espousing their man-glorifying doctrines to be seized by apoplexy when they hear them. The type which is God focused is not politically correct. Why? Those who hold to the second type of doctrines have a false view of God and a false view of Man. Those who hold to the first type of doctrines have the view that God is sovereign and Man, without God’s grace, is completely dead in trespasses and sins. This view says Man is Totally Depraved in his natural state and can do nothing to gain salvation. The “man based” doctrines say Man does have the ability to seek God and can do so if he desires. The “God based” doctrines say God must extend His Grace to save Man from spiritual death. By now, I am sure you know which one I hold. Well you should as well. Why?

God’s Bountiful Grace

by Mike Ratliff

Gimel
17 Deal bountifully with Your slave,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your law.
19 I am a sojourner in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments.
22 Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I observe Your testimonies.
23 Even though princes sit and talk against me,
Your slave muses on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my counselors.Psalms 119:16-24 (LSB) 

I am convinced most believer’s concept of God’s grace is not as high as it should be. Sadly, most of us walk through this life with the attitude we somehow deserve salvation and blessings. We treat God as if He is the interloper with His commands to live Holy and obedient lives. Why? Our focus is on self.

Have faith in God

C. H. Spurgeon from his Morning by Morning Devotional for March 7.

 

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Mark 11:22 (KJV) 

FAITH is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well; and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot, and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things; without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor Little-faith could not have fought “Apollyon;” it needed “Christian” to do that. Poor Little-faith could not have slain “Giant Despair;” it required “Great-heart’s” arm to knock that monster down. Little faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to hide itself in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little-faith says, “It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of dangers; I am afraid to go;” but Great-faith remembers the promise, “Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:” and so she boldly ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood; but Great-faith sings, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:” and she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then “have faith in God.” If you love darkness, and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, “great faith.

The Lordship of Christ Concerning Genuine Saving Faith

by Mike Ratliff

8 Πρῶτον μὲν εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ μου διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν ὅτι ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν καταγγέλλεται ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ. Romans 1:8 (NA28)

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you because your faith is being proclaimed in all the world. Romans 1:8 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

In these broadly apostate days of the visible church the good biblical words such as ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ are thrown around and used in such a loose way that it is important for us dig into what God’s Word says about πιστεύω (pisteuō), “to have faith in, trust; particularly, to be firmly, persuaded as to something” and πιστός (pistos), an adjective meaning “faithful, trustworthy, reliable, dependable” instead of relying on what our modern translations give us for these words, for if we do not “dig” we remain in a shallow understanding of these things. On the other hand, God will use our hard work in these things to teach us, train us, and grow us into more mature Christians who do glorify God in our walks and perhaps other disciples will marvel and report to others and then our faith will be “broadly declared throughout the whole world.” You see, for Paul to make that statement about the Romans’ faith meant that there must have been something remarkable about it. What was it? 

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ

C. H. Spurgeon from his Morning by Morning Devotional for February 12.

5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5 (KJV)
THERE is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side He puts His people’s trials, and in that He puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to His crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—He finds it full—He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.”¹ There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

¹Psalm 130:1

I know how to abound

C. H. Spurgeon from his Morning by Morning devotional for February 10.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:12-13 (KJV)
HERE are many who know “how to be abased” who have not learned “how to abound.” When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the fining-pot of prosperity. Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, “In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry.” It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts’ lust. Fulness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God’s providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God’s grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry—so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God. Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you “how to be full.”

” Let not the gifts Thy love bestows
Estrange our hearts from Thee.”

The High Calling of God

by Mike Ratliff

1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of teaching about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Hebrews 6:1-2 (LSB) 

Many years ago, my wife and I were members of the same church we belong to now, but it was much smaller back then and the leadership was completely different than it is now. It was also at a completely different location. We had been members there for several years when we got a new pastor. I was a deacon and a Bible teacher. On Wednesday evenings we had a meal at church followed by various Bible studies our Pastor wanted to do.  One thing he did for awhile was a “stump the pastor” question and answer time where we would ask him hard Biblical questions and he would try to answer them. One Wednesday we went and he stopped me on the way in and told me he had to go make a visit to the hospital and he wanted me to fill in for him in the “stump the pastor” thing.  Talk about terrifying… In any case, I agreed to do it. All went very well until right at the end. I was asked about disciples and discipleship. This was in the late 1990’s so it was before God had taken me through my radical turn around, but I had been studying this very thing for weeks just before this. I responded that all true believers are disciples. I was very surprised when an older man I did not know loudly interrupted me and said I was wrong. He said there were carnal Christians and there were disciples. I responded that what most people call carnal Christians are probably not really Christians at all, but were more than likely just religious unsaved people. It got quiet. The questions  ended. We were done. Later my pastor heard all about it and told me that I was right and did a good job. Three months later the company I worked for moved my job from OKC to Tulsa and so my wife and I sold our house and bought one in the Tulsa suburbs and moved there in early 2000. 18 months later I was recruited by a Hospital management corporation located in Lenexa, Kansas. Their offer was too good to turn down. I was to be their Database Administrator and would not have to work on Network stuff or P.C. stuff or Email stuff at all, just Database management. I took the job and we moved to the Kansas City area in September 2001 just a week or so before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. I worked for them for over 20 years and retired in December 2021 after I turned 70. While we were in the K.C. area God did a huge amount of reconstruction In this heart. As a result of that I started this ministry and became a contributor to Christian Research Network.

Redeeming Our Time in This Evil Age

by Mike Ratliff

15 Βλέπετε οὖν ἀκριβῶς πῶς περιπατεῖτε μὴ ὡς ἄσοφοι ἀλλʼ ὡς σοφοί, 16 ἐξαγοραζόμενοι τὸν καιρόν, ὅτι αἱ ἡμέραι πονηραί εἰσιν. Ephesians 5:15-16 (NA28)

15 See therefore how carefully you walk not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

There is a great deal going on the visible church, much of it having little to do with genuine Christianity, that most of us can do little about. Yes, we can pray, which is very powerful. We can also obey God and expose the evil to other believers. However, the older I get in the faith the outrage over much of what people like Rob Bell or Rick Warren say or write I no longer allow to consume me. I know what my role is in the Truth War do you what yours is? For most of us it is to obey what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 5:1-21. 

The Fruits of Justification

by Mike Ratliff

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE. Hebrews 12:28-29 (LSB)

In my younger days when I was working on my undergraduate degree, I had a professor who used to work in a major manufacturing company in the US. He used his experiences there in analogies pertaining to the management topics we were studying. He used one of his former co-workers there as an example, a bad example, as he taught us how we should work together toward our common goals, et cetera. This fellow’s nickname at that company was ‘Yeah-but.’ He told us that it never failed that in meetings when someone had a solution to an issue or a concept of a better way to do things, this fellow would always interrupt and start his diatribe against it with the words, “Yeah, but…!” I had an encounter with a “religious yeah-but” several years ago here on this blog. I had written a post dealing with our Justification and this fellow’s response to it was, “Yeah, but what about those sins you have committed since God saved you?” It did not matter how I replied to this fellow, he was convinced that, yes he was saved by grace through faith, but it was his obedience, et cetera, that kept him there. If he sinned, he lost his salvation and had to be re-justified I suppose. Is this biblical? 

Who enters into the Lord’s rest?

by Mike Ratliff

1 Oh come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh,
Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us make a loud shout to Him with songs of praise.
3 For Yahweh is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers tried Me,
They tested Me, though they had seen My work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who wander in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 Therefore I swore in My anger,
They shall never enter into My rest.” Psalms 95 (LSB) 

Those who insist that we are in a ‘post-evangelical era’ and must, therefore, radically alter not only how we do church in order to reach unbelieving people in our time, also insist that this must be accompanied by a toning down of one’s Christian convictions about the truth. We are told that the culture we are in now will not respond to those who are militant, aggressive, preachy, and extremely sure of their convictions. I ask, since when has pragmatism become how the Gospel works? Did Jesus preach and teach pragmatically or did what He taught cause a huge division between those who believed and those who didn’t? You know the answer to that. He pulled no punches. The reality of His ministry was the epitome of God’s ways not being man’s ways. All we are told to do until our Lord returns is make disciples, teaching them all that He has taught us. In the meantime we are to abide in Christ, love one another, deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. We are to be the antithesis of world and its ways, not conforming to it in how we minister.

Come to Me and I Will Give You Rest

by Mike Ratliff

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 (LSB) 

Christians should view this life in the temporal as the preparation or training that will develop Christ’s character in them prior to them going home to be with Him forever. However, many false prophets lead their followers into just the opposite. To them, it is all about the here and now. Instead of viewing hardship and sickness as implements or tools in the hands God to shape and form His children, these are seen as things out of His control that we suffer because we don’t have enough faith. Perhaps God is using our sickness or hardship to bring others together in prayer for their spiritual growth. Perhaps He is allowing these things to drive things out of our lives that separate us from Him and keep us from obedience. Our Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15 (LSB)

Attaining The Resurrection

by Mike Ratliff

8 ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου, διʼ ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα , ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω 9 καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, μὴ ἔχων ἐμὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ νόμου ἀλλὰ τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει, 10 τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ [τὴν] κοινωνίαν [τῶν] παθημάτων αὐτοῦ, συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ, 11 εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Philippians 3:8-11 (NA28)

 ⁸ But even more so I consider all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom all things I suffered loss and I consider them dung, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness that is of the law, but the righteousness through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based upon faith, ¹⁰ to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, ¹¹ that if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

Legalism is the default religion of most people. However, when God gave the Law to Moses to give to Israel, he did not do so as a means for sinners to earn the Kingdom of Heaven. The Law was given to Moses on the mountain after the people were redeemed from Egypt (Exodus 20:1-17). The sacrificial system within the Law proves that the Lord knew the people would fail to obey the Law perfectly. If the Law is not a means for sinners to save themselves, why did God reveal it at all?