Matthew 11:25

[the particular baptist]

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Them are indeed certain things in religion which human wisdom can attain to. A man by reasoning upon evidences may be persuaded of the truth of revelation; by comparing Scripture with Scripture and bringing forward numerous texts, he may be fully persuaded, in his natural judgment, of the truths of the doctrine of grace. He may see election, predestination and all the doctrines connected with divine sovereignty, clearly revealed in Scripture, so as to give his most unwavering assent and consent to them. He may make many sacrifices in their behalf; he may hear no ministers but those that preach them; he may associate with no persons but those that profess them; he may write books in their defence; he may maintain the strongest arguments from the Word of God that they are true; yet live and die in perfect ignorance of them as made known to his soul by special revelation.

There is nothing which blinds men more effectually to the power of eternal things, than this introducing fleshly wisdom into divine truth; for a man most effectually deceives himself, when he is persuaded in his judgment of the doctrines of grace, and yet lacks that spiritual teaching, whereby those doctrines are brought home with divine unction and savour to his soul. He seems armed with an armour of proof against all the arrows of conviction; for he says, "I am no deceived Arminian; I profess no erroneous sentiments; my judgment is clear; I stand on the basis of truth; I understand perfectly what I hear from the pulpit; I believe most implicitly, that God has a peculiar people; I am fully persuaded that Christ died only for the elect;" and therefore, being compassed in this armour with which he has surrounded himself, not received from God’s armoury, but provided from some human manufactory, he stands like the Leviathan in the book of Job; "He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear" Job 41:27,29; and the arrows of conviction caught by this defensive armour, glance off from him, and never touch or wound his conscience.

But we pass on to another character which is spoken of under the name of "prudent". This seems to be a character distinct from the wise. The prudent man is one who always shapes his course in the path which is most consistent with his worldly interests. "He is not a man of extremes," he says. He does not like any sort of profession which in any way interferes with his worldly prospects. He is a moderate man. He likes to steer, he says, the middle path between the two parties. He is not, he says, a man of high sentiments, nor is he a man of low sentiments. He will avoid with the utmost care professing any religious opinion which may bring him into any reproach; and will yet have an especial regard for his moral character, lest by that being tarnished he should suffer in the world’s estimation. His object therefore is, to have just so much religion as shall pacify his conscience, just such a profession as shall lull any convictions that may arise, and yet escape the difficulties, trials, and sacrifices, which are the lot of the faithful followers of the Lamb. Thus, with the greatest ingenuity and the greatest caution, like the wriggling serpent, he will steer such a path as shall always preserve him from persecution, opposition, contempt, difficulty, and sacrifice; and yet he shall so keep from everything which may tarnish his character, that he shall gain, he thinks, the estimation of professors and yet preserve the good opinion of the world.

This is your prudent man-a man who says he is no narrow-minded bigot, no harsh judge of others, no exclusive narrow-spirited censor to condemn all who differ from him, but is a man of general philanthropy, of universal charity for all who profess religion, and that wishes to be friendly with all sects and parties, and indeed with everybody who is in any measure separated from the profanity of the day, and wears an aspect of serious religion. Such is a sketch of your prudent man. But he is one from whom God hides His truth. His very prudence is nothing else but the wisdom of the flesh. It springs, for the most part, from Satanic delusion. His very smooth and plausible language is but the outpouring of a worldly heart, and all his gentleness and mildness is, in fact, nothing but an abhorrence of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the preference of self over the esteem of God, and it is the setting up of his own worldly interest and his own worldly character, as an idol to be bowed down to, instead of the cross of the Lord Jesus. With all his prudence, then, in the sight of God he is a fool, for he is destitute of that spiritual wisdom which maketh a man "wise unto salvation": and however adroitly he may shape his course, however dexterously he may direct his steps, he will find hell at the end. He may manoeuvre most cleverly upon earth, and escape everything that is repulsive to his carnal mind, but there is One whom he cannot escape, there is a judgment which is ripening for him, and the end of all his wisdom is death eternal.

Full sermon The Kingdom of God Hid from the Wise and Revealed unto Babes preached at Romney Street Chapel, Westminster, on Tuesday Evening, 6th July, 1841, by J.C. Philpot (1802-1869).

 

[powerheart]

^from what I can tell reading the above post I am not quite in that mess BUT the article does make one check himself and to ask the Lord for some mercy to make sure!! And to make sure any sins are confessed if that's the case ..I know I had not been able to bypass or avoid any persecution but got it from odd sources as well. Persecution from church people too. I kind of see myself as 'the least of these my brethren' ,so I do not have stuff to be so proud I accomplished etc. I still would desire to just go and seek God and ask for His mercies often. I know of His grace, but have been battered alittle by other groups who seem to reject it. They think it pathetic or odd I desire that grace. That I can create 'my salvation' as they think. Something oddly even alien to most Arminian ideas. Some do not know how to define what a cult is, but accept their stuff as odd as that would seem.