Christian Wisdom from Don Fortner,
Part 3 Faith bows to Christ as King and does so willingly. Faith
bows to the will of the King, the word of the King, and the
way of the King, no matter how contrary to the flesh his will,
his word, and his way may be. Worry is a thin stream of fear,
trickling through the mind. If indulged, it will cut a channel
into which all other thoughts are drained. Worry is an intrusion
upon God's wise providence. It calls into question God's
wisdom, loving care, and goodness. Worry casts a slur upon God's
faithfulness. Worry is unbelief. Learn this
one thing, that salvation is of the Lord. that God alone planned
it, God alone purchased it, God alone performs it, God alone
preserves it, God alone perfects it, and God alone shall have
the praise for it. And you will have learned more
than most preachers, religious leaders, and theologians ever
learn. You will have learned that which
no man can learn, except he is taught by God. Faith in Christ
cannot be obtained or communicated to anyone by heredity, education,
human reason, or religious ceremony. Faith in Christ is the free gift
of God's sovereign grace. Christ claims dominion as King
over the lives of His redeemed people, not over our hearts and
souls alone, but over our entire lives. our time, our possessions,
our families, our finances, our recreations, and nothing can
be more reasonable than that He should. No greater blasphemy
ever spewed from the pit of hell than the blasphemous assertion
that Christ died to redeem the multitudes who there suffer the
wrath of God. Nothing is more dangerous to
our souls than a barren familiarity with sacred things, Let every
man called by God to preach the Gospel disentangle himself from
the affairs of this world with determined consecration to Christ,
His Gospel, and His Church, addicting himself to prayer, study, and
preaching. In the fall, we see a picture
of Christ's love for His church, as Adam, because of his love
for Eve, plunged himself into sin, death, and condemnation.
So Christ, because of His love for us, plunged Himself into
sin, death, and condemnation as our substitute under the wrath
of God.