We have seen that the Bible portrays two families or two seeds─the seed of the serpent, wholly evil; the seed of the woman, a goodly, holy seed. In this lesson we learn that it is only by a second birth into this new family that man can ever hope to be accepted of God and fulfill God’s original intention for him─“that he might be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph. 1:4).
A humanly impassable gulf exists between these two families. Man can never cross that great divide without Divine help. A child of hell cannot by any efforts of his own, become a son of God in Christ Jesus. “Can the ____________________ his _______, or the __________ his ________? then may ye also __________, that are ______________ to do _______” (Jer. 13:23). This work of regeneration must be the handiwork of the Almighty. God’s most exalted creation is the transformation of a child of the first Adam into a son of God. Our Lord plainly teaches that between that which is born of the flesh and that which is born of the Spirit, there yawns a chasm so deep and wide that no earthly power can span that abyss.
“No man __________________, except the Father which hath sent me __________” (John 6:44).
Christ ─ the Way
“It became him . . . in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). As the first-born, Christ led the way across that chasm so that many might be made sons of God. This is the purpose of Redemption. If it is only God Who can effect so necessary a change in human lives, then it is in man’s highest interest to acquaint himself with God’s conditions for such a vital transfer. In Lesson 1, we learned that God demands repentance toward Himself and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is an utter convincement of our lost condition and our inability to effect such a change. We must accept God’s verdict upon our own sinful nature. Man, however, hides behind false premises and usually tries self-reformation before crying out to God from a deep sense of utter helplessness. Before reaching this place of repentance, man tries numerous ways to better his state. Let us notice the ways in which this is done.
Seven Ways Men Attempt To Cross the Chasm
1. Man justifies himself in God’s sight because “all men” are born with this same evil nature. This universal condition makes him feel easy when he recognizes that he himself is but one of a great multitude in the same plight. No one falls so low but that he looks about him to see another who has sunk lower. This produces complacency and many remain in this condition and die thus. But God makes this false position untenable. When thus convinced of his guilt he endeavors to amend matters by self-reformation.
2. He reasons that because he is born of Christian parents, he is automatically of the family of God. The Jews prided themselves on their descent from Abraham. Jesus sought to demolish this delusion which so effectively banned them from entrance into the family of God. Read carefully John 6:33-59 and be prepared for question time.
3. He turns over a new leaf and makes resolutions. Have we not all tried this means of crossing the divide? Morning after morning we have renewed our determination to conquer some besetting sin. At evening time we repent of yet another failure. Some have achieved by sheer will-power a conquest over some of their baser habits and sins. But still they remain members of the family of the serpent. Such failure is graphically pictured in Scripture.
“For I know that ________ (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth __________________: for to will is present with me; but ___________________ that which is good ____________” (Rom. 7:18).
4. He joins the church and observes the sacraments. Multitudes are lulled to sleep under false ministers who preach that attendance at church, with faithful observance of rules and participation in the sacraments and worship is all that God requires of sinful man. But this still leaves man on the wrong side of the abyss. Such blind shepherds will answer to God at the judgment for leading their blind congregations not over the chasm by way of the cross but into the “ditch” (a deep place). Matt. 15: 14.
“For in Christ Jesus, __________ circumcision _____________________, nor uncircumcision, but a _________________” (Gal. 6:15).
5. He endeavors by good works to cross this divide. Many benevolent societies have been founded by persons motivated by a desire to earn their way across the great gulf fixed between the two families. The same may be said of those who give vast sums of money to allay a gnawing conscience. They know they are evil within and they seek to put on an outer cloak of good works, so that they may appear righteous unto men. A godly Church of England vicar once said something to this effect: “One might as soon hope to cross this divide on a rope of sand as to seek by good works of his own righteousness, to span it.”
“Not by __________________________ which ________________, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the ___________________________, and ________________________________” (Titus 3:5).
“They __________________ of _______________________ and going about to _______________________________________ have ____________________________ unto the righteousness of God” (Rom 10:3).
Some start praying and reading their Bibles, thus hoping to span the gulf. Others try service to God and even enter the ministry or become home or foreign missionaries. John Wesley for fourteen years preached not to save others but to earn his own salvation. He even went as a missionary, but still was not a new creature in the family of God. We can never repair the old man nor reform him. God only accepts those who by the new birth have become new creatures!
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not _____________________ ________? And in thy name ________________________? And in thy name _________ ________________________? And then will I profess unto them, _________________ _____: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22-23).
“The great objection to all the teachings of mere human religion and human ethics is that we are taught to rise to higher planes,” said A. B. Simpson. “The glory of the Gospel is that it does not teach us to rise, but shows us our inability to do anything good of ourselves. It lays us at once in the grave of utter helplessness and then raises us up into new life, born entirely from above and sustained alone from heavenly sources.”
6. Man tries by a mental assent to truth, as presented by evangelical preachers and teachers, to bridge the gap. Many pride themselves on their fundamental outlook regarding the Word of God. This is commendable as are the above mentioned efforts, but such also find themselves still in the family of Adam. They have never received new life from God and so have never become God’s creation.
Counselors in large campaigns, advise seekers to believe a verse of Scripture. This is applying but a half-truth, necessary to our salvation, but incomplete. Believing is man’s part but the work is not completed until man receives something from God. “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). Thousands upon thousands of those coming out to make a decision for Christ have been deceived into believing that a mental assent to a Biblical truth is the one condition required for becoming a born-again Christian. These have no inward witness of the Holy Spirit, not having received “power to become sons of God.” They are still children of the first Adam, reformed but with no appetite, as new-born babes, for the sincere milk of the Word. There being no vital union into the family of God, communion with the Father is but an outward form. The prayer meetings, therefore, are neglected for the more social activities of the church.
“But as many as ____________________, to them gave he ________ to __________ the sons of God” (John 1:12).
7. He seeks to cross the great divide by an outward appearance of piety. This is what the Pharisee, in the New Testament, did. He thought to hide his ugly, unclean nature under an outward appearance of righteousness. Christ was less severe with the publican and harlot because their sin was open. They knew they were children of the devil, but the Pharisees were appearing before men as very righteous when really they were belonging to the serpent seed. Let us notice how Jesus addressed these Pharisees who were rejecting the only bridge across the gulf.
“Oh ________________________, how can ye, being evil, speak _______ things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A _______ man out of the _______ treasure of the heart bringeth forth _______ things; and an _______ man out of the _______ treasure bringeth forth _______ things. But I say unto you, That every word that men shall speak, they shall give __________ thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:34-36).
“Oh ____________ and ___________ generation, how long shall I be with you?” (Matt. 17:17).
“Ye ___________, ye generation of _________, how can ye _________ the damnation of _______?” (Matt. 23:33).
“Save yourselves from this _______________________” (Acts 2:40).
We see here how very serious it is to remain in the wrong family. Hell was not prepared for any of God’s children. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. Those who partake of an evil nature would never be happy in the company of the holy who have been made so by the grace of God, transferring them into the family of God. We see then how vital it is that God should have provided a way of escape into another family, generation or seed.
The False Prophet ─ the Blind Guide
Satan’s most effective means of keeping sinners on the Adam side of the chasm is through the deceptive directions his servants give (often in the outward dress of a minister or a respected professing Christian). We have often seen young seekers after God turned from the narrow way by advice offered by these false advocates of a broad way.
A false prophet will justify Adam’s choices and advise so as to please and flatter men who still remain in the wrong family. He has his own interests at stake─position, advancement, salary and the good-will of many. Jeremiah the prophet pictures the scene today, which existed also in his time: “From the __________ even unto the ___________________ dealeth falsely. They have _________ also the _______ (bruise or breach) of the daughter of my people ___________, saying, Peace, peace; when there is ___________” (Jer. 6:13-14).
St. Paul warned the Corinthians against them: “For such are ________________, ____________________, transforming themselves into the ______________________. And no marvel, for Satan himself is ______________ into an __________________. Therefore it is no great thing if _________________ also be ______________ as the ministers of ________________: whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).
“For I know this, that after my departing shall __________________ enter in among you, not __________ the ________. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking ___________________, to draw away ____________ after them. Therefore _________” (Acts. 20:29-31).
Peter warned the Jews: “But there were __________________ also among the people even as there shall be __________________ among you” (2 Peter 2:1).
John advised early believers to “try the spirits” lest they be deceived in so important an issue as their spiritual welfare. “_______________ every spirit, but ___________________ whether they are of God: because many _________________ are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
Our Savior used scathing words for false prophets and denounced their hypocrisy openly. Jesus said we must know how to detect the prophet who would come looking like a lamb, feigning loving concern, but concealing his wolfish nature which would devour the flock for his own ends. Let us notice the advice Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Beware of __________________, which come to you in _________ ___________, but inwardly they are ____________________. Ye shall _____________ by their fruits. . . . every _______ tree bringeth forth _______ fruit, but a ___________ tree bringeth forth _______________. A good tree _________ bring forth evil fruit, neither can a __________ tree _______________ good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth _______ fruit is _____________ and _______ into the _______. Wherefore _____ ________________ ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:15-20).
We notice in the verse that follows the above passage of Scripture, Christ even shows that men might have “Lord, Lord,” on their lips; might do many wonderful works including the casting out of devils in the Name of Jesus, when in truth they were workers of iniquity. They were unknown in the courts of Heaven as sons of God. It is not wrong to judge a tree in the natural world, by the kind of fruit it bears, and it is not wrong to judge a false prophet by the fruit which he bears on the tree of his life. We cannot afford to make a mistake here.
Let us note several other illustrations Jesus used to picture these Pharisees, the false prophets of the New Testament. They were careful about the outward appearance, but they had never been changed on the inside. They were still children of the serpent.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, ______________! For ye make ________ the __________ of the cup and of the platter, but _________ they are full of _____________ and _________. Thou ________ Pharisee, __________ first that which is _________ the cup and platter, that the ___________ of them may be clean also” (Matt. 23:25-26).
Seven times in Matthew chapter 23, Jesus addresses this highly respected Jewish body of religious authority, as hypocrites. This was a very courageous attack upon what today would be addressed to some of the bishops, priests and ministers of our well-established denominations. True prophets still, like their Lord, uncover the hypocrisy because this deception keeps sinners from going into the kingdom of God by way of the new birth.
“But ______ unto you, scribes and Pharisees, _____________! For ye ________________________ of heaven _______________: for ye neither _________ ______________, neither _________ ye them that ________________ to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, _______________! for ye _________ widows’ houses, and for a ___________ make _______ prayers: therefore ye shall ___________ the greater _____________. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, _______________! for ye compass sea and land to make one _____________, and when he is made, ye make him ___________ more the __________________ than yourselves” (Matt. 23:13-15).
Look up the word “proselyte” in the dictionary and write out the definition:_________ ________________________________________________________________________
Another likeness Christ drew of these false religionists was that of a tombstone. In Palestine when many pilgrims had to travel to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, preparation was made for them beforehand. Stones were gathered out of the roadways. Unsightly tombs were whitewashed so as not to appear grotesque. It was whited sepulchers. “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees _______________! for ye are like unto _____________________ which indeed _________ beautiful ______ ______, but are _________ full of _____________________, and of all _____________. Even so ye also ________________________________ unto men, but _________ ye are full of _____________ and ___________” (Matt. 23:27-28).
The True Prophet
The true messenger of God must alarm and awaken the sleeping sinner or the complacent self-righteous professor. He must expose all human attempts at reformation as totally unacceptable with a holy God. The anger and resentment of the self-righteous or rebellious, as well as their blind guides, will be vented against him.
“For do I now persuade ______, or ______? Or do I seek to __________ men? For if I yet ___________ men, I should not be the ______________________” (Gal. 1:10).
“Am I _____________________ your ________, because I tell you ______ _________?” (Gal. 4:16).
Isaiah was a true prophet and denounced the proud, disobedient Jews. From this message of his, write, in the four spaces below, those phrases which depict the old Adam family.
“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord; they have provoked the holy one of Israel unto anger. . . . the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores” (Isa. 1:4-6).
1._____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
Because we have so few true messengers of God bringing the message of man’s undone condition, we have little conviction of sin. John Bunyan, the writer of Pilgrim’s Progress, experienced conviction for his undone condition similar to Isaiah’s picture: “When God showed me John Bunyan as God saw John Bunyan, I no longer confessed I was a sinner but I confessed that I was sin from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I was full of sin.”
Jeremiah was also God’s true man, bearing a faithful message of the condition of the natural heart of man, to the rebellious-hearted Jews. “The heart is deceitful . . . and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Then he endeavored to show them what Adam was previous to the Fall, and what he became afterwards.
“I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God” (Jer. 2:21-22).
After reading the above verse, pick out the parts which you think describe
Adam before the Fall __________________________________________________
Adam after the Fall ____________________________________________________
John the Baptist was still another true prophet and showed the Pharisees and Saducees clearly the family to which they belonged. He pictured the old Adamic tree with the axe of God’s judgment laid at its roots. On the cross, when Christ said, “It is finished,” He had struck a death blow to our position in the first Adam. It was there He ended our history in the family tree of Adam. A new vine sprang from Calvary which would give man the privilege of bridging that chasm and becoming a part of a new vine or family.
From a Victory Tract which we used by permission in the Message of Victory magazine we quote the following helpful information:
You are not a Turk because you wear a Fez.
You are not an Italian because you eat Spaghetti.
And you are not a Christian because you conform to an outward religious form or ceremony.
You are not a Chinaman because you eat with chop-sticks.
You are not a Scotsman because you wear a kilt.
And you are not a Christian simply because you do outwardly as religious people do.
You are not an American because you chew gum.
You are not a pipe because you smoke.
You do not become a horse by being born in a stable.
And you are not a Christian because you have been born in a so-called Christian country.
How then do you become a true Christian?
The things mentioned above are outward characteristics. It is possible to imitate, to dress up and to copy certain national characteristics, but to be a true Turk you must be born of Turkish parents, to be a true Italian you must be born of Italian parents, and so on, and to be a true Christian you must be born again of the Spirit of God. Nothing less than new birth, a spiritual experience whereby you are born again into the family of God, makes you a child of God and therefore a true Christian.
In the next lesson we will take up the true nature of the new birth, its results and how to enter into the new family.
Testing Time
1. There are seven ways in which man seeks to better himself without coming as a guilty sinner and being made a child of God. Name two ways out of the seven which you think men try most today.
2. Read 1 Kings 22:4-28 and notice how the true and false prophets both are shown. Explain three differences between the two kinds of prophets and their messages.
3. The account of Isaiah the prophet and his deep conviction of his sinfulness is given in Isaiah 6:1-8. Write out the confession which shows that Isaiah, although a prophet, knew his sinfulness.
4. In John 8:33-44 we have a conversation between the Jews and Jesus. Why did Jesus judge that these Jews belonged to the devil’s family?
5. John the Baptist had a message for the Pharisees in Matt. 3:7-10. Was he a true prophet? Give two reasons for thinking so.
6. In what ways, in your own experience, did you try by your own efforts to bridge the gap between the two families other than by the new birth?
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