1986

THE GENERATION THAT IS PURE IN THEIR OWN EYES

(Preached at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Augusta, Georgia --

December 19, 1985)

Text: "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness." --(Proverbs 30:12)

In order properly to understand this verse, it is necessary first to understand that since the time Adam begat a son in his own likeness; everyone has come into this world as a sinner. As the Apostle Paul has said, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12}

In the eyes of God every person is by nature polluted in body and in soul --everyone is filthy and needs to be washed from his filthiness.

This filthiness is universal. "The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." "As it is written, ‘there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.’ They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:2,3; Romans 3:10-12)

"Their throat is an open sepulchre; 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." (Romans 3:13-18)

Man’s thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. His mouth is full of cursing, deceit and fraud. His hands are defiled with blood; his fingers with iniquity. Out of his heart proceeds "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." "His belly prepares deceit" His bones are full of the sins of his youth." "His inward part is very wickedness." "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness (in man) but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." (Isaiah 59:7; Psalm 10:7; Isaiah

59:3; Mark 7:21,22; Job 15:35; 20:11; Psalm 5:9; Isaiah 1:6)

"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:... Thus saith the Lord, ‘Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.’

But they said, ’We will not walk therein.’ Also I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Hearken to the sound of the trumpet.’ But they said, ‘We will not hearken.’" (Jeremiah 6:15-17)

So complete is this filthiness of our flesh and mind that by nature we live under the just condemnation of God, for "he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

The second thing necessary for the right understanding of the text is that God has provided for cleansing. As Brother Burley has said, "This is the reason for the season." There could be no resurrection without death, and there could be no death without a birth.

There is a Fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day;

And there my I though vile as he,

Wash all my sins away.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Note that if everyone’s religion is as good as everyone else’s, then it is not necessary to publish the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

The text, however, speaks of people who pretend they are what they ought to be. They are people who may have gained the attention of the church—perhaps a deacon, or an usher, or perhaps a choir member, or, God forbid! A pastor who while they have succeeded in the church, they think they are acceptable to God, and good enough to go to heaven; yet they have never been washed from their filthiness.

Such people believe they are as fit for Heaven as anyone, but they have no delight in the things of God. They do not like to pray. They have no desire to read their Bible. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to them. They find their delight in the pleasures and profits the world gives. While they have a good opinion of themselves, they have never been washed from their filthiness.

They must wear the most fashionable, even flashy clothes; they may sport gold chains and diamond rings, but they are not washed from their filthiness. Such people have pronounced their own hearts clean. Their way is right in their own eyes but they have rejected God’s standard of righteousness and imposed their own standard.

Such people will be religious when it is fashionable to appear so, but when worship is over, we find them in the company of blasphemers and God haters. They put themselves into the church and number themselves among the household of saints but the Lord has not done it. In reality, they have never been born again – they have never been saved. While they tell themselves they are going to Heaven, it is false hope—sinking sand because God will take away their soul.

What we have here are people whose heart is still filthy, yet they pretend to be clean. They have reformed themselves of gross sins—perhaps they used to be drunkards, perhaps it used to be their habit to steal and to lie; perhaps they used to run around on their wife or their husband, but no longer: now they are swept and garnished with church membership, but their heart is still filled with lusts and uncleanness because they have never been washed from their filthiness. They are never been saved from the pleasure of sinning.

"There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their own filthiness." What we have here is a child of darkness walking about in the light he has kindled. This is the condition of many people spoken of here as a "generation." They will lie down in their sin, and will one-day awake at the judgment bar of God but they are not troubled because "there is no fear of God before their eyes."

Here are people who call themselves "Christians" but the Lord does not claim them. Here are people who call Jesus Christ their savior when He has not saved them. These people have taken hold of religion, but they have not laid hold upon Jesus Christ. They say they are church members, but in reality that cannot be because they have never been saved from the power of sin. They are enslaved by their passions. Such people go to church to feel religious.

How many people believe that if a person changes the way he lives—if in a measure he "cleans up his act", he is born-again. Of how many people has it been said they died triumphantly, victoriously, when the truth is, they died with a dead conscience never having been washed from their filthiness.

Such people as the text describes will take one of two courses of action. They will continue to play with religion until God gives them up and hardens their hearts in the deceitfulness of sin. They will continue until that they have lied to themselves so much it will be evident God has passed them by. They will comfort themselves with falsehood until they fill up the measure of God’s wrath, and He visits them in judgment. Or, they will arise and wash away their filthiness.

If they remain as they are, they will awaken to find all hope is gone. They are sentenced to a Devil’s Hell.

By

John Robbins

THE THEOLOGY OF MURDER

Finally, we must understand that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. The pagans are very powerful in America, but they would not be half so powerful were it not for religionists who teach pagan ideas as Christianity. Working for a member of Congress, I have the opportunity to see many types of thinking that I might otherwise miss. We get a lot of mail from all over the country, and I would like to quote from one of those letters. It reads:

Please note this woman’s words, for we can learn a great deal from her letter: "I unfortunately found myself... pregnant..." She attempts to obscure her responsibility for the actions that caused her pregnancy: She found herself pregnant, as though she had nothing to do with it. Irresponsibility is one of the central notions of modern theology. After she sought to assert her irresponsibility, she makes it explicit in these words: "No one on the face of this earth can say whether or not I committed murder. Only God can or can’t" Now I wish pointedly to state that anyone on the face of this earth, armed with the truth, can say whether or not she committed murder. She murdered her baby. She confessed to it.

She believes, and at the end of her letter she even misquoted the Bible, that we should not judge lest we be judged. But we ought to tell this deluded and evil woman, and anyone else who thinks we should not pass moral judgment on people and their actions lest we be judged, that we will all be judged. It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. This woman is demanding a moral blank check in order to get away with what she has done, and she is appealing to our own natural and sinful desires to escape judgment also. As Christians, we must never fail to pronounce moral judgment, to judge righteous judgment, as the Bible says. Only by judging, by distinguishing right from wrong, good from evil, white from black, can we hope to be faithful to the commands of Christ.

But the woman continues: "I prayed and prayed for guidance and I found I was led to have the abortion." Her is murder directly attributed to the belief that God gives guidance outside the pages of the Bible. Many times I have heard Christians say that God has led them to do this or that, when what they should have said is that they have a warm feeling or a hunch or an unsanctified desire to do this or that. Perhaps you have heard people "laying out fleeces" or asking for a sign from God. This is almost as Christian as reading tea leaves or consulting ouiji boards. Let me repeat myself: The Bible has a monopoly on truth. It alone furnishes us with guidance, and it says quite clearly, unequivocally, and repeatedly, you shall do no murder. The failure of modern preachers to teach solo scriptura- the Bible alone- must be blamed for this murder and countless other even more horrible events.

Finally, please note what the woman says about the Presbyterian minister she visited for counseling: "He did not condemn or condone." To that only one response is appropriate: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Now to answer the two questions I posed at the beginning of this talk: How did this occur? How can it be stopped? It occurred because those who professed Christ have betrayed Him. They have been subverted by secular philosophy, by traditions of men, and by principles of this world. This mass murder can be stopped only by Christians who boldly witness to the truth. It cannot be stopped by compromising either our faith or our practice. It cannot be stopped by offering the world a diluted Gospel designed to offend no one. "Modern Religion" offends no one but God. Christianity, if boldly, clearly, and fully preached as it was in the 1^st century and in the 16^th, will once again turn the world upside down—or, more accurately, right side up. Only then will the little murders end.

          III. Our sins are forgiven us for His name’s sake. (I John 2:12)

"The Lord" is His name. It is a glorious name. "How excellent is Thy name, O Lord, in all the earth!" It shall endure forever (Exodus 15:3; Psalm 72:19; 8:1; 72:17)

"Let us exalt His name together." "Praise His name ...for His name alone is excellent." (Psalm 34:3; 148:13)

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,

And calms the troubled breast;

‘Tis manna to the hungry soul,

And to the weary rest.

Dear Name! the Rock on which I build,

My Shield and Hiding Place,

My never-failing Treasury filled

With boundless stores of grace.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,

My Prophet, Priest, and King:

My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,

Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thoughts:

But when I see Thee as Thou art,

I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim

With every fleeting breath;

And may the music of Thy name

Refresh my soul in death!

-John Newton

Tune: "Ortonville" (Majestic Sweetness)

"BECAUSE HE CHOSE TO"

Out of all the planets existing both in our solar system and beyond, God chose one planet as the place to begin human history.

God chose Adam, the first man, to represent all mankind, and decreed that by his conduct in the Garden of Eden he would determine the course of history.

Adam begat two sons. Both of them made offerings to God, God exercising His Divine right chose to accept Abel and his offering and to reject Cain and his offering because it was not the kind he wanted. (Genesis 4:5)

When God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of his heart was only evil continually He sent a flood to destroy every living thing, but He chose to give grace to Noah. (Genesis 6:8)

Out of all people living in Ur of the Chaldees, God chose to call Abram. He was a worshipper of fire like others who lived in Ur, yet God appeared to him. There is no outward reason for His doing so, except He chose to.

Abram had two sons, and God chose to accept Isaac and chose to reject Ishmael.

Isaac had two sons, and God chose to love Jacob and chose to hate Esau. (Malachi 1:2,3)

Jacob had 12 sons who became the heads of tribes, and God chose Judah as the tribe through whom Christ would come. (Genesis 49:10)

Out of all the thousands in Israel, God chose to appear to Moses in a burning bush, and to commission him as His prophet to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage.

In sundry generations God has chosen certain men to cry out against the sins of the day, men like Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Nehemiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and others. All were chosen, ordained and sent by God. (Jeremiah 1:5)

God chose Mary from among all the virgins in the history of Israel as the vessel through Whom the promised Saviour would be born.

Our blessed Lord chose twelve disciples to evangelize the known world. (John 15:16)

He chose Saul speaking to him from Heaven when the persecutor was on his way to Damascus. Saul was not seeking God, but God was seeking Saul. "There is none that seeketh after God." (Romans 3:10,11)

‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,

For Lord that could not be;

This heart would still refuse Thee,

But Thou hast chosen me.

Even today, God is in the business of saving such people whom He has chosen; and they who will dwell with the Lamb, are "called, and chosen and faithful." (Revelation 17:14)