A Good Name

3 John 2-4

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 77:
What is required in the ninth commandment?
Answer 77:
The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor's good name, especially in witness-bearing.

 

One of the main problems in applying the commandments to our lives is making certain of two things. First, that we obey the commandments and live as godly and holy lives as we are able, to glorify our Father in heaven rather than to obtain credit for ourselves. Second, that we not become obsessed with our personal and familial reputations, but more so we should be concerned with the reflection of our Lord and Savior who is the holy and glorious object of our affections and actions.

At first hearing, the two things that I have just mentioned seem to be one and the same thing. Hopefully, all within hearing this morning well understand that we do not obey the word and live to attain salvation by that means. We are not into living a lifestyle deserving salvation, but we who have been saved live to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit so that our Father is thereby honored and the watching world may better see Him rather than us.

Oliver Cromwell once sat for a painting. The painter out of courtly courtesy left out some facial warts. Once Cromwell looked at the painting in progress, he ordered the painter to paint himself warts and all because he knew himself to be radically imperfect. And so the historical record would inform us, the Cromwellian period as difficult as it was is not glossed over in the history books. Oliver Cromwell, as all rulers and people in general was not to know perfection in this earthly life.

I was once asked to comment publicly on the beauty of a young female. I declined to make a comment and so missed an opportunity to witness to the greater importance of character. At this point in my life, I would suppose that on a scale of 1 to 10 that most of us, male and female hover in the five to seven range. The arrangement of body tissue and bone structure being sufficient to define that three point spread. You can subtract points for the various vices of smoking, drinking. drugs and sexual immorality, as well as for personality flaws related to the second tablet of the commandments. But you can also add points for positive character traits and a winsome personality. However, the most important issue in this ranking is the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit which is given only through the new birth in Christ. Only in Him may we hope to be more than we really want to be! Only in Him are we empowered by the Holy Spirit to reflect the greater glory of our Father in heaven.

The second issue before us this morning is a little more difficult. I think it was Rush Limbaugh that I heard talking about the early Puritans who were so preoccupied with living a holy life that they did not sufficiently encourage their children to an honest holiness. By that I mean that far too many of our Christian brethren are into Christianity as a lifestyle rather than into Christ for a personal relationship. There are whole congregations where apparent personal and familial holiness are indeed an impressive show. The trouble is that when your reputation is measured by what you don't do, there is a real challenge to see any fruitful spiritual growth in the things that you ought to do.

Even more tragic, is that the younger generation learns to live by habit rather than by faith. Such is what happened to the Puritan families. Many of their descendants are still decent law abiding citizens, but their congregations are now Unitarian and Universalist. They like the Mormon cult and many others may well appear to be godly people, but when you cut to the heart and search out their key affections, you will not find Jesus Christ enthroned, worshipped or well loved for any of the right reasons.

If we were to invite the Old Covenant saints into our churches today, who would admit Solomon, Jacob, Abraham, the prophets or even Moses into most congregations? Those with more than one wife might be welcomed by the Mormons. Some of the prophets did not marry well, or their personality might be suspect in many places. Moses, of course would be too zealous for God's law and in some places, sadly his wife from Cush would not be welcome, even as Moses' sister demonstrated the first bigotry within the church. Yes, we well know from the Old Covenant of grace that as the truth is recorded, they were all saved by grace rather than for their lifestyle. Yet, in spite of the presence of sin in their lives, we understand that by faith they were saved. Read the honor roll in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews sometimes and reflect upon the necessary condition of salvation.

Faith that is counted as righteousness. And getting their is being convicted by the absolute truth of the Revelation record. The truth that at heart, mankind is a fallen species contaminated within and without by the presence of sin. Were it not for the work of the Holy Spirit in limiting and holding back the worst behavior possible, the world would be far worse off than it presently is. And we might admit, that as the Spirit and God's truth are demoted more and more in the public square, we see a great and ghastly revival in the natural wickedness of mankind.par

If all we have to offer the world is a good name earned from living a pleasant and profitable lifestyle, there will be precious little truth worth sharing. If we are to witness in power and glory, we need the good name of the recipients of John's third letter. Look at the essential commodity - truth! There we see that they honestly believe the truth and then go on to live it as well.

What this means is this: it is more important why you do something than the fact that you are doing it. Yes, some may refrain from bad habits because of common sense. But others do so out of the conviction that they are thereby glorifying their Father in heaven. What a difference? Now it is somewhat easier to understand that monies given to charities apart from Christ accomplish no good thing in heaven's sight. And so some of the Christian community limit their giving to only those charities under the Lordship of Christ. This is good of course, but it is better to understand that the motivation of the heart in giving out of a love of Christ is most important.

In the same way, behavior, lifestyle and daily actions done as to the Lord are more important than those done for our own good name and reputation. May the Lord our God give us such an insight into the meaning of truth as it relates to our good names and those who would see the Father in and through us.

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