Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to mere self-denial that Christ calls us but specifically to self-sacrifice, not to unselfing ourselves but to unselfishing ourselves. Self-denial for its own sake is in its very nature ascetic, monkish. It concentrates our whole attention on self—self-knowledge, self-control - and can therefore eventuate in nothing other than the very apotheosis of selfishness. At best it succeeds only in subjecting the outer self to the inner self or the lower self to the higher self, and only the more surely falls into the slough of self-seeking, that it partially conceals the selfishness of its goal by refining its ideal of self and excluding its grosser and more outward elements. Self-denial, then, drives to the cloister, narrows and contracts the soul, murders within us all innocent desires, dries up all the springs of sympathy, and nurses and coddles our self-importance until we grow so great in our own esteem as to be careless of the trials and sufferings, the joys and aspirations, the strivings and failures and successes of our fellow-men. Self-denial, thus understood, will make us cold, hard, unsympathetic—proud, arrogant, self-esteeming—fanatical, overbearing, cruel. It may make monks and Stoics, it cannot make Christians.
B.B. Warfield

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E-pistle for May 30, 2014

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#1 · May 30, 2014, 9:41 am

Posted by: info <info@...>

E-Pistle

FreeWay Foundation           May 30, 2014

 

If a man dies, shall he live again?

(Job 14:1-22)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

 

I.  Concentration:  on some key verses in this chapter

            1.  "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble,"

      v. 1.

            2.  "Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with

     You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass," v. 5.

            3.  "If a man dies, shall he live again?" v. 14.

            4.  "My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You cover my iniquity,

     v. 17.

II.  Meditation:  on similar and related Scriptures

            1.  Job compared the brevity of a man's life to a rotten thing and a

     moth-eaten garment, 13:28, as well as to a fading flower and a

     vanishing shadow, 14:2.

            2.  "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength

     they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is

     soon cut off, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10.

            3.  "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he

     may die, he shall live, John 11:25.

            4.  "As far as the east is from the west, so far He has removed our

     transgressions from us," Psalm 103:12; God "will cast all our sins into

     the depths of the sea,"  Micah 7:19.

III.  Revelation:  on the spiritual implications of these truths

            1.  Man is born with an inherited sinful nature, and because of the fall of

     Adam in the Garden of Eden, mankind is under the curse of death,

     Genesis 2:16-17; I Corinthians 15:21-22.

2.  To continue the above quote from Psalm 90:  "So teach us to number

     our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom," v. 12; Paul urged the

     Ephesian Christians to "walk circumspectly . . . redeeming the time,

     because the days are evil," Ephesians 5:15-16.

3.  "Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,

     even so we also should walk in newness of life," Romans 6:4.

4.  "God . . . loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (covering)

     for our sins," I John  4:10.

IV.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to . . .

            1.  Repent immediately of my sins, the instant I am convicted by the Holy

                 Spirit, Acts 3:19; 17:30.

            2.  Live each moment of every day in the awareness of the abiding presence

                 of the Lord, making the most of the limited time He allows me to

                 fellowship with Him on earth, John 15:4.

            3.  Expect resurrection:  "If the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead

                 dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to

                 your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you," Romans 8:11.

            4.  Receive with thanksgiving God's forgiveness and cleansing through the

                 atoning blood of Jesus Christ, I John 1:7,9.

 

 

 

 

Having the mind of Christ

(Philippians 2:1-17)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

 

I.  Concentration:  on the grounds for Paul's pastoral advice (v. 1)

            1.  The consolation available in Christ.

            2.  The comfort of mutual love between God and man.

            3.  The fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

            4.  The supporting mutual affection and mercy among believers.

II.  Meditation:  on Paul's plea for unity, which would fulfill his joy (v. 2)

            1.  Unity of spirit . . . "like minded."

            2.  Unity of love . . . "small love."

            3.  Unity of purpose . . . "of one accord."

            4.  Unity of thought . . . "of one mind."

III.  Revelation:  on things Paul encouraged believers to do . . .

            1.  Exhibit true humility, v. 3.

            2.  Express concern and compassion for the interests of others, v. 4.

            3.  Have the mind of Christ, v. 5; What He experiences, we must experience,

                        (1)  Humility, vv. 6-8

                        (2)  Obedience, v. 8

                        (3)  Death, v. 8

                        (4)  Resurrection and exaltation, vv. 9-11

            4.  "Work out our own salvation" (v. 12) . . . that is, allow God to work in us

                 "both to will and to do His good pleasure,"  v. 13.

IV.  Application:  as a Christian, I need to . . .

            1.  Be blameless, harmless, and faultless, v. 15.

            2.  Shine as a light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, v. 15.

            3.  Hold fast (study, proclaim, obey) the word of life . . . the Scripture, v. 16.

            4.  Joyfully be poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of

                 my faith, v. 17.

 

Wit and Wisecrack

Mark Twain said "There are those who scoff at the schoolboy, calling him frivolous and shallow.

Yet it was the schoolboy who said, 'Faith is believing what you know ain't so!'"

 

 

 

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