Post by poetsunshine on Jun 23, 2010 21:01:57 GMT -6
THE REASON WHY MANY CANNOT FINE PEACE
JAMES 4:7..”Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We frequently meet with persons who tell us that they cannot find peace with God. They have been told to believe in the Lord Jesus, and they will be saved, but they misunderstand the command, and, while they think they obeying it, they are really unbelievers; hence they miss the way of peace. For the way to peace is more than believing with the mind, it has to come from the heart.
They attempt to pray, but their petitions are not answered, and their supplications yield them no comfort whatever, for neither their faith nor their prayer is accepted of the Lord.
We cannot be content to see seekers in this wretchedness, and hence we endeavor to comfort them, instructing them again and again in the great gospel precept, “believe and live.” Yet as a rule they get no further, but linger in and unsatisfactory condition.
According to the connection, the fighting spirit within many men shows that they have not submitted themselves to God; lusting, envy, strife, contention, jealousy, anger; all these thing declare that the heart is not submissive, but remains violently self-willed and rebellious. Those who are still wrathful, proud, contentious, and selfish, are evidently unsubdued.
A want of submission is no new or rare fault in mankind; ever since the fall it has been the root of all sin.
Man wants to be his own law, and his own master. This is abominable, since we are not our own makers; for it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. The Lord should have supremacy over us, for our existence depends on His will.
The hemlock of sin grows in the furrows of opposition to God. When the Lord is pleased to turn the hearts of those who oppose to the obedience of the truth, it is an evident taken of salvation; in fact, it is the dawn of salvation itself. To submit to God is to find rest.
The rule of God is so beneficial that He ought readily to be obeyed. He never commands us to do that which, in the long run, can be injurious to us; nor does He forbid us anything which can be to our real advantage.
All resistance against God must from the necessity of the case be futile. Common sense teaches that rebellion against omnipotence is both insanity and blasphemy. And then let it always be known that submission to God is absolutely necessary to salvation.
A man is not saved until he bows before the supreme majesty of God. Now, it is generally in this matter of submission that the stumblling-block lies in the way of souls when seeking peace with God. It keeps them unsaved, and as I have already said, necessarily so, because a man who is not submissive to God is not saved; he is not saved from rebellion, he is not saved from pride, he is still evidently an unsaved man, let him think whatever he will of himself.
Now; it the saved man there is and must be a full and unconditional submission to the law of God. If you say in your heart, “He is too strict in marking sin, and to severe in punishing it,” what is this but condemning your judge. If you say, “He calls me to account for idle words, and even for sins of ignorance, and this is hard.” What is this but to call your Lord unjust. Should the law be amended to suit your desires. Should it requirements be accommodated ease your indolence?
And before a man can have peace with God he must submit himself to the sentence of the law. If your plea be “Not guilty”, you will be committed for trial according to justice, but you cannot be forgiven by mercy. You are in a hopeless position; God Himself cannot meet you upon that ground for He cannot admit that the law is unrighteous and its penalty too heavy.
A man must next submit himself to the plan of salvation by grace alone. If you come with anything like a claim the Lord will not touch the case at all, for you have no claim, and the pretense of one would be an insult to God. The sentence is certain to be against you, for by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified.
You must also submit yourselves to God’s way of saving you through and atoning sacrifice and by means of your personal faith in that sacrifice. Man must be sincere, with a heart full of conviction and repentance. God will give him the peace that surpasses all understanding.. Thank God for that peace.
JAMES 4:7..”Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We frequently meet with persons who tell us that they cannot find peace with God. They have been told to believe in the Lord Jesus, and they will be saved, but they misunderstand the command, and, while they think they obeying it, they are really unbelievers; hence they miss the way of peace. For the way to peace is more than believing with the mind, it has to come from the heart.
They attempt to pray, but their petitions are not answered, and their supplications yield them no comfort whatever, for neither their faith nor their prayer is accepted of the Lord.
We cannot be content to see seekers in this wretchedness, and hence we endeavor to comfort them, instructing them again and again in the great gospel precept, “believe and live.” Yet as a rule they get no further, but linger in and unsatisfactory condition.
According to the connection, the fighting spirit within many men shows that they have not submitted themselves to God; lusting, envy, strife, contention, jealousy, anger; all these thing declare that the heart is not submissive, but remains violently self-willed and rebellious. Those who are still wrathful, proud, contentious, and selfish, are evidently unsubdued.
A want of submission is no new or rare fault in mankind; ever since the fall it has been the root of all sin.
Man wants to be his own law, and his own master. This is abominable, since we are not our own makers; for it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. The Lord should have supremacy over us, for our existence depends on His will.
The hemlock of sin grows in the furrows of opposition to God. When the Lord is pleased to turn the hearts of those who oppose to the obedience of the truth, it is an evident taken of salvation; in fact, it is the dawn of salvation itself. To submit to God is to find rest.
The rule of God is so beneficial that He ought readily to be obeyed. He never commands us to do that which, in the long run, can be injurious to us; nor does He forbid us anything which can be to our real advantage.
All resistance against God must from the necessity of the case be futile. Common sense teaches that rebellion against omnipotence is both insanity and blasphemy. And then let it always be known that submission to God is absolutely necessary to salvation.
A man is not saved until he bows before the supreme majesty of God. Now, it is generally in this matter of submission that the stumblling-block lies in the way of souls when seeking peace with God. It keeps them unsaved, and as I have already said, necessarily so, because a man who is not submissive to God is not saved; he is not saved from rebellion, he is not saved from pride, he is still evidently an unsaved man, let him think whatever he will of himself.
Now; it the saved man there is and must be a full and unconditional submission to the law of God. If you say in your heart, “He is too strict in marking sin, and to severe in punishing it,” what is this but condemning your judge. If you say, “He calls me to account for idle words, and even for sins of ignorance, and this is hard.” What is this but to call your Lord unjust. Should the law be amended to suit your desires. Should it requirements be accommodated ease your indolence?
And before a man can have peace with God he must submit himself to the sentence of the law. If your plea be “Not guilty”, you will be committed for trial according to justice, but you cannot be forgiven by mercy. You are in a hopeless position; God Himself cannot meet you upon that ground for He cannot admit that the law is unrighteous and its penalty too heavy.
A man must next submit himself to the plan of salvation by grace alone. If you come with anything like a claim the Lord will not touch the case at all, for you have no claim, and the pretense of one would be an insult to God. The sentence is certain to be against you, for by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified.
You must also submit yourselves to God’s way of saving you through and atoning sacrifice and by means of your personal faith in that sacrifice. Man must be sincere, with a heart full of conviction and repentance. God will give him the peace that surpasses all understanding.. Thank God for that peace.
