Behold, You desire
truth in the
inward parts,
and in the hidden
part You will
make me to know
wisdom.
Psalm 51:6
In the throes of life, when all is going well (At least for the most part), in the business of daily living, caring for a husband or wife, meeting the needs of children, it is hard to apprehend that there is a war; not between nations, but war between religion(s) and non-religious ideologies, theologies, and a claim for your soul, a claim that is silently causing upheaval in your mind and desire to follow Jesus Christ. But, if you love your souls, the souls of your husband or wife, your children, you must have care for a battle, a battle that Scripture causes us to fight, you must care for leaders that are capable to acquit themselves faithfully and ably so as to address this battle and to equip the soldiers of the cross to meet their battle(s) (Onward Christian Soldiers: a Christian imperative).
All that can be said is that the fact remains; it is the truth that sets men free. Unfortunately this truth is and has been subverted from within the Church. At times in history people would flock to hear God's word, congregations were filled with people are now empty of spiritual life. Many Churches have a similarity to a morgue, or they are filled with screaming, shouting, living a euphoric Gospel that is devoid of true Scriptural messages. It was not this liberal form of Christianity that brought men and women to hear God's word, it was preaching that was Scriptural, people were hungry for Scripture. Unfortunately for many people their search was undermined by liberalism, both secular and especially within the Church. Those men to whom I point to from the past, those men who attempted to bring back to the people Scriptural and Scriptural living; Chrysostom, Augustine, from the early church, Francis and Bernard from the Medieval Church, Calvin and John Knox of the Reformation, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield of the Great Awakening Church, Paul Bunyan of the Puritan Church, Charles Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, of the Victorian Church; these Churches are dying, a slow painful death as people run to find Churches that will "tickle" their ears. In both cases there is a lack of Scriptural teaching a lack of history of the Church, most people would not even know of those men just mentioned. Both Churches are dying for a self-inflicted wound, that wound has come upon them due to a lack of the basics of Scripture.
We must, as true Christians, stand for the truth, to defend the truth of Scripture, not some man-made theology, we need to expose error and refute it, this I have been attempting to do. The calling of the prophets, the Apostles and to all of God's children is our calling today. We must stand for the truth that was once delivered to the saints. This calling is a valuable thing, something we can do for the world and for other human beings, reaching out with the Gospel for all of the elect. Not just good living, doing the right things so that we have a notion of holiness, rather to have a repentant heart, and allow the Holy Spirit to be the guide for our lives. In order to be a child of God a person must know the basics of their beliefs. How else can you live as God desires, and how can you be a witness for Jesus Christ. One something goes awry you must go back to the basics, it is the basics that are the foundation. It might be repetitious, but is reinforcing, the more we study and apply the basics, the more confident we become, the more steadfast we become for we have come to assimilate the truth. As the opening Scripture declares: if you want to know the truth then allow the Holy Spirit to enable you to have the wisdom necessary for learning and applying the truth. The Psalmist applies the truth thusly: "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me: and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God" (Psalm 50:23). How can we order our lives, our steps in accordance with Scripture? It is by becoming knowledgeable of Scripture. The Psalmist offers this fact: "God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God" (Psalm 53:2).
We must go back to the basics and this will be the approach I will take in the upcoming blogs. We must know the doctrines found in Scripture. The chief use of Christian doctrine is, to convince a man of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). This teaching upon the basics will assist the weak in faith, and deepen the faith of the mature. All who subscribe to this teaching will notice, first that it will be Scripture that is the ground for any basic that is taught; secondly, this teaching will give aid to a person removing any presumptuous and dead faith from them, and an assurance of everlasting life: "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not wee life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:34-36).
The Sabbath is coming in two days; will it be a Sabbath, or will it be just a free day to do whatever you like, go fishing, shopping, boating, movies, causing waitresses to wait upon you so that you can eat out and cause that waitress to miss the Sabbath,etc., or will it be a true Sabbath, a day of rest, a day to fellowship with other believers, a day of prayer, a day to read God's word. What will it be, will you keep the Sabbath day and keep it holy? This is the beginning of the basics.
Do you not say, 'There
are still four months
and then comes the harvest?
Behold, I say to you, life
up your eyes and look at the
fields, for they are already
white for harvest!
John 4:35
Keep His Commandments
Richard L. Crumb
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