Make religion the every-day business of your life,... or else

There are preachers that can preach, and then there are preachers who are deliver such a Spirit-drenched message so as to defy even predestination, if it were possible. If anything, it's a proof of the superhuman grip that sin has on the heart, that one could hear a sermon like I've heard today, not once but twice, and remain distant from Christ. Pastor William Hughes was in town for the weekend, standing in for Iain Murray, and he filled those shoes famously. I only hope I can properly digest what I've been privileged to hear today.

In the Sunday school, we were treated to a detailed survey of the life and ministry of David Livingstone. While hailed as an extraordinary explorer, his spiritual zeal to open the then-unknown continent of Africa to the gospel is often overlooked. One thing that stuck out in my mind was the death-bed counsel of a childhood mentor of his, as follows:

"Now, lad, make religion the every-day business of your
life, and not a thing of fits and starts; for if you do, temptation and
other things will get the better of you."

In the morning, he drew from 2 Corinthians 5, reading chapter 4 as a background to Paul's words of confidence at the onset of the 5th chapter -- "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." Pr. Hughes focussed his comments on Paul's analogy of heaven, making the point that, in the words of Richard Sibbs, "If a believer is gloomy all the time, he has forgotten what Christ has done for him. If he is happy all the time, he has forgotten what Christ is yet to do for him." He also noted Paul's complete absence of any mention of punishment to come, as taught by the supposed doctrine of Purgatory, which is not surprising since it is completely contradictory to Paul's understanding of redemption. Paul's confidence is rooted primarily in the believer's union with Christ through faith, which results in adopted sonship, the basis for a reconciled relationship with God.

An established relationship with God is predicated on the activity of all three members of the Godhead-- the election of God the Father, the blood sacrifice of the Son, and the presence of the Spirit, given at conversion as the guarantee of our future inheritance. To those who would claim that believing one to be permanently in grace is presumption, I would counter that Paul had no such hesitation. To quote, "we KNOW that we have a building from God", speaking of heaven. Such a belief is not presumption, but simply taking God at His word. To say that such knowledge is not possible is to deny not only Paul's words, but those of Peter ["but you, make your calling and election sure"], and more importantly, those of Christ ["he who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out"]; and these are just a sampling of what is assured to the believer all across the New and Old testaments.

In the evening, Pr. Hughes delivered a heart-string-pulling exposition of the words of Christ at the end of Matthew 11, "Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and humble of hear, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I really can't capture it here, you'll have to listen to it off the website at www.grbc.net if you can handle it.