Posts in category: Evangelical

There are two ways by which a man may lose his own soul. What are they?

He may lose his soul by living and dying without any religion at all. He may live and die like a beast prayerless, godless, graceless, faithless. This is a sure way to hell. Mind that you do not walk in it.

He may lose his soul by taking up some kind of religion. He may live and die contenting himself with false Christianity, and resting on a baseless hope. This is the commonest way to hell there is.

What do I mean by useless kinds of religion? I will tell you.

The first thing I wish to say is this. A religion is entirely useless in which Jesus Christ is not the principal object, and does not fill the principal place.

But more particularly, this walking in the Spirit consists in the habitual exercise of faith in Christ; that faith by which we are united to him, so as to receive out of his fullness even grace for grace. Christ is made of God unto us sanctification, as well as redemption; and it is by faith in him that our sanctification is advanced; for, says the apostle,

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

And this corresponds with His own language to the disciples,

The glory of God comprehends both the holy properties of His nature and the counsels of His will; and “the light of the knowledge” of these things we have only “in the face” or person “of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6). Whatever obscure, imperfect notions we may have of them in other ways, we cannot have the light of the illuminating, irradiating, “knowledge of the glory of God,” which may enlighten our minds and sanctify our hearts, but only “in the face” or person of Jesus Christ; for He is “the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4), “the brightness of [the Father’s] glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

He is glorious in that He is the great representative of the nature of God and His will unto us; which without Him would have been eternally hid from us, or been invisible to us; – we should never have seen God at any time, here nor hereafter (John 1:18).

Jesus Christ would probably be called “undemocratic” by many today. He asserted that the majority choose the road that ends in hell: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13)

There are two gates, two roads, and two destinations. The human race is divided, now and eternally, between the two. Most people choose the broad gate, walk the broad road, and finally go to hell.

Mark 9:14-29

Jesus performed many wondrous miracles during His earthly ministry. The gospel of Mark especially records His power against Satan and the demons. In fact, there are nine instances of Jesus casting out demons in this gospel. The episode we consider in this article occurred immediately after Jesus came back down from the Mount of Transfiguration, with Peter, James and John.

One of the important things we should understand about the miracles of Jesus is that they are not just to show His great power. It is true, they manifest His divinity, they give a divine stamp of approval to His teaching, and they work to increase the faith of God’s people. But more than anything else, they do all these things by bringing the truth of the gospel and Christ’s grace to a more glorious light. They are living and tangible pictures of the good news of salvation. This, particularly, is what we ought to look for in the miracles.