Monday Musings

This morning as I walked to the study I invested some of the time pondering what should appear as my next blog. The following are two unrelated matters from our meetings yesterday.

During our adult Sunday School time we considered Titus 3:8-11. In verse 8 the Apostle Paul reminds Titus that "these things are good an profitable." The question before the expositor is "What things?" The answer to that question seems to me to go back to verses 5 through 7 and embraces the gospel as well as the life of good works mentioned in verse 8. This reality strikes me as being very important in our day as well. Ours' is a world that majors on self gratification. We live in a culture that is characterized by the pursuit of instant pleasure and asks “What’s in it for me?”. This is undoubtedly an era when the professing Christian community is driven by felt needs, perceived needs. Far too often the misguided whims and wishes of a depraved humanity are the hands that steer the ship of churches and ministries. Therefore, it is essential that we refuse to retreat from the conviction that the Gospel of Grace is profitable. It is imperative that we cling tenaciously to the truth that the Gospel of Christ alone can meet the real need of all mankind. It is necessary that we boldly declare that the great truths of Holy Scripture alone are eternally profitable, operating to the boundless advantage of the true believer.

In our evening service we resumed our study of the book of Hebrews by turning to the first three verses of chapter 6. At the end of the third verse there is a very interesting and oft overlooked phrase. The author of the epistle has presented the need for the readers to move away from their dulness of hearing (5:11) and be moved on to perfection. The Geneva Bible translates that idea "let us be led forward unto perfection". When we come to the third verse the writer records a statment of commitment "This will we do." and the reader is ready to rejoice. Then, suddenly, the eyes spot the little phrase "if God permit" and we are forced to consider the unpleasant reality that God does indeed harden hearts and blind eyes. In the words of 2 Chronicles 36:16 there does come a time when there is "no remedy". John 12:40 also declares that God is the one who blinds eyes and hardens hearts.

May I suggest that one of the factors contributing to the dullness of hearing in churches today is that this teaching has been neglected. People have not been confronted with the reality that it is possible to reject the Scriptures and oppose the preaching of the gospel to the point where hardening sets in. The average church attendee has not been warned that such conduct can, and does, reach the place where “will not hear” results in “cannot hear.”

Some will say that a Pastor should leave such things unsaid lest we create false doubt in the mind of those who hear. In my understanding of Scripture the sacred responsibility of the shepherd to teach the truth. It is not the duty of the Pastor to produce assurance of salvation - that is a ministry of the Spirit of God. May God grant that through the faithful teaching and preaching of the Scriptures that His Holy Spirit would bring folk face to face with the reality of their true spiritual condition.