Saturday, December 29, 2012

A GOOD PREACHER

“A good preacher should have these properties and virtues: first, to teach systematically; secondly, he should have a ready wit; thirdly, he should be eloquent; fourthly, he should have a good voice; fifthly, a good memory; sixthly, he should know when to make an end; seventhly, he should be sure of his doctrine; eighthly, he should venture and engage body and blood, wealth and honor, in the Word; ninthly, he should suffer himself to be mocked and jeered of everyone.” -- Martin Luther

Monday, December 17, 2012

I BLESS THEE

‎"O God, I bless thee for the happy moment when I first saw thy law fulfilled in Christ, wrath appeased, death destroyed, sin forgiven, my soul saved. Ever since, Thou hast been faithful to me, daily I have proved the power of Jesus' blood, daily I have known the strength of the Spirit, my teacher, director, sanctifier." -from "The Life Look" (page 54)

Friday, December 14, 2012

TRIFLES


"We all profess that we are bound for heaven, immortality, and glory: but is it any evidence that we really design it if all our thoughts are consumed about the trifles of this world, which we must leave behind us, and have only occasional thoughts of things above?"

- John Owen

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

CAN YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR

I've known this before and known it for years, and yet have failed to rest in the fact; but today I very deep and profound peace came in the confidence of: "It is not my responsibility if others fail to hear the sermon." The greatest under-shepherds you can name will stay have men sit and day dream with a wandering mind and never engaged with the Scripture or message. And yes, I have also been frequently guilty of such disrespect to God's Word; but I am just saying from the pastor's point of view, it is his duty to preach clearly, prayerfully, accurately; those who need 7 jokes and 7 sentimental stories to keep them interested are saying in effect: the death and resurrection of Christ does not interest me by itself.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

THE DELIGHT OF THE FATHER


"Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of Him to all eternity!"

- John Bunyan

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

FEELINGS COME AND GO

“Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!”



― Martin Luther

NOT PERMITTED

"I am not permitted to let my love be so merciful as to tolerate and endure false doctrine. When faith and doctrine are concerned and endangered, neither love nor patience are in order....when these are concerned, neither toleration nor mercy are in order, but only anger, dispute, and destruction - to be sure, only with the Word of God as our weapon."

Martin Luther

PUBLIC WORSHIP

"The Lord is more glorified by public worship than private. God is then glorified by us when we acknowledge that he is glorious. And he is most glorified when this acknowledgment is most public. This is obvious. A public acknowledgment of the worth and excellency of any one tends more to his honour than that which is private or secret. It was more for David's honour that the multitude did celebrate his victory, 1 Sam. 18:7, than if a particular person had acknowledged it only in private. Hence the psalmist, when he would have the glory of God most amply declared, contents not himself with a private acknowledgment, but summons all the earth to praise him, Ps. 96:1-8. Then is the Lord most glorified, when his glory is most declared, and then it is most declared when it is declared by most, by a multitude." -David Clarkson-

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

OUR BEARD COMES BACK

‎"Original sin is in us like our beard. We are shaved today and look clean; tomorrow our beard has grown again, nor does it cease growing while we remain on earth. In like manner original sin cannot be extirpated from us; it springs up in us as long as we live." -- Martin Luther

Thursday, November 29, 2012

HONEY IN THE ROCK

‎"He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee." - Psalm 81:16

 I can remember the time, almost 10 years ago, when I first heard the song that really blessed me, it was called "Honey in the Rock." I was grinning ear to ear because the meaning of the lyrics, being based on Psalm 81:16 had gripped me.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

GOD IS NOT TROUBLED

God is not troubled by anything that is now taking place in His world - either in its political, social, or religious sphere; nor should we be troubled. The helm is still in His hand; and Satan himself cannot so much as touch a hair of our heads, without His direct permission.
~Writings of A.W. Pink

POOR IN SPIRIT

"He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit" 
~John Calvin, via Al and Cathy Hartman

I HAVE A HIGH PRIEST

When old companions, old lusts, and sins crowd in upon you, and when you feel that you are ready to sink, what can save you, sinking sinner? This alone - I have a high priest in heaven, and he can support in the hour of affliction. This alone can give you peace - I have a high priest in heaven. When you are dying - when friends can do you no good - when sins rise up like spectres around your bed - what can give you peace? This - "I have a high priest in heaven."

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

THE WHOLE WORK IS HIS

"Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last."

Horatius Bonar

LEANING ON YOURSELF???

"Indeed, the generality of men that are trained up in a Protestant country will tell you that they do not expect to be justified by their own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ. But alas! How few are there that do really and actually submit unto this righteousness. There is a cursed bias in the heart of man to lean to something in himself. Is not this the language of thy heart many 
times? O! If I had such a frame, such a melting of heart, such love, such a degree of humility and obedience, then I think God would accept of me, and love me on that account. But, Sirs, let me tell you, it is not on account of anything wrought in you, or done by you, but only on the account of the doing and dying of the Son of God.”

Ebenezer Erskine

PREACHING GRACE SANCTIFIES

‎"It's the role of grace in sanctification that sometimes troubles us...People worry that emphasizing grace undermines obedience. Consistently preaching the necessity and the proper motivation for holiness may be the most difficult task evangelical preachers face because we culturally define grace as license rather than the biblical power of holiness...Grace is the power of obedience not the antidote to obedience."

Bryan Chapell;

Monday, November 19, 2012

Jesus Delivers Us


(Author unknown)
"Hold me up--and I shall be safe!" Psalm 119:117

"For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling!" Psalm 116:8

Christ has completely and perfectly delivered all His people from the condemnation of sin, as He suffered the wrath of God for us on the cross, having our sins charged to His account. 
But His deliverance of us does not end there. He is still delivering us and keeping us from all that would harm or destroy us. 
He continually delivers us . . .
  from the power of sin which still plagues, corrupts, and contaminates us;
  from the influence of the world;
  from the force of temptation;
  from the deceitfulness of our own hearts;
  and from the designs of all our foes!

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!" Psalm 18:2 
from gracegems

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

THE HAND THAT HOLDS THE ROD

"Grant that I may be salted with suffering, with every exactment tempered to my soul, every rod excellently fitted to my back, to chastise, humble, break me. Let me not overlook the hand that holds the rod, as thou didst not let me forget the rod that fell on Christ, and drew me to him." -from "Christian Calling" (page 50)

VALLEY OF VISION

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

SANCTIFICATION EXCERPT


A.W. PINK writes,

Like "salvation" itself—according to the use of the term is Scripture (see 2 Tim. 1:9, salvation in the past; Phil. 2:12, salvation in the present; Rom. 13:11, salvation in the future) and in the actual history of the redeemed—so sanctification must be considered under its three tenses. There is a very real sense in which all of God’s elect have already been sanctified: Jude 1; Hebrews 10:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:13. There is also a very real sense in which those of God’s people on earth are daily being sanctified: 2 Corinthians. 4:16; 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23. And there is also a real sense in which the Christian’s (complete) sanctification is yetfuture: Romans 8:30; Hebrews 12:23; 1 John 3:2. Unless this threefold distinction be carefully borne in mind our thoughts are bound to be confused. Objectively, our sanctification is already an accomplished fact (1 Cor. 1:2), in which one saint shares equally with another. Subjectively, our sanctification is not complete in this life (Phil. 3:12) and varies considerably in different Christians, though the promise of Philippians 1:6 belongs alike to all of them.

Though our sanctification be complete in all its parts, yet it is not now perfect in its degrees. As the newborn babe possesses a soul and body, endowed with all their members, yet they are undeveloped and far from a state of maturity. So it is with the Christian, who (in comparison with the life to come) remains throughout this life but a "babe in Christ" (1 Pet. 2:2). We know but "in part" (1 Cor. 13:12), and we are sanctified but in part, for "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Josh. 13 :1). In the most gracious there remains a double principle: the flesh and the spirit, the old man and the new man. We are a mixture and a medley during our present state. There is a conflict between operating principles (sin and grace), so that every act is mixed: there is tin mixed with our silver and dross with our gold. Our best deeds are defiled, and therefore we continue to feed upon the Lamb with "bitter herbs" (Ex. 12:8).

Holiness in the heart discovers itself by godly sorrowings and godly aspirations. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4): "mourn" because of the swellings of pride, the workings of unbelief, the surging of discontent; "mourn" because of the feebleness of their faith, the coldness of their love, their lack of conformity to Christ. There is nothing which more plainly evidences a person to be sanctified than a broken and contrite heart—grieving over that which is contrary to holiness. Rightly did the Puritan John Owen say, "Evangelical repentance is that which carrieth the believing soul through all his failures, infirmities, and sins. He is not able to live one day without the constant exercise of it. It is as necessary unto the continuance of spiritual life as faith is. It is that continual, habitual, self-abasement which arises from a sense of the majesty and holiness of God, and the consciousness of our miserable failures." It is this which makes the real Christian so thankful for Romans 7, for he finds it corresponds exactly with his own inward experience.

The sanctified soul, then, is very far from being satisfied with the measure of experimental holiness which is yet his portion. He is painfully conscious of the feebleness of his graces, the leanness of his soul, and the defilements from his inward corruption. But, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matt. 5:6), or "they that are hungering and thirsting" as the Greek reads, being the participle of the present tense; intimating apresent disposition of the soul. Christ pronounces "blessed" (in contrast from those under "the curse") they who are hungering and thirsting after His righteousness imparted as well as imputed, who thirst after the righteousness of sanctification as well as the righteousness of justification—i.e., the Spirit infusing into the soul holy principles, supernatural graces, spiritual qualities, and then strengthening and developing the same. Such has been the experiences of the saints in all ages, "As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?" (Ps. 42:1, 2).

Saturday, November 3, 2012

DO YOU LOVE JESUS

"Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?"
    John 21:15

Do you love Me . . .
  More than these creature claimants?
  More than these earthly honors?
  More than these worldly riches?
  More than these domestic comforts?
  More than parent, child, brother, sister, friend?

Do you love Me . . .
  singly,
  supremely,
  above all,
  amid ten thousand suitors for your heart?

Do you love Me . . .
Does My beauty charm you?
Does My love win you?
Does My grace draw you?
Does My cross attract you?
Have My sufferings and My death subdued
  you to penitence, faith, and love?
Am I dearer to you than earth's dearest attractions?
Am I more precious than the heart's most precious treasure?
Can you part with all, and every one, for Me?


"Do I love You, O my Lord?
 Behold my heart and see;
 Gently dislodge each idol thence,
 That seeks to rival Thee."

"You know I love You, dearest Lord;
 But, oh, I long to soar;
 Far from the sphere of mortal joys,
 And learn to love You more!"

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW

Valley of Vision

O Lord,

I am a shell full of dust, but animated with an invisible rational soul and made anew by an unseen power of grace; Yet I am no rare object of valuable price, but one that has nothing and is nothing, although chosen of thee from eternity, given to Christ, and born again; I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state, of the vanity of creatures, but also of the sufficiency 
of Christ.

When thou wouldst guide me I control myself, When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.

When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.

When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself, When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will, When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself; I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself, Instead of thee I look to a man’s approbation, and am by nature an idolater.

Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.

Convince me that I cannot be my own God, or make myself happy, nor my own Christ to restore my joy, nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.

Help me to see that grace does this by providential affliction, for when my credit is good thou dost cast me lower, when riches are my idol thou dost wing them away, when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart; show me that none of these things can heal a wounded conscience, or support a tottering frame, or uphold a departing spirit.

Then take me to the cross and leave me there.

—Valley of Vision: Man a Nothing, p91

HATE THEIR SIN


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

ONLY GOD CAN TEACH AND TRANSFORM

It is extremely easy for me to have the mindset of: "find a lot of audio exposition and video exposition, and take it all in...with an implication of : What does prayer have to do with anything, I'm learning right??? How vain and foolish. All the audio and video in the world, no matter how solid the exposition is powerless without the grace and power of God to transform the mind and heart.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

THRIVING

Which do I desire most? A thriving online ministry, with many videos, mp3s, articles, forums, all getting traffic and feeback. -- or -- a thriving prayer life with many praises, thanksgivings, supplications, all getting grace and mercy.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

FAITH IS LIKE NOT CARING

My statement following is extremely over-simplified, but this came to mind: Apathy is not caring, and Faith is not caring. Apathy is not caring because one simply doesn't care. Faith is not caring, because one knows that God is wise, good, sovereign, and worthy. Obviously apathy and faith are entirely opposite terms, and even with faith we do "care" and are "concerned". Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac and he cared about Isaac and would be painful to have him die at his own hands; but when it came down do it, He cared more about trusting God, knowing God could raise him from the dead or provide a substitute...more than caring about 'his own understanding and preferences'. I hope no one lives in apathy, but I hope your life is filled with faith, that whatever thy lot God has taught thee to say, "it is well, it is well with my soul."

Monday, October 1, 2012

Do we recover a nation, any nation?

Is it true, that: the reason america is in such bad shape, morally, is because the church has failed, and we need to go out and be the difference in life, word, and deed?

Well, there are many tares in the church, true enough. Yet, Noah's culture was not going to be changed by some "improvement in Noah" Sodom was not going to be changed by some "improvement in Abraham" Egypt was not going to be changed by some improvement in Joseph or Moses. Canaan was not going to be changed by some improvement in Joshua or David. And the same can be said of all the prophets to national Israel or the disciples and apostles. I personally cannot undo all the damage that someone like Billy Graham has done, when at times God has sent false prophets to those who love a lie and suppress the truth. Today there are Arminian congregations and denominations working with millions of dollars, and thankfully God is not intimidated for thwarted by such opposition; however, God's sheep do not have to live under a taskmaster like Pharaoh to "recover America" -- an agenda that God has never given us.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

AFRAID OF MY OWN HEART

I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. -- Martin Luther

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

THIS POOR WORLD IS NOT YOUR REST

(James Smith; via gracegems)

Your trials, though many, painful, and tedious--are but proofs of your heavenly Father's love! They are sent in mercy--to convince you that this poor world is not your rest.
Your Father's wisdom chose them,
His love sent them, and
His mercy will sanctify them to you!

Tried believer--are you looking to Jesus? He can hush the storm, and still the tempest. He is always near in trouble. Is your eye fixed upon Him? Does your heart repose on His tender love and faithful Word?

Do you recognize your heavenly Father's hand in your trials? His hand is in them, whether you see it or not. He sends, bounds, and removes them--as He wisely desires. And it has often comforted the saint to realize that the hand of God is in every trial, trouble, and disappointment.

Do you sweetly acquiescence in God's will, in faith that whatever He permits in our life, is right and best for you?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

to know grace

To know Christ, is to know grace. If you cannot proclaim Biblical grace, then you cannot proclaim the Christ of the Bible. Beware of those who preach "another Christ" by preaching "another grace" when there is no other grace (Christ) than the one Paul preached.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

REVERENCE HIS HAND

"Affliction does not rise out of the dust or come to men by chance; but it is the Lord that sends it, and we should own and reverence His hand in it." - Thomas Boston

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Where Arminians agree

Important to note: classic Arminianism and Calvinism actually agree that God choose not to save everyone.-Michael Horton

Monday, June 25, 2012

BEST WORK

Quote from Scott Price's sermon I posted...
Satan does his best work in the pulpit; thanks CDO

Friday, June 22, 2012

Our Heart Our Desire

Our heart our desire
Is to see the nations worship
Our cry our prayer
Is to sing Your praise to the ends of the earth
That with one mighty voice
Every tribe and tongue rejoices
Our heart our desire
Is to see the nations Worship You:  Don Moen

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Scripture is about Christ.

The whole of Scripture is about Christ.

The NT is contained in the OT.
The OT is explained in the NT.
The NT is concealed in the OT.
The OT is revealed in the NT.
The OT anticipates the NT.
The NT authenticates the OT.
In the OT the NT lies hidden.
In the NT the OT lies open.
The OT foreshadows the NT.
The NT fulfills the OT.
In the OT they were always seeking.
In the NT they found.
The OT predicts a Person.
The NT presents that Person.
And the Person is the Lord Jesus Christ
Who fully validated the OT.
The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible)
presents Figures os Christ.
The Psalms present the Feelings of Christ.
The Prophets present the Foretellings of Christ.
The Gospels present the Facts of Christ.
The Epistles present the Fruits of Christ.

by ROY GUSTAFSON

Friday, June 15, 2012

PRESS ON

If it were me, and my frail mind, and I saw the crowd of John 6 turn away and walk with me no more, I would be sorely sorely depressed. Why read another book, why write another sermon, why pray another prayer, why witness to another soul, why bother, why embrace more rejection and "let down", why rejoice, smile, and be happy, why care.

Yet Jesus knew even before His Incarnation that such would be the case throughout His life. A crowd which follows then falls away. Lepers who come for healing and who leave forgetting. Pharisees who give compliments, and continue plotting. Peter who makes promises, but denies Him thrice. Those disheartened on the road to Emmaus even though He, risen, yet ate with them. May the grace and power of God grant us the mind of Christ, and that it may put to death what is earthly in us.
 
 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Luke 18:7

Shall GOD not avenge HIS OWN elect who cry out day and night to HIM, though HE bears long with them ? (Luke 18:7)
 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
(Exodus 2:23-25 ESV)

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

ALL OF CHRIST

If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is “of him.”
If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing.
If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion;
if purity, in his conception;
if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects that he might learn to feel our pain.
If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion;
if acquittal, in his condemnation;
if remission of the curse, in his cross;
if satisfaction, in his sacrifice;
if purification, in his blood;
if reconciliation, in his descent into hell;
if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb;
if newness of life, in his resurrection;
if immortality, in the same;
if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven;
if protection, if security, if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom;
if untroubled expectation of judgment, in the power given to him to judge.

In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain and from no other.

from Calvin's Institutes.

REMEMBER THE INCARNATION

Man’s maker was made man,
that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast;
that the Bread might hunger,
the Fountain thirst,
the Light sleep,
the Way be tired on its journey;
that the Truth might be accused of false witness,
the Teacher be beaten with whips,
the Foundation be suspended on wood;
that Strength might grow weak;
that the Healer might be wounded;
that Life might die.

- Augustine of Hippo (Sermons 191.1)

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Peace in His Plan

I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.

~Hudson Taylor

Thursday, May 17, 2012

You Shall Come

"Oh! I love God's "shalls" and "wills." There is nothing comparable to them. Let a man say "shall," what is it good for? "I will," says man, and he never performs; "I shall," says he, and he breaks his promise. But it is never so with God's "shalls." If he says "shall," it shall be; when he says "will," it will be. Now he has said here, "many shall come." The devil says "they shall not come;" but "they shall come." Their sins say "you can't come;" God says "you shall come." You, yourselves, say, "you won't come;" God says "you shall come." 
~ Spurgeon

God's Provision

God will meet all your needs

"And my God will meet all your needs according
to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

Until we are brought into the depths of poverty,
we shall never know nor value Christ's riches.

If, then, you are a child of God, a poor and
needy soul, a tempted and tried believer in
Christ, "God will meet all your needs."

They may be very great.

It may seem to you, sometimes, as though there
were not upon all the face of the earth such a
wretch as you—as though there never could be
a child of God in your state . . .
so dark,
so stupid,
so blind and ignorant,
so proud and worldly,
so presumptuous and hypocritical,
so continually backsliding after idols,
so continually doing things that you
know are hateful in God's sight.

But whatever your need be—it is not beyond the
reach of divine supply! And the deeper your need,
the more is Jesus glorified in supplying it.

Do not say then, that . . .
your case is too bad,
your needs are too many,
your perplexities too great,
your temptations too powerful.

No case can be too bad!

No temptations can be too powerful!

No sin can be too black!

No perplexity can be too hard!

No state in which the soul can get, is beyond
the reach of the almighty and compassionate
love, that burns in the breast of the Redeemer!

PEARLS FROM J.C PHILPOT

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

utterly beyond

"God has surely promised His grace to the humbled, that is, to those who mourn over and despair of themselves. But a man cannot be thoroughly humbled till he realizes that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will and works, and depends, absolutely on the will, counsel, pleasure and works of Another - God alone."
-Martin Luther

Friday, May 4, 2012

CIRCULAR REFERENCE

This illustration came to mind last night; A bird sees the writings of Shakespeare, and after bobbing around it, begins to rip out the paper and turns it into shreds to build a nice nest. Of course, how resourceful this intelligent bird is. So likewise another branch of evolution, monkeys to mankind studies astronomy, chemistry, biology, physics, and morality, continually assuming that their "facts and theories" are all reliable uses of the materials around them; when in reality they have perverted the real purpose of the resource. Man can no more expect to properly and accurately understand chemistry and we can expect a bird to understand Shakespeare, just as the bird is the circular reference to his application, so man is the circular reference to his application, and both are wrong.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

CONFIDENCE IN SELF???

How confident are you that if you were born in the Amazon Jungle 2000 years ago that your free-will could cause your regeneration considering you would never hear/read a solitary verse of Scripture in your life. General Revelation leaves men without excuse, but it is not sufficient to regenerate; If you disagree you have destroyed any basic significance or purpose in evangelism, and have placed faith and confidence in the sinner's mind, instead of the Savior's mercy (Romans 9 mercy).

POWERFUL LOVE

"A man may love another as his own soul, yet perhaps that love of his cannot help him. He may thereby pity him in prison, but not relieve him; bemoan him in misery, but not help him; suffer with him in trouble, but not ease him. We cannot love grace into a child, nor mercy into a friend; we cannot love them into heaven, though it may be the greatest desire of our soul. … But now the love of Christ, being the love of God, is effectual and fruitful in producing all the good things which he wills unto his beloved. He loves life, grace, and holiness into us; he loves us also into covenant, loves us into heaven."
-- John Owen, "Works" (London, 1826), 2:63

Friday, April 20, 2012

Fix your eyes on Jesus

Remember the rejected Christ, remember the risen Christ, remember the returning Christ, remember the reigning Christ, remember the redeeming Christ, remember the rejoicing Christ. He rejoices over the Bride that He purchased and cleansed with His own blood. Fix your eyes on Jesus, be done with all lesser things, Fix your eyes on Jesus, while , Holy, Holy, Holy the angels sing.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Do you credit God

Do you credit God for your faith, or do you credit your self?  Do you credit God for the application of your faith on the proper person and object, or do you credit your self?  Was you regeneration based upon a condition that you were able to meet, or solely based on the grace of God found in the person and blood of Jesus Christ?

Can God save someone physically before He saves them spiritually? Yes, and He does so often. Can God save a man before He glorifies them eternally? Yes, and He does so often. Can God save someone before they believe? Yes. What is regeneration? A salvation from a stony heart to a heart of flesh, salvation from spiritual blindness, to spiritual sight, salvation from spiritual deafness to spiritual hearing, salvation from spiritual insanity to that of a sound mind. 

 Romans 10 itself, like Romans 1-9, is EXTREMELY FULL of the man's rejection of God. Romans 10 is replete with how the Jews did not have faith in God. So those born as Gentiles who were born without a clue of the Hebrew Language, Hebrew Text, who did not see Jesus heal, speak, and minister, must have a mountain of pride to assert, "those Jews made the wrong decision to believe Jesus, but it makes sense to me, and I cannot credit God with my faith, I have got to credit myself for believing; which therefore was prior to my salvation. May we never credit our self for either "our faith and believing" or the "application of faith"; either the Father granted me faith on the grounds of Jesus and the merit of His Blood, or the Father granted me the new birth on the grounds of something I contributed, namely "my faith" being the pivotal linchpin to meet God's condition for regeneration; in this case regeneration is no longer of grace, but of works, and one will have reason to boast not only before other unbelieving Jews, but even before God Himself. Look at me, my faith my the distinguishing difference; I cannot imagine that Isaac was born to Abraham instead of Pharaoh because Isaac did something future his conception; likewise for John the Baptist leaping in the womb;

Monday, March 5, 2012

OUR HOLINESS IS HIS WORK

"Our Holiness is His Work"...

... Ichabod Smith Spencer shares how he dealt with a man inquiring about God’s election while refusing to come to Christ in repentance and faith.... Spencer gives three purposes why the Bible presents the doctrine of predestination. The first purpose is to teach men the character of God; the second is to repress the audacity of the wicked; and the third is to comfort God’s people.

Spencer’s words about such a comfort is quite powerful, and thought the quote is a bit lengthy, let me encourage you to read it all. It is a good word we all need to hear.

The third main purpose of this doctrine [of predestination] is, as I suppose, to comfort God’s people. The grand trial of a life of religion is a trial of the heart. We have sins, we have weaknesses and temptations, which tend to a dreadful discouragement. Sin easily besets us. We easily wander from God. Holiness is an up-hill work. Our feet often stagger in the path of our pilgrimage, and tears of bitterness gush from our eyes, lest such weak, and tempted, and erring creatures should never reach heaven. Devils tempt us. The world presents its deceitful allurements, and more deceitful and dangerous claims. What shall cheer us when our heart sinks within us? Whither shall we fly for comfort, when our hearts are bleeding, when our sins are so many, when our gain in holiness is so little, when our light goes out, and the gloom of an impenetrable midnight settles down upon our poor and helpless soul? We cannot, indeed, mount up to the inner sanctuary of God, open the seven-sealed book, and read our names recorded in it by the pen of the Eternal. But we can know that such a book is there; and that the pen of our Father has filled it with his eternal decrees, not one of which shall fail of accomplishment, as surely as his own throne shall stand. And when we find in ourselves, amid our tearful struggles, even the feeble beginnings of holiness, we know that God has commenced his work for us,–a work which he planned before the world was; and that he who has ‘begun a good in work in us, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,’ carrying into effect his eternal plan. Just as well as we know our likeness to God, we know our election to God. We know that our holiness is his work, a work which he purposed from the beginning. If he had purposed it but just when he began it,–if it were a work undertaken from some recent impulse, then we should have good reason to fear that some other impulse would drive him to abandon it. But when we know it from a part of his eternal counsels, and is no sidework, no episode, no interlude, or sudden interposition not before provided for—then we are assured that God is not going to forsake us; and deep as is our home-bred depravity, and many and malignant as are our foes, we are cheered with the assurance, that God will bring us off victorious, and ‘the purpose according to election shall stand.’ We love to see our salvation embraced in the eternal plan of God; and we know it is embraced there, if we are his children by faith in Christ Jesus. We cannot read his secret counsels; but we can read his spiritual workings in us. We know the counsels by the evidence of the workings; and then we are cheered and encouraged amid our trials, by the idea that God will no more abandon us than he will abandon the eternal plan which his wisdom formed before the foundation of the world. ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?’ He had their names in his book before they had shed a tear, before a devil existed to tempt them.

- Ichabod Smith Spencer, A Pastor’s Sketches: Conversations with Anxious Souls Concerning the Way of Salvation vol. 1 (Vestavia Hills, AL: Solid Ground Books), 237-39.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

THE FATHER IS SATISFIED

If evangelism is focused on seeing sinners saved, then we are likely to miss the glory of God in it all; however if evangelism is focused on the glory of God in it all, then our joy will be an eternal constant no matter what we "see". Too much today is focused on "seeing" the response of sinners, when rather we should be savoring the Father's satisfaction in the Son as we proclaim.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

TWO BY SPURGEON

“Solid arguments are lost on shallow minds. Yet what else are we to use? We are bound to give them reasons; but we are not called upon to give them understanding." ~Charles Spurgeon
"Remember that the man who truly repents is never satisfied with his own repentance." - C.H. Spurgeon;
 

Monday, February 20, 2012

IN CHRIST ALONE

No one is loved by God but in Christ alone.
No one is chosen by God but in Christ alone.
No one is accepted by God but in Christ alone.
No one is redeemed by God but in Christ alone.
No one is pardoned by God but in Christ alone.
No one is justified by God but in Christ alone.
No one is made righteous by God but in Christ alone.
No one is regenerated by God but in Christ alone.
No one is sanctified by God but in Christ alone.
No one is preserved by God but in Christ alone.
No one is glorified by God but in Christ alone.
No one is saved by God but in Christ alone... 
[source: Robert B.]

Stumbling Block

The Sovereignty of God is the stumbling block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go contending with God about His sovereignty it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we should submit to God as an absolute sovereign, and the sovereign of our souls; as one who may have mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will" 
(Jonathan Edwards)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Brevity of Life

Below is a list of 60 famous people who died before the age of 40. 


Taken from:  http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/va-news-articles_2011-11-30?vaid=f222704b9650980c81ea4491dbac158e


The world was shocked and saddened when Princess Diana died in 1997 at the age of 36.



1. Jessica Dubroff (7)
Pilot -- Plane crash -- 1996

2. Heather O'Rourke (12)
Child actor -- Bowel obstruction -- 1988

3. Anne Frank (15)
Dutch-Jewish author -- Typhus in concentration camp -- 1945

4. Ritchie Valens (17)
Rock 'n' roll singer -- Plane crash -- 1959

5. Eddie Cochran (21)
Rockabilly musician -- Auto accident -- 1960

6. Aaliyah (22)
R&B singer -- Plane crash -- 2001

7. Buddy Holly (22)
Rock 'n' roll singer -- Plane crash -- 1959

8. Freddie Prinze (22)
Comedian/actor -- Suicide -- 1977

9. River Phoenix (23)
Actor -- Drug overdose -- 1993

10. Selena (23)
Mexican-American singer -- Homicide -- 1995

11. James Dean (24)
Actor -- Auto accident -- 1955

12. Otis Redding (26)
Soul singer -- Plane crash -- 1967

....Randy Rhoads (26)  (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) (26)
Guitarist for Ozzy.--1982.

13. Brian Jones (27)
British rock guitarist -- Drug-related drowning, possibly homicide -- 1969

14. Janis Joplin (27)
Rock/soul singer -- Heroin overdose -- 1970

15. Jim Morrison (27)
Rock singer -- Heart attack, possibly due to drug overdose -- 1971

16. Jimi Hendrix (27)
Rock guitarist/singer -- Asphyxiation from sleeping pill overdose -- 1970

17. Kurt Cobain (27)
Grunge rock singer/guitarist -- Gunshot and lethal dose of heroin, presumed suicide -- 1994

18. Reggie Lewis (27)
Basketball player -- Heart attack -- 1993

19. Brandon Lee (28)
Actor -- Accidental shooting on the set of The Crow -- 1993

20. Shannon Hoon (28)
Rock singer -- Drug overdose -- 1995

21. Hank Williams (29)
Country musician -- Heart attack, possibly due to an accidental overdose of morphine and alcohol -- 1953

22. Andy Gibb (30)
Singer -- Heart failure due to cocaine abuse -- 1988

23. Jim Croce (30)
Singer/songwriter -- Plane crash -- 1973

24. Patsy Cline (30)
Country music singer -- Plane crash -- 1963

25. Sylvia Plath (30)
Poet and author -- Suicide -- 1963


Alexander the Great

  (32) died in   

323 BCE aged 32 from Malaria, Possibly Poisoned


26. Brian Epstein (32)
Beatles manager -- Drug overdose -- 1967

27. Bruce Lee (32)
Martial arts actor -- Possible allergic reaction -- 1973

28. Cass Elliot (32)
Singer -- Heart attack brought on by obesity -- 1974

29. Karen Carpenter (32)
Singer and musician -- Cardiac arrest from anorexia nervosa -- 1983

30. Keith Moon (32)
Rock drummer -- Overdose of medication -- 1978


Bon Scott  
died in   

1980 aged 33 from Suffocation on His Own Vomit After Drinking Binge

hard-rock singer (AC/DC) Australian


31. Carole Lombard (33)
Actor -- Plane crash -- 1942

32. Chris Farley (33)
Comedian/actor -- Overdose of cocaine and heroin -- 1997

33. Darryl Kile (33)
Major League Baseball pitcher -- Coronary heart disease -- 2002

34. Jesus Christ (33)
Founder of Christianity -- Crucifixion -- A.D. 30

35. John Belushi (33)
Comedian/actor -- Overdose of cocaine and heroin -- 1982

36. Sam Cooke (33)
Soul musician -- Homicide -- 1964

37. Charlie Parker (34)
Jazz saxophonist -- Pneumonia and ulcer, brought on by drug abuse -- 1955

38. Dana Plato (34)
Actor -- Prescription drug overdose -- 1999

39. Jayne Mansfield (34)
Actor -- Auto accident -- 1967

40. Andy Kaufman (35)
Comedian/actor -- Lung cancer -- 1984

41. Josh Gibson (35)
Negro League baseball player -- Stroke -- 1947

42. Stevie Ray Vaughan (35)
Blues guitarist -- Helicopter crash -- 1990

43. Bob Marley (36)
Reggae musician -- Melanoma that metastasized into lung and brain cancer -- 1981

44. Diana, Princess of Wales (36)
British royal -- Auto accident -- 1997

45. Marilyn Monroe (36)
Actor -- Barbiturate overdose -- 1962

46. Bobby Darin (37)
Singer/actor -- Complications during heart surgery -- 1973

47. Lou Gehrig (37)
Major League Baseball player -- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- 1941

48. Michael Hutchence (37)
Rock singer -- Hanged, possibly suicide -- 1997

49. Sal Mineo (37)
Actor -- Homicide -- 1976

Felix Mendelssohn died in 1847 aged 38 from a Stroke composer German 50. Florence Griffith Joyner (38)
Olympian/sprinter -- Possible asphyxiation during epileptic seizure -- 1998

51. George Gershwin (38)
Composer -- Brain tumor -- 1937

52. Harry Chapin (38)
Singer/songwriter -- Auto accident -- 1981

53. John F. Kennedy, Jr. (38)
Journalist/publisher -- Plane crash -- 1999

54. Roberto Clemente (38)
Major League Baseball player -- Plane crash -- 1972

55. Sam Kinison (38)
Comedian -- Auto accident caused by drunk driver -- 1992

56. Anna Nicole Smith (39)
Model/actor -- Accidental prescription drug overdose -- 2007

57. Dennis Wilson (39)
Rock 'n' roll drummer -- Drowning due to intoxication -- 1983

58. Malcolm X (39)
Militant civil rights leader -- Assassination -- 1965

59. Martin Luther King, Jr. (39)
Civil rights activist/minister -- Assassination -- 1968

60.  Fats Waller (39) -  Pianist during the 1930s.

Monday, February 13, 2012

THE BEST WORKS

“Even the best works of men, antecedently unto the purging of their consciences by the blood of Christ, are but dead works.” - John Owen

OUR BEST DUTIES

Our best duties are as so many splendid sins. Before you can speak peace in your heart, you must not only be made sick of your original and actual sin, but you must be made sick of your righteousness, of all your duties and performances.... There must be a deep conviction before you can be brought out of your self-righteousness; it is the last idol taken out of our heart... The pride of our heart will not let us submit to the (imputed) righteousness of Jesus Christ... George Whitefield

Monday, January 9, 2012

STAINS IN OUR BEST

"Our prayers have stains in them, our faith is mixed with unbelief, our repentance is not so tender as it should be, our communion is distant and interrupted. We cannot pray without sinning, and there is filth even in our tears."
~C.H. Spurgeon

Saturday, January 7, 2012

CHRIST ON EVERY PAGE

Once we truly grasp the message of the New Testament, it is impossible to read the Old Testament again without seeing Christ on every page, in every story, foreshadowed or anticipated in every event and narrative.

Michael Horton

Thursday, January 5, 2012

His appointments

"Yes, give thanks for "all things" for, as it has been well said "Our disappointments are but His appointments." ~A.W.Pink