Sunday Leftovers (4/1/07)

Every word in Scripture counts. Every word is used by God to reveal Himself and His purposes (which is why Jesus makes statements like "truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished," Mt. 5:18). Which is why even a simple statement like the one tucked at the end of John 7:44 is so important — "but no one laid hands on Him." It wasn't for lack of trying. They'd been trying at least for months, beginning in John 5:18, and they would continue to attempt to kill Him all the more in the six remaining months before Christ went to the cross.

First only the Pharisees wanted Jesus dead. Then the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin joined their ranks. And now in John 7:44, some in the crowds also seek His death. But no one could touch Him. Why? It wasn't His time. He was wholly sovereign over the events that would take Him to the cross. He came to give His life as a ransom for many, not to have it taken from Him by a group of rejecting enemies. (And the fact that no one can undo, subvert, or change the plan of God for Christ is a reminder that nothing can subvert His purposes for our lives either.)

That He came to work salvation for sinners and offer His life a ransom for many and that He continually offered to salvation to those who were rejecting it and that He wept over the people He came to save who despised Him anyway is a sober reminder about how we can and should respond to those who need the gospel.

He that saved our souls has taught us to weep over the unsaved. Lord, let that mind be in us that was in Thee! Give us thy tears to weep; for, Lord, our hearts are hard toward our fellows. We can see thousands perish around us, and our sleep never be disturbed; no vision of their awful doom ever scaring to us, no cry from their lost souls ever turning our peace into bitterness.

Our families, our schools, our congregations, not to speak of our cities at large, our land, our world, might as well send us daily to our knees; for the loss of even one soul is terrible beyond conception. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered the heart of man, what a soul in hell must suffer forever. Lord give us bowels of mercies! "What a mystery! The soul and eternity of one man depends upon the voice of another! [Horatius Bonar, Words to the Winners of Souls]

It is worth reading and praying over that last sentence. [Aside: Bonar also had a clear understanding of why people, when presented with the truth, still do not believe. Read one helpful comment here.]

If that statement is true (and Scripture affirms that it is in multiple places, like Matt. 28:18-20 and Rom. 10:14-17), then it is also true that the gospel must be articulated accurately and clearly. An inaccurate gospel stated clearly and an accurate gospel stated unclearly are both damning — both will leave people confused about the truth and lead away from the cross and toward an eternity in hell. Which is why Al Mohler recently opined, "What could be worse than getting the Gospel wrong?" In a word, nothing.

Getting the message right, stating it clearly, sorrowing for those who do not know or believe the gospel, and gladly trusting the authoritative God to accomplish His purposes are paramount in the gospel cause.