Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If the work which any man, any believer, has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work, any believer's work, is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. How we should bow low before God! How we should ask him to search our hearts! How we should realize the importance of self-judgment now, that there may not be the judgment when it is too late to alter our building.

Guest (Male): Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we'll be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled Accounting to God.

If a television camera crew followed you everywhere for a week, you would probably try to be on your best behavior. You would be embarrassed and ashamed if harsh words or evil actions were captured on videotape. But we so easily forget that we live every moment under the gaze of God.

We must give an account to him for how we have lived and even for every careless word we have spoken. Are you seeking to live wisely and righteously before the face of God? The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is Romans chapter 14 and verse 12. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled Accounting to God.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. Thou hast loved us and sent thy Son to be the payment for our sins. Thou hast given us life in Christ and a desire to follow after him.

Speak to us through thy word and build us that we may be strong to live for thee. Help us so to crown thee as Lord that men shall see our good works and glorify thee our Father which art in heaven. This we ask in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is in Romans 14:12: "So, each of us shall give account of himself to God." Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ shall give account of himself to God. There is no question in this text of the unbeliever. That matter has been settled in the previous verse: "Every knee shall bow." But the believer who has already bowed the knee must give an account of himself to God.

Let us look at the Bible teaching about the details of our appearance before the judgment seat of Christ. First, the Lord Jesus announced that every man would give an account in the judgment for every idle word. The Revised Standard Version translates it, "men will render account for every careless word."

Some commentators have thought that the meaning of the word must be limited to words of abuse or scandal. It should be evident that words which have proceeded from evil motives will indeed be judged. But the Greek word "argos" is the common one for people who are unemployed, idle, and lazy. The foremost lexicon in our language translates it as a careless word which, because of its worthlessness, had better been left unspoken.

There are perhaps some who would argue that such an interpretation could not be true because surely God would not want his children to be so very serious all the time. I believe they are wrong. God wants us to be occupied with that which will build us in Christ and make us stronger Christians.

Just what does this include? I know from my own experience that when I have worked at my desk for several hours at a stretch, I need to relax my mind. I must turn to light reading or to a conversation or a less serious theme. Since God has created our sense of humor, he expects that it shall be satisfied from time to time.

But we must not become court jesters, better known for wisecracks than for serious conversation. That which goes beyond the bounds of decency is certainly not acceptable to our Lord. That which glorifies sin is not to be in our mouths. Listen to the strict command given by the Holy Spirit.

We read in Ephesians 5:3 and 4, "But immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is fitting among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor silly talk nor levity, which are not fitting, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

The words "let there be no filthiness" will certainly keep dirty jokes out of the mouth of the child of God. The command against silly talk gives us real insight into God's desire for us to be sober in our speech. The Greek word is fascinating: morologia, being a union of the word which has given us moron and the root which means sayings or eloquence.

We are not to chatter like morons. God is not pleased with what the world calls small talk. We're going to give an account of these things. A believer in Christ should never be a chatterbox. It is the empty wagon that rattles.

The command against levity or jesting is expressed by a Greek word whose meaning is midway between buffoonery and boorishness. In early Christian literature, it was used only in a bad sense. The Holy Spirit will work in each child of God in such a way that the life will be lifted to new cultural levels. The believer is not to be a comic.

So, Ephesians 5:3 and 4 means that the believer is not to be foul-mouthed, a chatterbox, or a clown. Now I think it's fair and logical to draw the conclusion that if a believer is to give an account of every careless word, this applies not only to what he says but to what he allows himself to hear and read.

You must answer for how much time you take for relaxation or amusement and for what you listen to during such times. If you spend several hours a week before the amusements of the television camera, you can be almost certain that the thing has the mastery over you.

If you look at an occasional entertainment, especially if it is a relaxation of tension after a long period of work or study, that's a different matter. I know people who are better acquainted with the comic strips than they are with the Bible. They say they're too busy for Bible study, but they have at least 15 minutes a day for the comics and another 15 for the news.

Now there's no objection to laughing at something funny. Some magazines I read from the back to the front in order to laugh at the cartoons, and I often throw the magazine down without reading any of its articles or stories. But I cannot be the judge for you, and you may not be the judge for me.

We're each answerable to the Lord and in no wise answerable to anyone else, except that a husband is answerable to his family and they are answerable to him. But even in such cases, the accounting cannot be made a matter of quarrel or of argument. The accounting that we give for our words is a double one.

We're inclined perhaps to think too much of the judgment side and not enough of the side that brings recompense. For the rest of the passage in Matthew continues, "for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned." Certainly, if we have openly confessed Christ as our Savior and Lord, these words will be remembered to our credit.

Certainly, if we have spoken words of comfort to those who were suffering or bereaved, God will remember them and count them to our account for reward. It should be realized again that none of this has to do with our entrance into heaven, but only with our place in the government of God.

In addition to accounting for our words, we are to render account of our stewardship of all the things that God has loaned to us. Christ spoke of this in one of his parables. There was a rich man who had a steward—we would say an estate manager or a trustee—and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.

And he called him and said to him, "What's this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." We must never forget that everything we have and are is a trust from God. He has his purposes, unknown to us, as to why he made us what we are.

But we can say to him with perfect assurance that we recognize his right to make us in any way he wishes. I personally have to say to God, "Lord, you made me. You decided that I should be male, white, American, a little under six feet and three inches tall. You gave me the thickness and texture of hair which I have and the color of eyes which I have.

You gave me the IQ which is mine and decided that I was to be born into my particular family on the exact day that I count as my birthday. You gave me what abilities I have and allowed me to live my life so that I've gone through the experiences which I have had. Everything that is good comes from thee, and all that has not been good has been totally my own fault.

I agree with John the Baptist when he said, 'no man can receive anything except what is given him from heaven.' I agree with thy verdict given through James, that every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation due to a shadow of turning." And then I'm forced to admit that I shall have to give an accounting for my stewardship.

Our Lord stated this in terms that should make each of us tremble before him: "But that servant who knew his master's will but did not make ready or act according to his will shall receive a severe beating. But he who did not know and did what deserved a beating shall receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required, and of him to whom men commit much, they will demand the more."

Ask yourself, am I using for the Lord what he has given me? Am I using my mind for him? Am I using my personality for him? Am I using my time for him? Am I using my ability to serve in a humble place for him? And if you are quiet before him, asking him to show you what you have and how you are to use it for him, he will do so without any question.

I tremble when I see how some people use the gifts that God has given them. How responsible is a Christian woman if God has given her some beauty, that she should use that beauty not for the excitation of the lusts of men, but for the exaltation of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ?

How important, for example, that a Christian man should use all that he has in his abilities, whether it be an ability to manage or to make money or whether it be an ability to lead men, that he should use it all for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now in the third place, we're accountable not only for our words and for our gifts, but we are accountable for our money.

In Timothy, we read that the love of money is the root of all evil. And a great step in spiritual advance is made when we let go of it for the sake of the Lord. I'm not talking about a little gift that is more or less in the nature of a tip, but a gift that has a bit of the heart in it because it was a sacrifice.

The poor woman who gave her two mites had entered into the heart of God's blessing. Long before the hymn was written, she knew the truth that love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. There was nothing improvident about what she did. She was in love with the Lord and knew in her heart that he would take care of her and provide for all her need.

When Paul received the missionary gift which the Philippian Church sent to him, he wrote to thank them for it. And in the course of his letter, he gave them spiritual insight into the matter of giving. For we read in Philippians 4, "It was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

For even in Thessalonica, you sent me help once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. I am filled, having received the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Our Lord had already laid the foundation for such teaching when he said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Frequently I am asked if the Old Testament law of tithing is still in force for those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a Bible teacher, I must answer that the principle set forth in the New Testament is that ten-tenths belong to the Lord, and we are to do all our spending in the light of this fact.

We should be so yielded to him that we realize the divine principle: "whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men."

When we give equal consideration in our budgeting to the purchase of a car, of a dish of ice cream, and our gifts to the Lord's work, we shall find that the budget always balances and that God can do more with 90 cents than we can do with a dollar. We are not bound by legalism, and the result is that the Lord provides in order that we may give to him.

The renewed heart that is surrendered to the Lord will never try to chisel on him. I once saw a cartoon of a farmer sitting at a table with nine giant potatoes in one pile and one by itself, marked the Lord's portion. The caption showed the farmer's surrendered heart. He said, "I don't see how any fellow could be mean enough to give less."

We can be sure that our giving will come under the scrutiny of the Lord at the time when we give an account to him. And the one who has been most yielded to the Lord will find that he has generally given much more than a tithe. Accountability, accountability, accountability for words, gifts, talents, blessings, money.

What else can there be? And the Lord answers that we shall give an account for the way in which we build our lives. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation—and this clearly means if any believer in Christ builds on him, for certainly an unbeliever is not building his life on the Savior he rejects—if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each man's work, each believer's work, will become manifest, for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

Remember this when you work for the Lord. One Sunday school teacher has her class on her heart every day in the week. As soon as one Sunday's lesson is passed, she's thinking in terms of the next lesson. She's praying for her pupils, thinking of ways to show them Christ and awaken a love for his word. She reads, studies, prays.

Another teacher is so busy about the cluttered life she has allowed herself to drift into that she postpones preparation of the lesson to the last moment, sometimes even reading the quarterly in the car while her husband drives to church. The one is building with gold, silver, and precious stones; the other is building with wood, hay, and stubble. Both must appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account to God.

Let there be no mistake, the fire will sweep down on us at that day. The fire is a symbol of judgment. It is, of course, not literal fire. The Greek word for fire is pur (P-Y-R-O) and has given us our words pure and purify. Something is pure when it has been through the fire. We are to go through judgment before our Lord Jesus. He will judge us by the materials we have used.

When I was a boy, I lived on a street that came to a dead end a block away, and beyond the fence that crossed the street, there was an apple orchard. I remember the day the fence was taken down and the street was extended. Soon a contractor built many new houses in the subdivision, and new families began to move in. One house differed from the others in the method of building.

The workers came for two days and then were gone for a week or two. Then they came back for several days and were gone for another long period. My father explained that the contractor was using that house to occupy his men when they were not required on any other house in the tract.

That house became the headquarters for a group of us boys. Every piece of board that was discarded because of knot holes, every short end, every fallen nail—we retrieved them all. Before the floor was laid, we had enough pieces to cover several square feet of the bare joists, and a good length of 2x4 served as an upright to which we nailed other pieces of boards.

Finally, we had a clubhouse about as big as a good-sized dog house, big enough for a couple of Newfoundland dogs or four or five boys. It was our delight for many days. One afternoon when we came from school, we heard hammering and sawing and knew that the job was going forward. At 5:00 when the mill whistle blew, the men left the job.

We swarmed in and discovered that they had knocked our clubhouse apart and thrown the whole thing through a window opening. It lay disjointed and wrecked on the ground outside. The work proceeded with some steadiness for many days. The floor was laid, and on top of that first rough pine flooring, the quartered oak boards for the finished floor were being laid.

One day at 5:00, we went into the house to discover that the oak floor was half laid. One piece was cut and ready to be put in place. The men had left it lying there, and the thought came to us that we should nail it into place. Oh, how carefully we examined the other pieces to see how they had been nailed in.

We wrapped a rag around the nails and tapped lightly with the hammer lest we leave some scar. It took us almost an hour to get that one piece of board securely into place. Then we wondered if it would be allowed to remain in place. We marked the board and the wainscot so that we would know whether our board had stood the test.

The next evening we came into the house, and to our great joy, we found our marks on the board, which was now the center of a finished floor. It was a real thrill. But I remember three or four years later coming down the street at night when the shades were up and one could see the warmth of that room with its lights and curtains.

I stood outside for several minutes with no small pride in the fact that we had put a piece of quartered oak in the middle of that floor. Well, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, we shall give an account of the materials which we have used. Some of our building—in fact, some Christian lives—are like a patchwork dog house built on open joists, destined to be destroyed.

But some of our building becomes a part of the permanent fabric of the whole house. It should be noted that the passage in Corinthians clearly reveals that all the persons at this particular judgment are believers in Christ and that the result of the judgment is salvation for all, but rewards for only some.

If the work which any man, any believer, has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work, any believer's work, is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. How we should bow low before God!

How we should ask him to search our hearts! How we should realize the importance of self-judgment now, that there may not be the judgment when it is too late to alter our building. In the passage that concludes the teaching on the communion service as a periodic check on our surrender to God, we find terrible judgment passed on believers who fail to accept his rule.

And then the tremendous call for present judgment in order that we may not be judged in the future at the end of the age. We read, "That is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you have died." And the passage continues, "But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord so that we may not be condemned along with the world."

Then let us bow before God. Ask God to wreck everything in your life that is the result of your own efforts apart from him. Ask him to confirm everything that is being built according to the plans and specifications of his word.

And our God and Father, we pray thee to work in the hearts of each listener. Oh, in all thy church, our God, we pray thee that the Holy Spirit may bring us to edification, to growth, that we may manifest thee before a world that knows thee not. And we give thee the praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Guest (Male): Each of us must give an account of ourselves to God. Let us therefore live wisely and pursue genuine holiness of life so we will not be ashamed to stand before him. We hope you have benefited from today's message entitled Accounting to God.

To listen to more Bible teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is also available by calling us toll-free: 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled Accounting to God, or simply request message number R-14-25.

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This free booklet cuts through the confusion with clear biblical truth. You will take a significant leap toward spiritual maturity when you understand who the Holy Spirit is and how he works in the life of a believer. Ask for your free copy of How the Holy Spirit Relates to You when you call or write.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

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Remember to request a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Doctors Donald Grey Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Philip Graham Ryken. Thanks for listening. Join us again for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.