Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Announcer: The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: What I can never do in my own strength, I can do for the love of the Lord Jesus. The bad habit that I cannot break will fall away when I am enabled by the Holy Spirit to turn my eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this attitude which can transform the life. A woman married to a man who developed into a brute was able to fulfill the biblical requirements for an obedient and submissive wife because she turned her eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ and determined to continue in the Lord's will for the Lord's sake. Doing something for the Lord Jesus Christ can become simple, easy, and an unalloyed delight.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If this is so in such a very great matter in life, how much more can it be simple and easy, and an unalloyed delight, to abstain from something that might hurt another, when it will build that other one in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and will please him who died for me?

Choir: God's Word is truth for all we claim to teach, rebuke, correct, and train. He quits by him, we can pursue the work God has for us to do. God's Word is all a Christian needs to grow in grace and to produce his deeds.

Announcer: Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of 10th 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.

Announcer: 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 Responsibility for Christ's Flock.

Announcer: Believers look to Jesus as the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for his flock. We also see godly ministers, pastors, and elders as Christ's under shepherds, responsible for the spiritual nurturing and protection of his sheep. But have you ever considered your role as a fellow shepherd in caring for your fellow believers?

Announcer: The responsibility for shepherding the people of God does not fall exclusively to pastors and ministers, or to Jesus himself. We are all accountable to each other and are intimately involved with the mutual edification, care, and protection of all the members of the body of Christ. The Scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible, Romans chapter 14, we're looking at verses 20 through 23.

Announcer: Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled Responsibility for Christ's Flock.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee our Father and our God, and in the Holy Spirit. We ask thee to bless the going forth of thy word. We know that it is light and life, and we ask thee that it should do the work which thou hast designed it to do. Bless each listening heart and build us together in thy truth. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: In the 14th chapter of Romans, near the close of the chapter, beginning with verse 20, we read the following. "Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make others fall by what he eats."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "It is right not to eat meat or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble or be upset, or be weakened."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "But he who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: This section of Romans is concerned with the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individual believers. When the apostle says, "Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God," he is saying, "Do not, because you desire some questionable thing, even though good in itself, do any damage to the spiritual life of another believer."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: God is working in the hearts of all believers to form the life of Christ in them. The eternal plan of God was that all believers should be conformed to the image of His Son.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Each believer must see to it that nothing in his own life hinders the work of God in the life of any other believer. In an earlier verse, we saw that the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: It's very important to note that these three conditions are presented as being in the Holy Spirit. The righteousness spoken of is not righteousness in God, or righteousness in Christ, but righteousness in the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The peace that is spoken of is not peace in God or peace in Christ, but peace in the Holy Spirit. The joy that is spoken of is not joy in God or joy in Christ, but joy in the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: There is, of course, the major sense in which God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one. But there is also the sense in which the Father is God overall, directing and planning.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: God the Son is the incarnation of this deity, providing the ground by which God could reconcile the world to Himself, and make it possible for us to be reconciled to God.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: While the Holy Spirit is the active agent in the world today, dwelling in the hearts of believers, in order to bring God's plan to fruition. It is in this sense that our paragraph is to enlighten us.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The difference between righteousness of God and the righteousness in the Holy Spirit, is that the former was placed to our account in our justification, while the righteousness from the Holy Spirit becomes practically ours in moment-by-moment sanctification.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The difference between peace with God and peace in the Holy Spirit, is the difference between the end of warfare between our rebellious souls and the Lord from whom we departed when we entered sin.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And the peace that passes all understanding, which becomes ours in our daily walk. The difference between joy in God and joy in the Holy Spirit, is the difference between the first full flash that comes with the knowledge of salvation, and the steady continuing wonder that is maintained in the face of all circumstances.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Everyone knows the difference between the joy of falling in love and the joy that is quiet and deep, and that continues to the golden wedding anniversary. Our present paragraph is talking about the things that make for this utmost in oneness.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: This satisfaction of daily growth, this emerging conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ that comes from His dwelling in us. The believer who would grow in the knowledge of Christ, will develop an awareness of this work of God, not only in his own life, but in the lives of all with whom he comes in contact.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Little by little we order our lives, not only recognizing that we have been joined to Christ, but also bearing in mind that we have been joined to one another in Him.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Everything that we do must be considered in relationship to promoting our growth in Christ, and to its effect on others in helping their growth in Christ. In the Epistle to the Galatians, there is a passage which might be called a parallel to our present text.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: We read, "For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Note well the thrust of this paragraph. The believer is to live with constant thought of his relationship to others.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "Love your neighbor as yourself" is set forth as the fulfillment of the law, and as the guide for daily living. And the way whereby this is to be fulfilled is to walk in the Spirit.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If we're walking by the Spirit, we shall have righteousness in the Spirit, peace in the Spirit, and joy in the Spirit. The passage in Galatians then goes on to indicate that a walk that is directed by the Holy Spirit will immediately take one away from legalism.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: For we read, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." The manner of life that the Lord wants for His own is a life of liberty.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: It is in order that we might remain free that Christ has liberated us. This is why we must stand firm, and not allow ourselves to be brought back under any bondage of legalism.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Lord simply does not want those for whom Christ died, to have any standard other than the standard of a life completely given over to the continuous guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He does not want us to have anything to do with any heretical system which involves rules and ordinances for living.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Our life is to be Jesus Christ. Some 80 years ago, perhaps the most famous preacher in America was Henry Ward Beecher. And he preached on this text, and he included the following in it.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "Now, when Christ came preaching exemption from all these lower ordinances, and when the apostles, following Him, set men free from circumcision, from baptism, from holy days, from making sacrificial offerings, from the whole round of ordinances."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "There were a great many who stood up for these things. There were ever so many high church folks in those days who insisted on exterior matters."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "Outward instrumentalities with great particularity. Either a thing is true or it's not true, they would say with the chop logic of our own times. And if it's not true, you must not believe it. But if it is, you must."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And thus they attempted to bring men to unity. A precious kind of unity, a kind of dough and putty unity in which men had almost all their individuality massed together in a sort of external agreement.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Not to the church committee, not to the priest, not to his brother Christian, not to any human being is a man to give an account of himself, but to God.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Personal accountability to God precedes all lower accountabilities. It is an accountability exhaustive, complete, and adapted to all human wants.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Oh, if Christians only loved to govern themselves one-half as much as they love to govern their fellowmen, they would be the best governed men in the world. But everybody likes to have a hand in governing everybody else.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: In the family, the children want to govern one another. The older sister wants to govern the younger sisters. The great robustious boy wants to domineer over the little boys as underlings.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Throughout business, men like to rule. Everywhere in society, there's a desire to govern one another on the part of men.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And when persons are associated together for moral purposes, and their conscience becomes strong, there is nothing more common than that they should have a conscience for their neighbors, a great deal more than for themselves.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Oh, men have consciences for rent. They have consciences to ration out to others. One lone man may have conscience enough for a whole generation. Men know what everybody should do, and they have their opinion about everybody who does not do what they think he ought to do.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: But you see, God wants every man to have his conscience for himself. Our text says, "The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: You may know that you have complete liberty to do certain things, and you are to keep that knowledge between yourself and God. And for the sake of those for whom Christ died, you may often abstain from things which you could do without displeasing God.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Be sure that you have a clear and complete understanding with the Lord about what things you may and may not do. Then live your life as you think the Lord wants you to live it, knowing that you're answerable to Him alone.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Beecher had a magnificent paragraph on his own attitudes which almost caused a scandal 80 years ago, because there were so many people who wanted to feel safe and to hide behind the conscience of the great leader.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: He taught them, however, that they could not pattern their consciences on his, that they must make their own decisions, and that they were fully accountable to God.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "What is right for me?" is the question that each man must ask himself. "What is right for me in my position and circumstances, in regard to amusements, or dress, or diet, or ordinances, or church organizations, or beliefs, or whatnot?"

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "Do not run into it hastily and carelessly, as if it were a thing that you did not care anything about. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Whatever you do, make it a matter of conscience for yourself. If, like a Quaker, you do not believe that it's necessary to be baptized, let your belief stand on grounds of reason and not on grounds of indifference.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If you do believe that baptism is necessary, let your belief be the result of distinct and assignable principles. Be earnest, be honest, and settle every matter by good reason on a moral foundation.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If you go to the theater, do not sneak in. Pray over it and do not be afraid to take it to God, and bring your judgment to bear upon it, and to act fearlessly and manfully upon the decision that you have sincerely and conscientiously arrived at.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: If after prayerful and deliberate consideration, I think it is best for me to drink wine, remember that this is Henry Ward Beecher speaking in the year 1878, "I'm going to drink it so that folks will know that I drink it."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "I am not going to sneak and dodge on anything that I think is best in this matter. I shall not drink liquor so long as I think I can do more good to other men by letting it alone."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And by the way, Beecher was a total abstainer personally. And he says, "I shall let it alone on the ground of reason and conscience."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "If, however, my neighbor, after a fair consideration on this subject, is led to the opposite conclusion, I'm not going to make my conscience the judge and arbiter of his."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "To my Master, I must stand or fall, and to his Master, he must stand or fall." Godliness of heart and soul in a man, or the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ in his disposition, sets him free from the arbitration of other men's consciences.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: To his own Master, he stands or falls. But our text adds one more qualification to the matter of liberty. Each man stands before God in perfect liberty.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: But each man is bound before God as to how he uses his liberty. We may not flaunt our liberty in the face of others.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The world's champion automobile speed racer was for a time an Argentinian, who could drive a car at 150 miles an hour in the road races, and who had won all of the great road races of Europe.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: But when he was not in a race, he was one of the most careful and conscientious drivers on the road. Young men would drive their cars beside his, and gun their motors, while grinning at him.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: He could have left them as though they were standing still, but he would never use his ability for his own personal ends. He would drive under the speed limit if he thought that someone wanted to pass him for the sake of bragging about it.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: He sacrificed his pride for the sake of his example. Can a Christian do less?

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: On this earth, there's nothing so entitled to reverence and respect as a human being. The mark of this sacredness is to be found in the fact that the Lord God Almighty created man in His own image.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And when man fell, thought enough of him to come down and die for him. Now, since the fundamental essence of being a believer in Christ is to accept the fact that Christ died for me, I must understand that He died for others.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And that His death for them makes each and every one of them precious to me. I cannot therefore do anything that will hurt anyone for whom Christ died.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: It is very important to me that I have my rights and my liberties, but it is even more important to me that I do not exercise my rights at the expense of anyone else, and that I do not insist on a liberty that will hurt another man.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The exercise of liberty must always be constructive and never destructive. My liberties must be as stepping stones upon which another man may draw closer to God, and never a stumbling block over which another man may fall to his own hurt.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: We return to the example of the world's champion auto racer. If he sought to exercise his ability according to his liberty, he might say, "You slowpokes, you do not have the quick reactions that I have. I am accustomed to making changes of direction in a tenth of a second."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: "I can do this without harm. If you can't do it, crash into that tree and kill yourself." Now if he did such a thing, even though driving according to the safe and reasonable speeds that are permitted in some states, he would nevertheless be defying the law of humanity.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And if a believer in Christ uses his liberty for himself alone, he has defied not only the law of humanity, but the greater law of love.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Finally, let us note that God says that it is right, good, not to do anything that makes your brother stumble.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Greek word translated "good" is the common word for "beautiful." It is used figuratively for "moral good," "noble," "praiseworthy," "blameless," "excellent."

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: But above all, the word is used for that which is pleasing to God. Frequently, I'm asked by young people what they may or may not do in matters of amusement and other practices.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: I try to teach them what I have taught here. And when they're torn by the desire to do something that might give them great enjoyment, but about which their consciences are not clear, it's easy to see that they're having a struggle.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: They can think only in terms of being forced to give up something that their whole desire draws them to do. I always point out that they're not to follow my standards, but that they must make their own.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: In the light of their accountability to Christ. It is possible to watch the working of their conscience in the struggle that goes on within them. And I have found that the one way to bring them to a mature decision is to point out that their conduct is to be based, not on what is pleasing to them.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Not on what might be best for them. Not on what might be best for others, but rather upon what will please the Lord Jesus Christ. What I can never do in my own strength, I can do for the love of the Lord Jesus.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: The bad habit that I cannot break will fall away when I am enabled by the Holy Spirit to turn my eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this attitude which can transform the life.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: A woman married to a man who developed into a brute was able to fulfill the biblical requirements for an obedient and submissive wife, long after the man had stamped out the basis for a human love, because she turned her eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ and determined to continue in the Lord's will for the Lord's sake.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Doing something for the Lord Jesus Christ can become simple, easy, and an unalloyed delight. If this is so in such a very great matter in life, how much more can it be simple and easy, and an unalloyed delight, to abstain from something that might hurt another.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: When it will build that other one in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and will please him who died for me. He has given me liberty, but I will have that liberty between myself and him.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: I could do many things that nobody would ever see me do. Nevertheless, because it is beautiful in his sight, I abstain from these things, because they might hurt others. And when he sees that I care about the little ones for whom he died, he's well pleased, and his pleasure in me becomes Earth's highest joy.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: And our God and Father, we ask thee to bless these truths to our hearts, and make us to love thee and to follow thee, and to do all things for thy dear name's sake, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Announcer: Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd, and His followers must also have a shepherd's heart as we seek to protect, edify, strengthen, and care for our fellow believers. We hope today's message has been an encouragement to you. It is entitled Responsibility for Christ's Flock.

Announcer: To listen to additional Bible teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at AllianceNet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled Responsibility for Christ's Flock, or simply request message number R14-41.

Announcer: We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled Overcoming Fear in Witnessing. Are you intimidated about sharing your faith? Does fear hold you back from telling your family, friends, and co-workers about Christ? This free booklet will help you overcome the barriers to effective witnessing, so that you can share the gospel clearly, in love, and without fear.

Announcer: If you want to be a bold, confident witness for Christ, ask for your free copy of Overcoming Fear in Witnessing when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Announcer: 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.

Announcer: The Alliance also produces the radio broadcast, The Bible Study Hour, featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice, and Every Last Word, featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, visit our website at AllianceNet.org.

Announcer: Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners like you. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air.

Announcer: For more information or to make a contribution to help further our work, contact us by calling toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Again, that's 1-800-488-1888. You may also write to us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

Announcer: Or visit us online at AllianceNet.org. Be sure to ask for 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.

Announcer: Thank you for listening today. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

Choir: The Bible has come and equals to do the saving work for us. It draws our souls from death to life and rescues us from deepest night. Amazing gift, oh wonderful heart, the life imparting word of God.