The Purpose of the Law
By Ciaran Fitzsimons
"You who remain in an unregenerate state, consider this: The fact that God
will execute the fierceness of his anger implies that He will inflict wrath
without any pity. When God beholds the unspeakable extremity of your
condition and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportional to your
strength and how your poor soul is crushed and sinks down, as it were, into an
infinite gloom, He will have no compasssion upon you; He will not hold back the
executions of His wrath or in the least lighten His hand.
There will be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay His rough
wind. (see Isaiah 27:8) He will have no regard for your welfare, nor will He be
at all concerned about your increasing suffering, except that you will not
suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing will be withheld with the
reason that it is too hard for you to bear.
Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I
have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not
hear them (Ezekiel 8:18)
Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with
some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But once the day of mercy is past, your
most lamentable and miserable cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be
wholly lost and thrown away, and there will be no regard for your welfare.
God will have no other use to put you to, except to suffer misery; you will be
allowed to exist for no other end. You will be a vessel of wrath,
"Fitted to destruction" (Romans 9:22) and there will be no other use
for this vessel, except to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from
pitying you when you cry to Him that He will only laugh at you. (see also
Proverbs 1:24-33)" Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
July 8 1741
It's amazing how one sermon read could have an effect on a person and change
their view on understanding the true meaning of the Gospel. If you have never
read the entire sermon above I would recommend it. The above sermon had such an
effect on me that I cried out to God to find out why modern preachers never
preach such sermons anymore. For over a year the Lord has opened my eyes to how
far the modern teachers, pastors, evangelists have strayed from the true
biblical way of salvation. There is now no difference between the church and
the world in most cases. It is time we as body of TRUE believers begin to
preach the true Gospel as Jesus and the apostles thought two thousand years
ago.
We need more Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeons, John Wesleys and the George
Whitefields. We need more modern preachers like John MacAthur, Ray Comfort,
Alister Begg, Paul Washer, to speak the uncompromising word of God. The old
preachers used the Law of God the Ten Commandments to convict a person of their
sinful nature. They showed them that without Christ they are going to a lost
eternity of hell forever.
The modern Gospel now says Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your
life were you will never have problems, you will have a five roomed mansion, a
Rolls Royce in your driveway and a five star holiday every year. The Modern
Gospel now is "Come to Jesus and get..." We come to Jesus because He
gave His life to save us from hell, death and the grave. We are sinners in need
of a savior, without Him we are seperated from God the Father.
The Lord has shown me how some churches are bringing people into the churches
with worldly entertainment, even some of the Christian music channels are no
different than MTV just the lyrics have been changed and half the time you
can't understand them. Now we have the seeker friendly Gospel, don't mention
hell, sin, wrath and punishment "we don't want to offend people", so
we just don't "offend them" into hell thinking they are saved. We
need a new reformation like Martin Luther did when the Catholic church at the
time strayed from the biblical truth. Now the Evangelical church is slowly
turning from the truth, I will explain this later in the book. We need to bring
back the true gospel which the bible speaks of, not the man centered gospel. We
need the Law of God.
"Judas
was a preacher: nay, he was a foremost preacher. 'He obtained part of this
ministry,' said the Apostle Peter. He was not simply one of the seventy; he
had been selected by the Lord Himself as one of the twelve, an honorable
member of the college of the apostles. Doubtless, he had preached the gospel
so that many had been gladdened by his voice, and miraculous powers had been
healed, deaf ears had been opened, and the blind had been made to see. Nay,
there is no doubt that he, who could not kep the devil out of himself, had
cast devils out of others. Yet how are you fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning! He that was as a prophet in the midst of the people, and
spake with the tongue of the learned, whose word and wonders proved that he
had been with Jesus and had learned from him - he betrays his Master.
Understand, my brethern, that no gifts can ensure grace, and that no position
of honour or usefulness in the Church will necessarily prove our being true
to our Lord and master. Doubtless, there are bishops in hell, and crowds of
those who once occupied the pulpit are now condemned forever to bewail their
hypocrisy. You that are church - officers do not conclude that because you
enjoy the confidence of the Church, therefore there is an absolute certainty
the grace of God in you. Perhaps it is the most dangerous of all positions
for a man to become well known and much respected by the religious world, and
yet to be rotten at the core. To be where others can observe our faults is a
healthy thing, though painful; but to live with beloved friends who would not
believe it possible for us to do wrong, and who, if they saw us err, would
make excuses for us - this is to be where it is next to impossible for us
ever to be arroused if our hearts be not right with God. To have a fair
reputation and a false heart is to stand upon the brink of Hell."
Charles H. Spurgeon Can a
believer backslide? Date July 20, 2009
As I stated in the introduction there are things wrong with the modern
gospel, I know that there are things that I will write about in this chapter
and other chapters that will anger and upset a lot of believers and church
leaders, but I cannot hold back what I believe the Lord wants me to share. I
pray that you have a heart that is teachable and open to correction.
The modern gospel talks mostly about the love of God, but, they forget to
talk about Gods wrath upon the unbelieving world. "For it is a terrible
thing to fall into the hands of an angry God." The main reason why
pastors, teachers and evangelists don't want to talk about the wrath of God
is so that they don't want to "offend" anyone, just tell them that
God is Love. Yes, God is love, but, He is also Holy, Just and Righteous and
all sin must be dealt with. I would rather offend people to heaven rather
than as the modern gospel does tickle their ears into hell thinking that they
are saved and never once being confronted with their sin. That is what the
law of God is for, to show sinners that they cannot enter into the
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24. The law is what brings us
to Christ, the law shows us that we have broken Gods Holy Law. One preacher
once said that the "Law can only bring us to the cross and no
further."
What is the Law? Exodus 20:3-17 lists them.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord Thy God am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is
the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor
thy son, nor they daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord
made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not
steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt
not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbours's wife,
nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbour's"
These are the commandments that we must use to convict sinners of their sin.
To open their eyes that they are sinners that have broken Gods holy
law. The thing that boggles the mind is if Jesus and the apostles and
other preachers through out the centuries used the law to bring sinners to
God why has the modern church turned away? If we are followers of Christ then
we must follow by His example. If He used the law to get sinners to repent,
then so should the church.
You are probably asking show me in the bible where Jesus used the law. Lets
look at Mark 10:17-22 "And when he was gone forth into the way, there
came one running, and kneeled to him and asked him, Good Master, what shall I
do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou
me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the
commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother. And he answered and
said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus
beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy
way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was
sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
As you can see with the above passage of scripture the rich young ruler was
sincere in knowing how to enter heaven and have eternal life, like some
people today they are sincere in wanting to enter into eternal life, but many
believe that their good works will get them their. But according to scripture
no ones good works will give them eternal life. Why? Psalm 14:3 says, They are
all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth
good, no, not one," (underlined added) also Romans 3:9-20 "what
then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, THERE IS
NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE, THERE IS NONE THAT SEEKETH AFTER GOD. THEY ARE
GONE OUT OF THE WAY, THEY ARE TOGETHER BECOME UNPROFITABLE; THERE IS NONE
THAT DOETH GOOD, NO, NOT ONE. THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN SEPULCHER; WITH THEIR
TONGUES THEY HAVE USED DECEIT; THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS: WHOSE
MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS: THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD:
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR WAYS: AND THE WAY OF PEACE HAVE THEY NOT
KNOWN: THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES. Now we know tht what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: and every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by
the law is the knowledge of sin."
The law shows that all men and women and children are sinners. Jesus showed
this to the rich young ruler above, he thought I have kept all those
commandments, but then Jesus drops the bomb shell as they say. He showed him
one commandment that he had broken, he had broken the first commandment,
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Money was his idol, his
god, Matt 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." The rich young ruler made the
bad choice, "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for
he had great possessions." If I may be so bold as to say that it is like
the prosperity teaching today in churches they are all focused on getting
from God. Are they focused on Christ or are they focused on getting money
from Him? Am I against prosperity, no I believe God does want to prosper us
but we must be focused on one thing and one thing only "But seek ye
first the
You notice that Jesus used the law to convict the rich young ruler that he
had still sinned, remember what the word of God said, "For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all.
For he that said, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, and said also, DO NOT KILL.
Now if thou commit no adultery yet if thou kill, thou are become a
ransgressor of the law." James 2:10-11. So if we have kept all the
commandments but break one of them was are still guilty of breaking them all
in God's eyes.
"A true covenanter says, 'sooner death than to be false of faith.' We
will do everything for Jesus. We will for His sake bear reproach (Hebrews
13:13), and for His sake we will labour to win souls unto God. We vow that He
will be glorified in our mortal bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20). We further state
that, by some means, His great name will be made known to the ends of the
earth (Psalm 48:10)." Charles H. Spurgeon.
This is a topic that I think should be addressed within the main line
churches. Some may agree with what I say some will not, but I will leave that
to the individual who reads this. The question is can a believer backslide
from the faith. My answer is, no. Why? You may ask. If someone has truly
repented of their sins and truly know what they have been forgiven of, how
could one backslide? No true convert could ever backslide from his Lord if he
has truly given his heart to Him. A false convert is one as Jesus said in
Matthew 13:20-22 "But he who received the seed on stoney places, this is
he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no
root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or
persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he
who received seed among thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of
this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes
unfruitful."
I believe verse 22 is showing the modern church, the modern church today is
getting worldly and luke warm. The churches today are acting like the world,
talking like the world and bringing in worldly entertainment with
Christianity in the mix. It always majors on minors such as prosperity when
the most important thing is to win souls into the kingdom, that is the great
commission.
The church does not confront people with the sin issue. A lot of gospel
tracts don't really mention what sin is and that is transgression against
Gods Holy Law, that is why there are so many false converts in the church
today, they never understood the sin problem and what God has done to deliver
us from that transgression. A lot of churches teach about the love of God but
you cannot show them the Love of God without showing them that Gods wrath
abides on the unrepentant sinner.
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What is sin? We have
all stolen, lied in some part of our lives and some still do, we have all
lusted after someone. Jesus said if you look with lust upon a woman you have
committed adultery in your heart? We have all murdered, John says that if we
are angry with your brother (1 John 3:14-15) God says we are murderers at
heart. Can you see why Gods wrath abides on us? Matt 15:19-20b "For out
of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a
man..."
We are all sinners and none of us are good, "there is none that does
good no not one". Our good works will never give us eternal life, what
will? Repenting and turning away from our sins and placing our trust in the
Saviour. Eternal life is a free gift from God we cannot earn it. We have seen
that Gods wrath abides on the unrepentant sinner now we shall look at his
love, towards us. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us."
God sent His Son Jesus to die on the Cross, He was whipped until His flesh
was taken from His body, beaten to such an extent that He could not be
recognised, had His hands and feet pierced for you and for me. Why? Because
all of the sin of mankind was placed upon Him. The ultimate sacrifice, God
sacrificed Himself to deliver us from sins grasp. All we as sinners have to
do is confess our sins to Him, accept Jesus' atoning death for us and turn
from our sinful nature. If we sin again, repent and put your trust in Him.
Those who understand the wrath and the love of God and His grace to save us
are true converts, they are not confessing Christians who come to church one
week and miss several. The true convert will want to have fellowship with his
Lord and Saviour and have fellowship with other believers continually. They
will eat and drink Gods word daily and will not leave Gods word on a book
shelf to gather dust. Those who do not read Gods word daily, but occasionally
need to check and see if they are in the faith. There are many false converts
in the church today who think they are saved and really are not because all
they have ever heard was Gods love, they received the antidote before they
are told the sympton...sin seperates us from God. They will hear Jesus say
"depart from me I don't know you." that word know in greek means I
do not intimately know you. If God is speaking to you that you may not be a
true convert truely repent and place your trust in Him and read the word of
God daily to show yourself approved.
May Gods rich blessings be upon you.
