LIVE

Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow.

-Martin Luther

(via @Kloveradio)

MUTUAL

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave".

Martin Luther

RT @60sixbooks

MOST

"Whatever we make the most of is our god."

-- Martin Luther


At times, I have I made the most of (and thus idols of):

1. My own blog, FB, twitter.
2. The blog, FB, twitter, of other people.
3. Certain Pastors, Reformed Writers, Theologians, Apologists, Puritans.
4. A sermon, book, sermon notes.
5. A Christian pianist, guitarist.
6. The Desktop, Printer, Laptop, electro-techno gimzos

BORE

Ryan Miley posted: "A God with whom we are on…easy terms and whose reality is little different from our own…who is merely there to satisfy our needs – has no real authority to compel and will soon begin to bore us."

- David Wells

My note: This sounds like an intro to a Piper sermon on "Enjoying God forever." It really opens a lot of thought to why we sing corporately? Out of dry duty? Out of pride of theological orthodoxy? Out of empty custom and no thought to the lyrics? Or, with an ecstatic joy in the glory and greatness of God, not that the focus would be "our joy", but that as water by definition includes hydrogen, so to God glorified by definition includes a response of singing with joy. How angry we should be to waste our AM services singing Happy Birthday to one another.

Is this why our prayers lag? We are bored with God? We are bored with praying?
Is this why our witnessing lags? We are bored with God? We are bored with telling of His glory and grace?
is this why private daily worship lags? We are focused on the visible? and otherwise glory in a golfer, being bored with God, and bored with singing to Him;

This quote would be a nice 40 minute sermon of probing to repentance.

HAMMER

God's law is a hammer that smashes our self-righteousness.

- Martin Luther

RT @w0jrm:

CALVIN SET

"I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels."

"God does not bestow the Spirit on his people in order to set aside the use of his Word, but rather to render it fruitful."

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth attacked and yet would remain silent.

“There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence”

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

Man is never sufficiently touched & affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself w/ God's majesty.

"I offer my heart to you, Lord, promptly and sincerely."

"Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols."

"…believers stand unconquered through the strength of their king, and his spiritual riches abound in them." Institutes 2.15.5

“Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.”

"Ignorance of Providence is the greatest of all miseries, and the knowledge of it the highest happiness."

We must make the invisible kingdom visible in our midst.

I call 'piety' that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces.

Let us so adhere to the Word of God that no novelty may captivate us and lead us astray.

- John Calvin

tweet credits: @jmaxim: @arawleigh:@accordanceguy:@akabeardman.@Jdomingo82 @joethorn @graceforums, (and many, many others);

I take the last quote as not only a reference to novelty by wrong teaching, but also novelty by earthly-sight mindedness i.e sports, movies, vacations, suppers, gizmos.

REJOICE

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

- John Calvin

via: www.monergism.com

HOPE

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Spend 20 minutes analyzing this verse in prayer and grace, and also in the context of the preceding 13 verses.

a. the God of hope
b. fill you with
c. all joy
d. and peace
e. in believing,
f. so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
g. you may abound
h. in hope.


Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

1John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

ATONEMENT AND MERCY

Christian Skepticism - a reasonable faith...: Unlimited/Limited Atonement

^{1 Tim 4:10}For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Chrysostom (349-407) on Hebrews 9:28. "So
Christ was once offered.": By whom offered? evidently by Himself. Here
he says that He is not Priest only, but Victim also, and what is
sacrificed. On this account are [the words] "was offered." "Was once
offered" (he says) "to bear the sins of many." Why "of many," and not
"of all"? Because not all believed, For He died indeed for all, that is
His part: for that death was a counterbalance against the destruction
of all men. But He did not bear the sins of all men, because they were
not willing. NPNF1: Vol. XIV, Epistle to the Hebrews, Homly 17.

This is not a contradiction in terms, it is a proposition that fits into God's redemptive plan - that is:

1) Christ's death was of general benefit to all Mankind, in that the guarantee of His sacrifice was the source of our just God extending grace to Adam and not immediately and utterly destroying Man at the Fall or allowing Man, in his own total depravity and slavery to sin, destroy himself- thus Unlimited in application in that sense. "who is the Savior of all people"

2) Christ's death was of specific benefit to the Elect, in whom He, by His grace, has given the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit, resulting in true spiritual and saving belief in Christ. "especially of those who believe"

LOVE FOR GOD

The goal of the Christian life is not external conformity or mindless action, but a passionate love for God informed by the mind and embraced by the will. So the path forward is not to decrease one’s affections but rather to enlarge them and fill them with “heavenly things.”

-- John Owen (via www.newdemonstration.com)

AMUSED

From Gracegems

(Letters of John Newton) Concerning 'Handel's Messiah' John Newton wrote:

How shall we view the people of our times? I see the great mass of people involved in one common charge of high treason against the omnipotent God! They are already in a state of imprisonment, but have not yet been brought to their trial. The evidence against them is so plain, strong and pointed, that there is not the least doubt of their guilt being fully proved--and that nothing but a free pardon from God can preserve them from their deserved eternal punishment!

In this situation, it would seem in their best interest--to avail themselves of every expedient in their power for obtaining God's mercy. But they are entirely heedless of their imminent danger, and are wholly taken up with contriving methods of amusing themselves, that they may pass away the term of their imprisonment with as much cheerfulness as possible!

Among other resources, they call in the assistance of music--and they are particularly pleased with 'Handel's Messiah'. They choose to make . . .
the solemnities of their impending judgment,
the character of their Judge,
the methods of His procedure, and
the dreadful punishment to which they are exposed
--the themes of their musical entertainment!

And, as if they were quite unconcerned in the outcome--their attention is chiefly fixed upon the skill of the composer, in adapting the style of his music--to the very solemn subjects with which they are trifling!

The offended King, however, unasked by them, and out of His great mercy and compassion towards those who have no pity for themselves, sends them a gracious message. He assures them that He is unwilling that they should eternally perish; and that He requires, yes, He entreats them to submit to Him! He points out a way in which He offers them a free and a full pardon!

But, instead of taking a single step towards a compliance with His undeserved and gracious offer--they set His message to music! And this, together with a description of their present hopeless state, and of the fearful doom awaiting them if they continue obstinate, is sung for their entertainment, and accompanied with every kind of music!

Surely, if such a case as I have supposed, could be found in real life, though I might admire the musical taste of these people--I would certainly commiserate their stupidity and hardness of heart!

COMMUNION

Daily Ministry is Wonderful, but it must not be a substitute for Daily Communion.

AND NO MORE

A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.”


-- John Owen

DEPRAVITY

Depravity According to Calvin: John MacArthur explains Calvin’s view of human depravity:

The phrase “total depravity” (not an expression of Calvin’s but a phrase descriptive of his view) has an unfortunate ambiguity about it. Many who are exposed to that terminology for the first time suppose it means Calvin taught that all sinners are as thoroughly bad as they possibly can be.

But Calvin expressly disclaimed that view. He acknowledged that “in every age there have been persons who, guided by nature, have striven toward virtue throughout life” [Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.3.3.]. Calvin suggested that such people (even though there are “lapses . . . in their moral conduct” [Ibid.]) are of commendable character, from a human point of view. “They have by the very zeal of their honesty given proof that there was some purity in their nature” [Ibid.]. He went even further: “These examples, accordingly, seem to warn us against adjudging man’s nature wholly corrupted, because some men have by its prompting not only excelled in remarkable deeds, but conducted themselves most honorably throughout life” [Ibid., emphasis added.].
Nevertheless, Calvin went on to say, such thinking actually points the wrong direction. Instead, “it ought to occur to us that amid this corruption of nature there is some place for God’s grace; not such grace as to cleanse it, but to restrain it inwardly” [Ibid.].

Calvin was describing here what later theologians called “common grace”—the divine restraining influence that mitigates the effects of our sin and enables even fallen creatures to display—never perfectly, but always in a weak and severely blemished way—the image of God that is still part of our human nature, marred though it was by the fall.

In other words, depravity is “total” in the sense that it infects every part of our being—not the body only; not the feelings alone; but flesh, spirit, mind, emotions, desires, motives, and will together. We’re not always as bad as we can be, but that is solely because of God’s restraining grace. We ourselves are thoroughly depraved, because in one way or another sin taints everything we think, do, and desire. Thus, we never fear God the way we should, we never love Him as much as we ought, and we never obey Him with a totally pure heart. That, for Calvin, is what depravity means.

Calvin’s thorough treatment of human depravity is one of his most important legacies. Next to his work on the doctrine of justification by faith, it may be the most vital aspect of his doctrinal system. He brought clarity to a crucial principle that had practically fallen into obscurity over the centuries since Augustine’s conflict with Pelagius: to magnify human free will or minimize the extent of human depravity is to downplay the need for divine grace, and that undermines every aspect of gospel truth.

Once a person truly grasps the truth of human depravity, the more difficult and controversial principles of Calvinist soteriology fall into place. Unconditional election, the primacy and efficacy of saving grace, the need for substitutionary atonement, and the perseverance of those whom God graciously redeems are all necessary consequences of this principle.

—John MacArthur, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology, ed. Burk Parsons (Reformation Trust, 2008), 137–138

by David at Thirsty Theologian

STEALING

"Somebody once told John Bunyan that he had preached a delightful sermon. "You are too late," said John, "the devil told me that before I left the pulpit." Satan is adept in teaching us how to steal our Master’s glory."

- C. H. Spurgeon

REAL JOY

An Oxymoron: Sad Saints

from Puritan At Heart

Christian, what bad news has Christ brought from heaven with him, that makes you walk with your arms folded and pensive countenance? To see a wicked man merry, or a Christian sad is alike uncomely. "A feast is made for laughter," says Solomon. I am sure God intended his people's joy in the feast of the Gospel; mourners were not to sit at God's table (Deut. 26:14).

Truly the saint's heaviness reflects unkindly upon God himself. We do not commend his cheer, if it does not cheer us. What saith the world? "The Christian's life is but a melancholy walk," thinks the carnal wretch, "it is a dry feast they sit at, where so little wine of joy is drunk." And will you confirm them in this their opinion, Christian? Shall they have your example to produce against Christ and his Word, which promises peace and joy to all that will come to this feast?...

Now will they believe 'tis good news indeed the Gospel brings, when they can read it in your cheerful lives; but when they observe Christians sad with this cup of salvation in their hands, truly they will suspect the wine in it is not so good as the preachers commend it... O Christians, let the world see you are not losers in your joy, since you have been acquainted with the Gospel; give them not cause to think by your uncomfortable walking, that when they become Christians, they must bid farewell to all joy, and resolve to spend their days in the hour of mourning.

--William Gurnall, "A Homiletic Encyclopedia, pp. 757."

http://www.apuritanatheart.com/puritanism/devotionals/misc-puritans/578-an-oxymoron-sad-saints

I fail in this area daily and for years, I have a long way to grow.

ADOPTION

RT @timmybrister: “If we did but know what this privilege of adoption is, all the riches of all the kingdoms in the world would be but as filthy dung to us.”

-- Jeremiah Burroughs

(and, I would add...: all the tribulations of all the days in the world would be but as forgotten humor to us." To remember it would only bring laughter in contrast, not frustration;

PRECIOUS

the more vile Christ made himself for us, the more dear he ought to be to us - Bernard

SET FORTH

"What is needed today is a Scriptural setting forth of the character of God - His absolute sovereignty, His ineffable holiness, His inflexible justice, His unchanging veracity. What is needed today is a scriptural setting forth of the condition of the natural man - his total depravity, his spiritual insensibility, his inveterate hostility to God, the fact that he is "condemned already" and that the wrath and that the wrath of a sin-hating God is even now abiding upon him - the alarming danger in which sinners are - the indescribably awful doom which awaits them, the fact that if they follow only a little further their present course they shall most certainly suffer the due reward of their iniquities - a setting forth of the nature of that punishment which awaits the lost - the awfulness of it, the hopelessness of it, the un-endurableness of it, the endlessness of it. It is because of these convictions that, by pen as well as by voice, we are seeking to raise the alarm."

- A.W. PINK

from FB friend RM.

TECHNIQUE

Today we know more about steps to God than about God Himself. We are more likely to hear a sermon next Sunday on getting closer to Christ than on Christ himself. Technique over truth, method over message – these are Pietist legacies, in spite of its positive contributions.

– Michael Horton

DESPAIR

Just as the sinner's despair of any hope from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace. - A. W. Pink

via: www.monergism.com

ASCRIBES TO MAN

"Free-will doctrine – what does it? It magnifies man into God; it declares God’s purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God’s will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent upon human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice it holds God to be a debtor to sinners..."

so that if He gives grace to one He is bound to do so to all. It teaches that the blood of Christ was shed equally for all men and since some are lost, this doctrine ascribes the difference to man... Read More’s own will, thus making the atonement itself a powerless thing until the will of man gives it efficacy. Those sentiments dilute the scriptural description of man’s depravity, and by imputing strength to fallen humanity, rob the Spirit of the glory of His effectual grace: this theory says in effect that it is of him that willeth, and of him that runneth, and not of God that showeth mercy." - C. H. Spurgeon

courtesy: Ryan Miley

INVITING OTHERS

The outward appearance and condition of the saints in those days being very mean and contemptible, - their leaders being accounted as the filth of this world, and as the
offscouring of all things, - the inviting others unto fellowship with them, and a participation of the precious things which they did enjoy, seems to be exposed to many contrary reasonings and objections: "What benefit is there in communion with them? Is it any thing else but to be sharers in troubles, reproaches, scorns, and all manner of evils?"

To prevent or remove these and the like exceptions, the apostle gives them to whom he wrote to know (and that with some earnestness of expression), that notwithstanding all the disadvantages their fellowship lay under, unto a carnal view, yet in truth it was, and would be found to be (in reference to some with whom they held it), very honourable, glorious, and desirable. For "truly," saith he, "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

John Owen. Communion with God. page 1

PRAY PRAY PRAY

We are not commanded to preach, hear, fast, watch, or give continually. But we are commanded to pray continually, as though prayer were more needful than all the rest...We lack continually, and we are tempted continually, and we sin continually. Therefore, we need to pray to God continually, that God would supply our wants and forgive our sins, and prevent our temptations.

To pray continually is to lift up our hearts to God and to pray in our thoughts.... though we open not our lips.
God is readier to give, than we to ask. Therefore let us pray that our neglect of prayer may be forgiven

---Henry Smith "The benefit of contentation."

from: http://www.apuritanatheart.com/puritanism/daily-quote

DOCUMENTS

2 Corinthians 4:16(1)
Beliefs I Hold(1)
Kosmos World(1)
Photo Personal(1)
Resume(1)

LUTHER INSISTED

Luther recovered the gospel, and thereby instituted a truly evangelical revival, when he broke free from the Medieval-Scholastic Nature/Grace metaphysical scheme. In his significant breakthrough insight, faith was no longer understood by him as a natural preparation for grace, as the fulfillment of a condition for receiving supernatural grace by the performance of something that was within man's natural capacity to do. The soteriological scheme of Scholastic theology was synergistic, because Pelagian: God responded to man; man cooperated with God according to his native ability.

Against this Pelagian synergism, Luther insisted on total inability: the utter incapacitation and absolute impotence of the natural man in abject bondage to sin. Faith therefore could not be a condition for grace, for it could not be exercised out of inherently human resources as a natural act performed of sinful man's own initiative for the purpose of man's fitting and preparing himself to be a suitable candidate for receiving grace. Faith itself could only be the result of a prevening supernatural act; it was a free gift of divine grace, resulting entirely from God's unconditioned, monergistic action.

Justification thus was not obtained because of faith, merely through faith—a faith wrought in us. Rather than a cooperation of Nature and Grace (the synergism of mutual effort by both God and man), God acts unilaterally and exclusively, taking the sole initiative in a free act of sovereign grace—grace that is altogether prior to, and productive of, justifying faith. The sola fide arises out of, and is nothing other than, sola gratia.

- Joseph P. Braswell

courtesy: www.reformationtheology.com

CONFESSING CHRIST

“True, those who confess Christ, shall be confessed by him; and it is as true, that this confession is equivalent to a promise of salvation. But you must know, that professing Christ, is not confessing him: for to profess Christ is one thing—to confess Christ is another.

Confession is a living testimony for Christ, in a time when religion suffers. Profession may be only a lifeless formality, in a time when religion prospers. To confess Christ, is to choose his ways, and own them. To profess Christ, is to plead for his ways—and yet not live in them. Profession may be from a feigned love to the ways of Christ; but confession is from a rooted love to the person of Christ.

To profess Christ, is to own him when none deny him; to confess Christ, is to plead for him, and suffer for him, when others oppose him. Hypocrites may be professors; but the martyrs are the true confessors. Profession is a swimming down the stream. Confession is a swimming against the stream. Now many may swim with the stream, like the dead fish—which cannot swim against the stream, with the living fish. Many may profess Christ, who cannot confess Christ; but in the end, notwithstanding their profession, such as those will be found to be not true Christians.”

- Matthew Meade

I CANNOT

"I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, elightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith."

-Martin Luther, on Monergism, from his small catechism

NONE EFFECT

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect."

-John Owen

CONTRIBUTION

"God has certainly 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 realises that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsels, efforts, will and works, and depends absolutely on the will, counsel, pleasure and work of Another - God alone. As long as he is persuaded that he can make even the smallest contribution to his salvation, he remains self-confident and does not utterly despair of himself, and so is not humbled before God; but plans for himself (or at least hopes and longs for) a position, and occasion, a work, which shall bring him final salvation. But he who is out of doubt that his destiny depends entirely on the will of God despairs entirely of himself, chooses nothing for himself, but waits for God to work in him; and such a man is very near to grace for salvation."

-Martin Luther

FROM SIN

"The nature of Christ's Salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Saviour from Hell rather than a Saviour from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness."

-A.W Pink

HUMBLED

If you are not humbled by what Christ has done then you are making an idol of yourself.

-- Nick Napier

AM HIS

“Jesus Christ is mine. I can with the greatest confidence and boldness affirm it. He is my Head, my Husband, my Lord, my Redeemer, my Justifier, my Saviour. And I am His. I am as sure that I am His, as I am sure that I live. I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His.”

–Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth, in The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Ed. Alexander B. Grosart (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1866), 2:320.

NOTHING ELSE

If Christ is risen then nothing else matters. If Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters.

-- Nick Napier

HEAVENWARD

"Severe trouble in a true believer has the effect of loosening the roots of his soul earthward and tightening the anchor-hold of his heart heavenward."

-- C.H. Spurgeon

TRUTH BASIS

"The promotion of unity at the expense of truth is satanic; it is demonic; it is not true unity. It is not the unity of the Holy Spirit for He is the Spirit of Truth. The Scriptural command which we have in Ephesians to promote the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace is given to those who have a common foundation of truth. Truth by its very nature divides.Where you have appeal to unity at the expense of truth all you can produce is uniformity."

- William Webster

CROSS CROSS

Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ's people, "Peace, peace," where in there is no peace. Hail, hail to all those prophets who say to Christ's people, "The cross, the cross," where there is no cross. Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells; And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.

- Martin Luther (Theses 92-95)

BORN BEFORE

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” (1 John 5:1)

“The combination of present tense (believes) and perfect tense [has been born] is important. It shows clearly that believing is the consequence, not the cause, of the new birth. Our present, continuing activity of believing is the result, and therefore, the evidence, of our past experience of the new birth by which we became and remain God’s children.”

- John Stott, The Letters of John

ENJOYMENT

Discerning Idolatry in Desire

12 Ways to Recognize the Rise of Covetousness

Download:

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By John Piper June 17, 2009

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Most of us realize that enjoying anything other than God, from the best gift to the basest pleasure, can become idolatry. Paul says in Colossians 3:5, “Covetousness is idolatry.”

“Covetousness” means desiring something other than God in the wrong way. But what does that mean—“in the wrong way”?

The reason this matters is both vertical and horizontal. Idolatry will destroy our relationship with God. And it will destroy our relationships with people.

All human relational problems—from marriage and family to friendship to neighbors to classmates to colleagues—all of them are rooted in various forms of idolatry, that is, wanting things other than God in wrong ways.

So here is my effort to think biblically about what those wrong ways are. What makes an enjoyment idolatrous? What turns a desire into covetousness, which is idolatry?

1. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is forbidden by God. For example, adultery and fornication and stealing and lying are forbidden by God. Some people at some times feel that these are pleasurable, or else we would not do them. No one sins out of duty. But such pleasure is a sign of idolatry.
2. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is disproportionate to the worth of what is desired. Great desire for non-great things is a sign that we are beginning to make those things idols.
3. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is not permeated with gratitude. When our enjoyment of something tends to make us not think of God, it is moving toward idolatry. But if the enjoyment gives rise to the feeling of gratefulness to God, we are being protected from idolatry. The grateful feeling that we don’t deserve this gift or this enjoyment, but have it freely from God’s grace, is evidence that idolatry is being checked.
4. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it does not see in God’s gift that God himself is more to be desired than the gift. If the gift is not awakening a sense that God, the Giver, is better than the gift, it is becoming an idol.
5. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is starting to feel like a right, and our delight is becoming a demand. It may be that the delight is right. It may be that another person ought to give you this delight. It may be right to tell them this. But when all this rises to the level of angry demands, idolatry is rising.
6. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it draws us away from our duties. When we find ourselves spending time pursuing an enjoyment, knowing that other things, or people, should be getting our attention, we are moving into idolatry.
7. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it awakens a sense of pride that we can experience this delight while others can’t. This is especially true of delights in religious things, like prayer and Bible reading and ministry. It is wonderful to enjoy holy things. It idolatrous to feel proud that we can.
8. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is oblivious or callous to the needs and desires of others. Holy enjoyment is aware of others’ needs and may temporarily leave a good pleasure to help another person have it. One might leave private prayer to be the answer to someone else’s.
9. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it does not desire that Christ be magnified as supremely desirable through the enjoyment. Enjoying anything but Christ (like his good gifts) runs the inevitable risk of magnifying the gift over the Giver. One evidence that idolatry is not happening is the earnest desire that this not happen.
   
10. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is not working a deeper capacity for holy delight. We are sinners still. It is idolatrous to be content with sin. So we desire transformation. Some enjoyments shrink our capacities of holy joy. Others enlarge them. Some go either way, depending on how we think about them. When we don’t care if an enjoyment is making us more holy, we are moving into idolatry.
11. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when its loss ruins our trust in the goodness of God. There can be sorrow at loss without being idolatrous. But when the sorrow threatens our confidence in God, it signals that the thing lost was becoming an idol.
    
12. Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when its loss paralyzes us emotionally so that we can’t relate lovingly to other people. This is the horizontal effect of losing confidence in God. Again: Great sorrow is no sure sign of idolatry. Jesus had great sorrow. But when desire is denied, and the effect is the emotional inability to do what God calls us to do, the warning signs of idolatry are flashing.

For myself and for you, I pray the admonition of 1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

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STRENGTH

"Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." Charles H Spurgeon

PROCLAIM

"Someone asked, 'Will the heathen who have never heard the gospel be saved?' It is more a question with me whether we-- who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not-- can be saved." -Charles Spurgeon

DEPRAVITY

A warning:
To believe one possesses some volitional will to assent to the truth of the Scriptures despite their clear teachings is to assume one can believe without any initiative by God, that is, one is performing a work to save oneself. But the Scriptures are clear, in that the unsaved:

* is deceitful and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9).
* is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23).
* loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
* is unrighteous, does not understand, does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12).
* is helpless and ungodly (Rom. 5:6).
* is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).
* is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3).
* cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14).
* is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:16-20).

We are not “born again” as a result of something we have done, but solely on the basis of God’s sovereign will and power.

Soli Deo Gloria!

BEST QUOTE

The Voice of the Martyrs - USA

A Christian in a Muslim country, describing his time in solitary confinement: "It was like Jesus put the whole world aside and came to spend time with me."

ORTHODOX

Orthodox Theology without Christ is not Orthodox and it is not intellectual at all.

ALL COSTS

"Peace if possible; Truth at all costs"

-- Martin Luther

DIFFERENCE

I do not make "the difference" in any proclamation of Jesus. Only God can make the difference. The difference made, may be God's direct purpose to harden the mind and heart in the listener.

God doesn't need my help.

Do not be so fretful in laboring to "make a difference, be heard, and be validated" whether among the lost or among the sheep. Such fretting makes an idol of your labor and your impact; Rather be focused on loving God, trusting God, praising God, seeking God, knowing God, and honoring God in the prizing of Jesus: the Prophet, Priest, King, Messiah, Savior, Lord, and Risen Lamb;

In these things it will be impossible for you to be silent before mankind, just as children shout upon seeing newly revealed candy. Thus others will certainly hear of your thankfulness to God in Jesus, by the sheer fact you are amazed with Christ; Their response to your heaven-ward gaze and heaven-ward joy is irrelevant and never a basis for that joy itself. (Just as the kids joy is always for the candy, not the reactions of the adults in the room who may ignore that candy and shout itself).

Yes you will rejoice if souls are drawn to Christ, but you will also rejoice when Christ is victorious and vindicated over His foes. David gloried over Goliath, and John presents a greater glory in Revelation.

PROVIDENCE VS. PROMISES

If you judge God by providence rather than promises, your faith may become unhinged (Winslow)

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. [Ps 27:10-11]

BORN BY THE SPIRIT

"Sinner I warn thee thou canst never cause thyself to be born again, and though the new birth is absolutely necessary, it is absolutely impossible to thee---unless God the Spirit shall do it." - C. H. Spurgeon

I CAN, I CAN, I CAN

"What the Arminian wants to do is to arouse man's activity: what we want to do is to kill it once for all---to show him that he is lost and ruined, and that his activities are not now at all equal to the work of conversion; that he must look upward. They seek to make the man stand up: we seek to bring him down, and make him feel that there he lies in the hand of God..." - C H. Spurgeon



"...and that his business is to submit himself to God, and cry aloud, 'Lord, save, or we perish.' We hold that man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all. When he says, 'I can pray, I can believe, I can do this, and I can do the other,' marks of self-sufficiency and arrogance are on his brow." - C. H. Spurgeon

INFINITE SACRIFICE

Any sin, is infinitely sinful. Therefore any sin deserves infinite punishment because we have sinned against an infinite God. The only way out of our deserved infinite punishment is through an infinite sacrifice. An infinite God is the only one who can make that infinite sacrifice. Jesus was that infinite sacrifice; A sacrifice sufficient for all but effecient only for those who believe.

ALIVE VIDEO

MUCH OF YOU

TROUBLEMAKER

JESUS IS ALIVE

SHAI LINNE JESUS IS ALIVE (HOUSE OF TEA REMIX) LYRICS

(Chorus 1)

Elvis is dead, Picasso is dead
Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are dead
Marilyn Monroe is dead- however…
Jesus is Alive

Brando is dead, James Brown is dead
Princess Di and John Lennon are dead
Biggie and Pac are dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Verse 1

Give praise to King Jesus, the blessed Son
Victorious, glorious resurrected One
To Him belongs the power, glory and honor
Ascended where He sits at the right hand of the Father
At the cross He made atonement- His people He saved
After three days He was raised in defeat of the grave
By faith the elect behold Him, His scepter is golden
He must have been hot or slippery because death couldn’t hold Him
The spotlight is on today’s icons
In a thousand years, nobody will care- their light’s gone
But at that time, Christ will still shine bright
He’s not in the limelight- He IS the limelight
Criminal minded, you’ve been blinded
Looking for the body of Jesus? You won’t find it
We never lack spirit, letting you cats hear it
Because His tomb is empty like most secular rap lyrics

(Chorus 2)

Plato is dead, Socrates is dead
Aristotle and Immanuel Kant are dead
Neitzsche and Darwin are dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Buddha is dead, Mohammed is dead
Ghandi and Haile Selassie are dead
Elijah Mohammed is dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Verse 2

Throughout history there’s been mad religious leaders
Prophets, preachers, scholars, teachers
But when it came to the grave, no one could climb out
That’s where Jesus stands alone like taking a ‘timeout’
And don’t be mislead- I got a level head
No resurrection, Christianity would have never spread
The disciples weren’t stupid guys who would ruin their lives
And then choose to die for what they knew was a lie
That would be beyond ridiculous- Nah, the issue is
The risen Christ seen by 500 eye-witnesses
Imagine 500 people in a court of law
Each of them taking the stand reporting what they saw
If their stories lined up and made sense
The evidence would have to leave you convinced
But still it’s by faith that we trust and praise the Son
Who was raised for our justification

(Chorus 3)

Nero is dead, Constantine is dead
Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun are dead
Alexander the Great is dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Napoleon is dead, Lao Tzu is dead
Che Guevara and Henry VIII are dead
Saddam Hussein is dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Verse 3

Through faith in Christ, we’ve been saved from hell
Because He’s risen, it means we’ll be raised as well
In glorified bodies fit for the new earth
For now, we participate in the new birth
The universal reality of the true church
With resurrection power, watch the Spirit do work!
United with Christ, we reside in His light
Abide in His might, keep in stride as we fight
The pride in our life, the lies and the spite
We strive to be wise as He guides through the night
He’ll chide and He’ll slice- recognize that He’s right
His brightness inside lights our eyes and it’s tight
(He) decided to die to wash white all our strife
His life was the price to delight in His wife
He told death “sike” just to rise like a kite
All eyes on the Christ- let’s prize Him tonight

(Chorus 4)

Pharaoh is dead, Cyrus is dead
Darius and Sennacharib are dead
Nebuchadnezzar is dead- however
Jesus is Alive

Caesar is dead, Herod is dead
Annas, Caiaphas and Judas are dead
Pontius Pilate is dead- however
Jesus is Alive

MEN FLEE

by R.C. Sproul

How many times have you heard Christians say (or heard the words from your own mouth), "So-and-so is not a Christian but he's searching"? It is a common statement among Christians. The idea is that there are people all over the place who are searching for God. Their problem is that they just haven't been able to find Him. He is playing hide-and-seek. He is elusive.

In the Garden of Eden, when sin came into the world, who hid? Jesus came into the world to seek and to save the lost. Jesus wasn't the one who was hiding. God is not a fugitive. We are the ones on the run. Scripture declares that the wicked flee when no man pursues. As Martin Luther remarked: "The pagan trembles at the rustling of a leaf. The uniform teaching of Scripture is that fallen men are fleeing from God."

People do not seek God. They seek after the benefits that only God can give them. The sin of fallen man is this: Man seeks the benefits of God while fleeing from God Himself. We are, by nature, fugitives.

The Bible tells us repeatedly to seek after God. The conclusion we draw from these texts is that since we are called to seek after God it must mean that we, even in our fallen state, have the moral capacity to do that seeking. But who is being addressed in these texts? In the case of the Old Testament, it is the people of Israel who are called to seek the Lord. In the New Testament, it is believers who are called to seek the kingdom.

Are you seeking the benefits God can give you or seeking after God alone?

ASCENDED KING

SAVED FROM SIN

"Christ will be Master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy then your life is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Saviour will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without Holiness, no man shall see the Lord."

-Charles Spurgeon

FREE WILL VIDEO

NEVER COME

He will never come to Christ!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God") (taken from gracegems.org

"You will not come to Me--that you might have life." John 5:40

"No one can come to Me--unless the Father who sent Me draws him." John 6:44

Why is it, that no one can come to Christ unless he is 'drawn'? The answer is, Because his wicked heart loves sin--and hates Christ! The heart of the every man is so "desperately wicked" that if he is left to himself--he will never come to Christ!

For the sinner to come to Christ that he might have life, is for him . . .
to realize the awful danger of his situation;
to see that the sword of Divine justice is suspended over his head;
to awaken to the fact that there is but a step between him and death, and that after death is the 'judgment'! And in consequence of this discovery, to earnestly strive . . .
to flee from the wrath to come,
to cry unto God for mercy, and
to agonize to enter in at the 'strait gate'!

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner . . .
to feel and acknowledge that he is utterly destitute of any claim upon God's favor;
to see himself as 'without strength,' lost and undone;
to admit that he is deserving of nothing but eternal wrath, thus taking side with God against himself;
to cast himself into the dust before God, and humbly sue for Divine mercy.

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner . . .
to abandon his own righteousness;
to disown his own wisdom--and be guided by Jesus;
to repudiate his own will--and be ruled by Jesus;
to unreservedly receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior and Lord, as his All in all.

Such, in part and in brief, is what is implied and involved in "coming to Christ." But is the sinner willing to take such an attitude before God? No! For in the first place, he does not realize the danger of his situation, and in consequence makes no earnest attempt to escape. Instead, men are for the most part at ease, and whenever they are disturbed by the alarms of conscience or the dispensations of providence, they flee to any other refuge but Christ!

They will not acknowledge that all their 'good works' are as filthy rags but, like the Pharisee, will thank God they are not as bad as other heinous sinners.

They are not ready to receive Christ as their Lord--for they are unwilling to part with their idols! They had rather hazard their soul's eternal welfare--than give them up!

Hence we say that, if left to himself, the natural man is so depraved at heart--that he has no moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ!

"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God!" Romans 8:7, 8

KILL SIN

Let no man think to kill sin with few, easy, or gentle strokes. He who hath once smitten a serpent, if he follow not on his blow until it be slain, may repent that ever he began the quarrel. And so he who undertakes to deal with sin, and pursues it not constantly to the death.

John Owen

ABIDE IN PRAYER

If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: "God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled." When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage.

John Owen

FIT OBJECT

A "god" whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.-A. W. Pink

TIME WITH

"some of us need to spend less time with the work of the Lord and more time with the Lord of the work."

VICTORY SONG

EVERY SECOND

Every second we are desiring something, is it Christ and Him glorified. Every second we are honoring something, is it Christ and Him enthroned. Every second we are serving someone, is it Christ, or self. Every moment we are pleasing to someone, is it Christ and your new heart in Christ, or the old nature of sin.

FINALLY ALIVE

Religious fakes were no surprise to Jesus. They do not contradict the new birth. They confirm it. Reformation cannot change vipers. They need regeneration.

A paraphrase of John Piper's "Finally Alive" book. page. 191. Great Book!!! Highly Recommended.

FIXED EYE

"Some of you have truly been brought by God to believe in Jesus. Yet you have no abiding peace, and very little growth in holiness. Why is this? It is because your eye is fixed anywhere but on Christ. You are so busy looking at books, or looking at men, or looking at the world, that you have no time, no heart, for looking at Christ. No wonder you have little peace and joy in believing..."

- Robert Murray M'Cheyne

PAUL WASHER VID1

MADE ALIVE

"No man ever made himself to live. No preacher, however earnest, can make one hearer to live. No parent, however prayerful, no teacher, however tearful, can make a child live unto God. “You hath HE quickened,” is true of all who are quickened."

- C. H. Spurgeon

ONLY MATERIAL

Writing Christian materials and studies is wonderfully rewarding, yet looking back at the paper and ink, it can NEVER satisfy or fulfill the Christian, which only comes through knowing and praising King Jesus, full of Glory, Honor, Majesty, Holiness, and Grace.

IN MAN

Right after stating that Jesus "knew what was in a man," John.... writes, "Now there was a man," that is, Nicodemus, who comes to visit with Jesus.

-- Vincent Cheung

PISTEUWN

CANNOT OBEY

"Sinners cannot obey the gospel, any more than the law, without renewal of heart."

- J.I. Packer

"The saving power of the cross does not depend on faith being addded to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from it"

- J.I. Packer.

WORTHY LAMB

ABANDONED Part 3 of 3

ABANDONED Part 2 of 3

ABANDONED Part 1 of 3

ABANDONED BY GOD

HEART PRAYER

"When you pray, better your heart be without words than your words without a heart"

-John Bunyan

WASHER, EVERYTHING

MOTIVE

If we have a wrong motive for an action, the solution is not to just scrap the action, but rather change the motive and thereafter provide the action.

JOY SOURCE

" The joy of every believer will come from one thing: embracing the sovereignty, supremacy, and sufficiency of God in all things and recognizing that every promise is true and has the character and integrity of God behind it."

Rev. Fred Spivey

NORM

DEVIL'S ROLE

MY WORD

“Their speech is filled with flattery.” (Psalm 5:9)

This is the identifying mark of the “hireling,” the false pastor. He aims at pleasing his hearers, making them feel satisfied with themselves, ever patting them on the back.

“But he who has My Word–let him speak My Word faithfully” (Jeremiah 23:28), no matter how unpalatable it may be to the flesh, how much of a weariness to those who wish to have their ears tickled with novelties, or how loud the outcry against it is!

Ministerial faithfulness includes loyalty to his Master, devotion to His interests, steadfast adherence to the preaching of His Word, dispensing the Truth unto those whose souls are committed to Him–not mixing it with his speculations, much less substituting false doctrine. A far higher motive than the pleasing of his hearers must actuate and regulate ministerial service. Faithful preaching will render the minister unpopular, and will ‘empty’ churches — not ‘fill’ them!

“Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Souls are caught fast in the meshes of Satan’s lies–and nothing but the sword of God’s Truth can cut them free! “A faithful man–who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6). Why is this? Because it is the part of fallen human nature to take the line of least resistance, and choose the path easiest to the flesh. But remember, my reader, whoever you are, that, “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord; but those who deal ‘faithfully’ are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)

“Be faithful unto death–and I will give you a crown of life!” (Revelation 2:10)

taken from: http://www.symphonyofscripture.com/?p=1523

DUTY JOY

Disciplined Duty vs the Lie of Legalism

By John Piper | The hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?

You can call it that.

• It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
• It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
• It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
• It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
• It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
• It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
• It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
• It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
• It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

taken from http://www.symphonyofscripture.com/?p=1512

BOOK ON CALVIN

CERTAIN CALUMNY

"The more prominent you are in Christ's service, the more certain are you to be the butt of calumny. I have long ago said farewell to my character. I lost it in the earlier days of my ministry by being a little more zealous than suited a slumbering age. And I have never been able to regain it except in the sight of him who judges all the earth, and in the hearts of those who love me for my work's and in the hearts of those who love me for my work's sake."

-- Charles Spurgeon.

SHARING

DEBASED MIND

To host a formal debate with an atheist is akin to hosting a formal debate with a serial rapist or serial killer, the mind is debased, and rational thought cannot be shared.

MAGNIFY GOD

"Do not Magnify your problems, Magnify your God"

CONTRIVED

John Calvin said of 2 Corinthians 4:12

“…it was unseemly that the Corinthians should live happily, and in accordance with their desire, and that they should, free from anxiety, take their ease, while in the mean time Paul was struggling with incessant hardships. Such an allotment would certainly have been exceedingly unreasonable. It was also necessary that the folly of the Corinthians should be reproved, inasmuch as they contrived to themselves a Christianity without the cross, and, not content with this, held in contempt the servants of Christ, because they were not so effeminate.”

ABASED

John Calvin said of 2 Corinthians 4:7

"...it is ordered by the special Providence of God, that there should be in ministers no appearance of excellence, lest any thing of distinction should throw the power of God into the shade. As, therefore, the abasement of ministers, and the outward contempt of their persons give occasion for glory accruing to God, that man acts a wicked part, who measures the dignity of the gospel by the person of the minister.”

NO SCAR

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?

BY AMY CARMICHAEL,

IRISH MISSIONARY TO INDIA FOR 55 YEARS

WE MIND NOT

We mind not the things seen, whether affliction or refreshment come, so as to be seduced by the latter, or deterred by the former

-- Chrysostom

ABANDONED TEXT

HAS GOD ABANDONED EVANGELICALISM?

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Feb 26, 2009 in AM Missives, Current Issues, Features

In his 2007 sermon A Nation Abandoned by God Dr. John MacArthur, one of the finest teachers of the Bible in our gelatinous generation, says:

One of the most tragic scenes in the Bible and yet one of the most familiar to us is the scene of the strongest man who ever lived, a man by the name of Samson, finding out he had no strength. Judges chapter 16 records this. “When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines saying, ‘Come up once more, for he’s told me all that is in his heart.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands and she made him sleep on her knees, called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him and his strength left him. And she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson,” and he woke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’” And here’s the telling line written by God the Holy Spirit. “But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. So the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains and he became a grinder in the prison.” Sad. He didn’t know that the Lord had departed from him. I can’t imagine anything worse than being abandoned by God.

To the sons of Israel earlier in the book of Judges in chapter 10, God said this, “You have forsaken me, you have served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen. Let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” This was God saying to Israel, “I’m done with you, abandoned by God.

Proverbs chapter 1 records a similar sentiment. “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out My hands and no one paid attention. You neglected all my counsel, you did not want my reproof, I will even laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind. When distress and anguish come on you, then they will call on Me but I will not answer. They will seek Me diligently, they will not find Me because they hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would not accept My counsel, they spurned all My reproof, so they will eat of the fruit of their own way and be satisfied with their own devices.” Again being abandoned by God, turned over to the inevitable consequences of sinful choices.

A haunting line is found tucked away in the little prophecy of Hosea chapter 4 and verse 17, and it refers to Israel by the name Ephraim and it says this, “Ephraim is joined to idols,” so says God. The next line, “Leave him alone.” Sounds out of character for God, doesn’t it? “Ephraim is joined to idols, bring him back,” might sound a little more like God. “Let him alone?”

People and nations, even the covenant nation Israel can come to a point where they are abandoned by God. Jesus reiterated this in Matthew 15 when He confronted the Pharisees and then described them to the disciples. He said this, “They’re blind leaders of the blind. Let them alone.” When God lets you go, it’s serious. When Jesus pronounces over you abandonment, it’s serious.

Now I’m going to say something, you’re going to have to hold on to your seat a little bit. I’m convinced beyond doubt that in this same sense, God has abandoned America. (Online source)

taken from....http://apprising.org/2009/02/has-god-abandoned-evangelicalism/

UNITED BY FAITH

A Crucial Word from Machen's Mother

February 23, 2009 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

J. Gresham Machen, one of the great proclaimers and defenders of the Christian faith in the early 20th century, went through a season of fearful doubt on his way to solid confidence. Remarkably, it was his mother who spoke one of the decisive words of rescue. He tells the story:

The question is not merely whether we can rest in our faith, but whether we can rest in the doubt that is the necessary alternative of faith. We pass sometimes through periods of very low spiritual vitality. The wonderful gospel which formerly seemed to be so glorious comes to seem almost like an idle tale. Hosts of objections arise in our minds; the whole unseen world recedes in the dim distance, and we think for the moment that we have relinquished the Christian hope....

My mother [spoke to me] in those dark hours when the lamp burned dim, when I thought that faith was gone and shipwreck had been made of my soul. “Christ,” she used to say, “keeps firmer hold on us than we keep on him.”

My mother’s word meant...that salvation by faith does not mean that we are saved because we keep ourselves at every moment in an ideally perfect attitude of confidence in Christ. No, we are saved because having once been united to Christ by faith, we are his forever. Calvinism is a very comforting doctrine indeed. Without its comfort, I think I should have perished long ago in the castle of Giant Despair. (J. Gresham Machen: Selected Shorter Writings, 561)

taken from http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1646_A_Crucial_Word_from_Machens_Mother/

MOURNING

ARE YOU MOURNING AS CHRIST COMMANDS?

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Feb 21, 2009 in Devotions

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4, NASB)

Two critical determinants will tell if you are mourning over sin as Jesus commands. First, you will have a true sensitivity to and sorrow for your sins. Your prayer concern will be how your sin detracts from God’s glory, not how its exposure might embarrass you or hurt your reputation.

The mock piety of hypocrites demonstrates no sensitivity to sin, only to their personal prestige and pride (cf. Matt. 6:1-18). Likewise, the mock gratitude of those like the Pharisees who think they are better than others (cf. Luke 18:11) certainly does not show mourning for sin. King Saul twice admitted he had sinned when he did not destroy King Agag and all the Amalekites, and even asked Samuel for pardon, but he was more concerned for his own honor than God’s (1 Sam. 15:10-35).

If your mourning is godly, you will lament the sins of other believers and the world, as well as your own. You will agree with the Psalmist, “My eyes shed streams of water, because they do not keep Your law” (Psalm 119:136). You will weep over your own community as Jesus did over His (Luke 19:41).

The second way to know if you are mourning rightly is to check your sense of God’s forgiveness. Have you expected the sense of spiritual freedom and real release that comes with knowing your sins are forgiven? Can you point to true happiness, peace, and joy in your life that only God gives in response to mourning for sin (cf. Ps. 126:5-6)?

Ask Yourself

What is your main problem with sin—only that it gives you that sick feeling of guilt and hypocrisy? Only that it seems to expose you around those who know you best? Take all the personal inconveniences out of the equation, and be more gravely concerned that your sin offends the God you profess to serve. (John MacArthur, Daily readings from the Life of Christ, February 21)

taken from http://apprising.org/2009/02/are-you-mourning-as-christ-commands/

TEN THOUSAND YEARS

TOTAL PRAISE