The Pronouncement of the True King

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[3] You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. [4] You shall follow My rules and keep My statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 18:3-4 ESV

The Gospel is the pronouncement of a King.

That’s the good news. Sure, inclusive of that Gospel is the salvation of God’s elect, set apart for glory. And that’s the part we primarily focus on, sometimes to the point that we overlook the Kingliness of the God of the Gospel.

Think about it. If the Gospel was merely about saving you from hell, why rage against it?

Why does the North Korean ruling party ruthlessly stamp out any perceived existence of Christianity if it were merely about the afterlife?

Why did Stalinist Russia ruthlessly attack belief in God if it only established hope in a hereafter?

Why did this dictator and that dictator and this regime and that regime tirelessly work to stamp out a religious belief only concerned with a time beyond their rule?

Because they, like Herod, inherently understood the true nature of the Gospel.

You see, the Gospel isn’t merely about saving people for the hereafter. It isn’t even primarily about that.

No, the Gospel is the proclamation of the True King. It is the announcement that there is a True Ruler, a True Messiah, who will rule all things with a rod of iron.

You see, when first century Christians said that ‘Jesus is Lord‘ they were, by extension, saying that Caesar wasn’t. And the Stalin’s, Hitler’s, Kim’s and Herod’s of the world cannot stomach such insurrection.

That’s why the nations plot and rage in vain. Not because Jesus promises to save you sometime in the future. They plot and rage in vain because Jesus promises to rule and reign over all things, including you, them, your next-door neighbor, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and anything else that exists in the entire universe.

You see, if it were all about salvation, no man would turn from it. All men want to be saved. But few men want a Master.

The good news of the Gospel is that the True King reigns, and He is actively working to bring all things towards that end, the acknowledgement and joyful worship of His Majesty.

That’s the purpose of the Gospel. That’s the true fruit of the Gospel.

New Kingdom, new people, new purposes, new everything… all centralized around the worship of a New King.

And, boy, how that blows away the heresy of easy-believism.

New Creation Brings Forth New Affections for Christ

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No man will (or can) comet to Christ while his affections are alienated from Him…Therefore, when the Holy Spirit makes a man a new creature in Christ, He not only renews his understanding, but He radically changes the heart.

A.W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith, 95

One of the great misunderstandings of the modern church culture in the American South (likely America as a whole, but the south in particular) is our misunderstanding of the doctrine of conversion.

We’ve been so inundated with a Gospel of easy-believism and cheap grace, with discipleship without death and a Christianity without a cross, that we’ve come to think that Jesus merely serves as an end-times functionary for us. We leave Him alone until we really need Him, which will only be at death. Thus the modern epoch of Christianity in America is producing converts who have little or no discernable affection for the present ministry of Christ on their behalf, or even for the Person of Christ whether He does anything on their behalf of not. In short, we’re creating a lot of ‘Christians’ whose hearts are far from Christ.

This happens because of our poor view of conversion. In conversion, the Holy Spirit literally makes a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). Inherent in this new creature are new desires, new tastes, new wants, new loves… new everything. Paul says in Romans 6:4 that we were raised with Christ so that we would walk in ‘newness of life.’

And part and parcel of this new life will be a hatred towards sin and a love towards the things of God (Romans 6:11).

The effective work of the Holy Spirit in converting the sinner, once hostile to Christ, to belief in the Gospel creates a new nature (Ephesians 2:3) that now desires Christ.

We will not have Christ without having affections for Him. For, as Lord, He will not have some of us. He must have all of us.

“Therefore, when the Holy Spirit makes a man a new creature in Christ, He not only renews his understanding, but He radically changes the heart.” (A.W. Pink)

Has your heart been changed?

Is their affection for Christ where there once was loathing or apathy?

Rest assured, the sure fruit of the true Gospel will be the changing of a man’s heart, the altering of his affections.

A Liar and a Coward by Paul Washer

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I want to encourage everyone to listen to this sermon by Paul Washer of the HeartCry Missionary Society. It is the testimony of his conversion and I believe it emphasizes what is missing in much of the modern church’s approach to conversion; primarily the supernatural nature of conversion and the transforming nature of conversion.

Conversion is solely the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Man cannot manipulate another man to lead him to conversion. We can manipulate men into decisions, and we’re fairly adept at that, but we can not manipulate a man into conversion. It is the work of the Spirit. It is supernatural.

Conversion is also transforming. It is lasting. It truly, genuinely changes a man. The reason that man church members in American aren’t different is that they were led to a decision, but not to true regeneration. If the Holy Spirit gives life to a man, the man is a new creation with new desires and new loves, mainly centered around Christ.

I hope this message encourages you, because it definitely encouraged me.

If you want the link to the SermonAudio page, it’s available here.