LUCKILY FOR GOD???

(Really???) Luckily for God Noah agreed, Abram agreed, Isaac agreed, Jacob agreed, Moses agreed, Joshua, Samuel, David, the 13 prophets, the virgin Mary, John the Baptist, the 13 apostles--- luckily for God these all agreed to cooperate. What an insane message. There is no good news. There is only sinful vanity.

SEE THE DEAD RISE

When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. ~Spurgeon

Dispositions

- “Christians should be grave and serious, though cheerful and pleasant. They should feel that they have great interests at stake, and that the world has too. They are redeemed—not to make sport; purchased with precious blood—for other purposes than to make men laugh. They are soon to be in heaven—and a man who has any impressive sense of that will habitually feel he has much else to do than to make men laugh. The true course of life is midway between moroseness and levity; sourness and lightness; harshness and jesting. Be benevolent, kind, cheerful, bland, courteous—but serious. Be solemn, thoughtful, deeply impressed with the presence of God and with eternal things—but pleasant affable and benignant. Think not a smile sinful; but think not levity and jesting harmless. “ ~ Albert Barnes

TABLE INTO A SNARE

"Whatever poison Satan produces, God turns it into medicine for his elect." John Calvin commenting on Gen 50:20"...yet... [God] turns the food of reprobates into poison, their light into darkness, their table into a snare, and, in short, their life into death. If human minds cannot reach these depths, let them rather suppliantly adore the mysteries they do not comprehend, than, as vessels of clay, proudly exalt themselves against their Maker." via. Manuel K.

THE SOLE CAUSE

Calvinists insist that the sole cause of regeneration or being born again is the will of God. God first sovereignly and efficaciously regenerates, and only in consequence of that do we act. Therefore, the individual is passive in regeneration, neither preparing himself nor making himself receptive to what God will do. Regeneration is a change wrought in us by God, not an autonomous act performed by us for ourselves. Man’s status in regard to regeneration is that of a recipient, not a contributor. Man is spiritually, in relation to regeneration, what Lazarus was physically, in relation to resurrection: dead, passive, unable to do anything at all, wholly subject to the will of Him who gives life and breath to whomever He desires.

- Sam Storms

HEART OF FLESH

He doesn't say, "I will remove their will of stone from their flesh and give them a will of flesh," but rather, Ezekiel 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh;

The will in a heart of stone is bound by the nature of stone, the will in a heart of flesh is bound by the nature of flesh

Amos 8:11

(Amos 8:11) Behold, the days come, says the Lord Jehovah; that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water; but of hearing the Words of Jehovah.

DQ3- Is God trying to save everyone by this act?

VIOLATION AND CAUSATION

The erroneous doctrine of "prevenient grace" as it is, would ALSO violate the supposed, "free-will" of man by turning it from "unable to trust" to "enabled to the possibility to trust" without the consent of the individual's will. So they teach an "irresistable-effectual prevenient grace" which is forced on a man's will who otherwise had no desire for this prevenient grace to be given him; So they laud, "violation and causation" upon the sinner's will when it comes to the "prevenient grace" but decry, "violation and causation" when it comes to saving grace; [yes, I know, God owns His creation, and thus in either case it is never a violation when He has Sovereign rights over it.]

ELECTION IN THE COMMON LANGUAGES

“At the very announcement of the text some will be ready to say, “Why preach upon so profound a doctrine as election?” I answer, because it is in God’s word, and whatever is in the Word of God is to be preached. “But some truths ought to be kept back from the people,” you will say, “lest they should make an ill use thereof.” That is Popish doctrine, it was upon that very theory that the priests kept back the Bible from the people, they did not give it to them lest they should misuse it.

“But are not some doctrines dangerous?” Not if they are true and rightly handled. Truth is never dangerous, it is error and reticence that are fraught with peril. “But do not men abuse the doctrine of grace?” I grant you that they do; but if we destroyed everything that men misuse, we should have nothing left. Are there to be no ropes because some fools will hang themselves? And, must cutlery be discarded and denounced, because there are some who will use dangerous weapons for the destruction of their adversaries? Decidedly not.

Besides all this, remember that men do read the Scriptures and think about these doctrines, and therefore often make mistakes about them; who then shall set them right if we, who preach the Word, hold our tongues about the matter?”

– C. H. Spurgeon, from sermon entitled, Election: Its Defenses and Evidences

FIRST THINGS FIRST

 “It [Election] probably ought to be the first thing you teach a young believer. Now that you’ve come to Christ, this is what I want you to know, you were saved by the sovereign grace of God who stepped into your life in the midst of your death and blindness and gave you life and sight and picked you up and brought you into His Kingdom. Sheer grace has done this for you. That, I think, is the first thing you should say to a new convert. This is, if in fact, you are faithful to the confession you have made, if in fact your love for Christ and desire to honor, to worship and to obey Him continues to grow, this will be an ongoing evidence that God has wrought a miracle in your life. And because of that, you need to know, this is really important, that you should live a life of gratitude for a work has been done in you which you did not deserve and did not earn.”

-- John MacArthur, Answering the Key Questions About the Doctrine of Election (Interview):

(source: monergism.com)

NOBODY HAS A CHANCE

Often, when discussing the issue of election, the question is raised: "Doesn't everybody have a chance?".  The answer is NOBODY has a chance apart from divine election. 

-Greg Crouse

Enemies

"The friends of free-will are the enemies of free-grace." - John Trapp

Beliefs, or Christ, or Both.

People often say to the affect, "Salvation is not from our beliefs, but from Christ"; While this is true, the writer must inherently identify "which Christ" he is writing of, and is making his assertion based on a particular "belief in-or-about Christ"; The truth is, a Mormon claims to "look to Christ" and yet has erected a false Christ, and the Mormon's belief evidence such; There is no profit to make a vague Christ, which is obscured by the generalities you proclaim; Thus to truly preach Christ is to preach specifics, and those specifics entail a set of beliefs. Ironically, the writer is saying "focus on Christ, not beliefs." and yet that statement in itself is a belief.

NONE SEEK HIM, NO NOT ONE

"If there is to be a rescue operation for us children of Adam, aimed at bringing us to anything like God meant us to be, it has to overcome not only our sin and depravity, but the fact that sin makes us utterly uninterested in the solution. In fact, we would be repelled by it. C.S. Lewis spoke for us all: 'Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about man's search for God. To me . . . they might as well have talked about the mouse's search for the cat." 

Dan Phillips, The World Tilting Gospel.... via Scott F

IT ALREADY IS

Ligon Duncan on 2 Tim. 3:16,17 -- "Put in popular terms, the apostle Paul is saying that the Bible is inherently practical. It is not your pastor's job to make it practical. It already is. It's the most practical book in the world. And the only reason we think it's impractical to hear the Word of God expounded is that we're interested in other questions and other things. But I want to tell you this: it is the questions addressed and the things spoken of in the Word of God that are truly practical. And if we are interested in other questions and other things, we're interested in the wrong things, because there is nothing impractical in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation." (via. Scott F.)

THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE

"Concerning that this clown babbleth of free will, it is sufficiently rejected throughout the whole scripture." ~John Calvin

THE VERY ESSENCE OF ALL DELIGHTS

"Christ is the very essence of all delights and pleasures, the very soul and substance of them. As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the meeting-place of all the waters in the world, so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet." ~ John Flavel; 

"Trace the sunbeam to the sun;
Trace the river to the sea;
Trace all pleasures to the One
Who is Pleasure perfectly."

DQ Numbers Mean

DQ1  = Diagnostic Questions on Total Inability.
DQ2  = Diagnostic Questions on Unconditional Election.
DQ3  = Diagnostic Questions on Atonement.
DQ4 =  Diagnostic Questions on Effectual Grace
DQ5=  Diagnostic Questions on Preservation of the Saints.

These Questions are geared to the Arminian.

Effectual Atonement

Do you profess Effectual Atonement (for whom Christ died)?  [diagnostic question; and a redundant one at that].   [There is no such thing as uneffectual atonement, and there is no such thing as an atoned person going to hell without sin accounted to him.]

DQ on TOTAL INABILITY

Diagnostic Questions concerning Total Inability.

Is the will of fallen man free from: sin, the slavery of sin, the alienated mind, the corrupt heart, the nature of wrath, the captivity of Satan, the sovereign purpose of God, spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness?  What verses evidence such an assertion?  If such verses exist, then why is there even a need for the theoretical "prevenient grace".  What verses teach that such a system exists?   [diagnostic questions for the Arminian]

FIRST PRINCIPLES

It may seem a harsh sentiment; but he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free-will turn to God, cannot have been taught of God, for that is one of the first principles taught us when God begins with us,..

..Charles H. Spurgeon....

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Love for God is the only sufficient motive for evangelism. Self-love will give way to self-centeredness; love for the lost will fail with those whom we cannot love…

Only our Love for God and, more important, His love for us will keep us from the dangers which beset us. When the desire for popularity with men, or for success in human terms, tempts us to water down the Gospel, to make it palatable, then only if we love God will we stand last by His truth and His ways. 

--- John Cheeseman.

FRONTLETS

Deut 6:8 ....they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

This is not some heavy, slavish, burdensome, and bashing drudgery from God which is intended to rival Pharaoh's whip for more bricks without straw (more Bible without rest); rather, this is a joyful nourishment of the soul. I can remember Thanksgiving as a teen and getting two large slices of Pumpkin Pie at once. The second slice was not some burdensome weight imposed by my Aunt, but a delightful eagerness desired by my stomach. You have heard the phrase, "his eyes were bigger than his stomach" in loading his plate with too much food; well here, our eyes are to be huge, huge on Scripture, hungry not for the tastiness of bread that perishes, but for the Living Bread of eternal life. A few months ago I loaded up a bowl with Chocolate Ice Cream and my wife chuckled at how large of a serving I had prepared; I simply said, "Well, it is good, what can I say." May God give us the same heart for Christ and Scripture, that we heap a large serving before our eyes from a joyful, delightful love for the God of the Word, and the Word of God.

THE POWER OF THE PARACLETE

The power of our apologetic is not in our penmanship or publications, but in the Paraclete; and He blows where He wishes.  Rest in Christ when He is not blowing, Rejoice in Christ when He is blowing.

FELLOWSHIP

Whose fellowship and attention do you desire most? Your spouse, your children, your parents, your boss or co-workers, your pastor or deacons, local Christians, or someone online.....or that fellowship and attention afforded by the prayer closet? from whence no one sees or hears, but God.

1 JOHN 1 The Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-
2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-
3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And we are writing these things so that our1  joy may be complete.  

 

ELECTION OF GRACE

Romans 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  (Is there a remnant according to the election of reacting to men meeting the condition and command of faith?)

Isaiah 40

Isa 40:1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

MORE THAN CHRIST

Did the Father need more (or require more) than the perfection of Christ in order to make certain the regeneration of your soul? [diagnostic questions]

 Do you profess Effectual Atonement (for whom Christ died)?  [diagnostic question; and a redundant one at that].   [There is no such thing as uneffectual atonement, and there is no such thing as an atoned person going to hell without sin accounted to him.]

CANNOT OBEY

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

DEISTIC god OVER SALVATION

it seems to me that Arminians believe in a Sovereign God over creation, & a deistic god over salvation. It sounds almost like God set out the terms of salvation & is just sitting back waiting for men to make the right choice. This is such a sad view of the One Who is presented in Scripture Who is Mighty to Save!-- Shon D.

SPURGEON ON FREE-WILL

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 b......ound 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’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 "A Jealous God"

SPURGEON ON THE WORLD

The whole world is gone after him.' Did all the world go after Christ? 'Then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.' Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem baptized in Jordan? 'Ye are of God, little children', and 'the whole world lieth in the wicked one.' Does 'the whole world' there mean everybody? If so, how was it, then, that there were some who were 'of God?' The words 'world' and 'all' are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that 'all' means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts—some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted his redemption to either Jew or Gentile." 
--(Charles H. Spurgeon, Particular Redemption, A Sermon, 28 Feb 1858).

CREDIT

Do you give God credit for your election? Do you give God credit for meeting the condition of your election? or, Do you take credit for meeting the condition for your election?

Thankful

We have a lot to be thankful for!  Have you thanked God today?  Have you thanked God for what He has done?  Matthew 11:25  At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

WRITING DOES NOT CHANGE HEARTS

If our writings in themselves good change the hearts of men, then we should dismiss all our armed forces and assign them to publishing houses, mailing books to the enemy in WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, and such; If the book did not convince the leader, then surely reduce their forces in half. Christians march in peace and peacefulness, knowing the King shall come with a sword out of His mouth, and the blood shall rise to the horse's bridle.

Rev 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave5 and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,  16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,  17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

THE HEART IS THE ROOT

Man is like a tree. His heart, not his will alone, is the root. There is no possible way by which the will can choose to produce fruit contrary to the character of the root. If the root is bad, the tree is bound by its very nature to produce evil fruit.  Man is like a person standing alongside his treasure chest. There is no possibility of bringing pure gold out of a box filled only with rusty steel. The contents of the heart determine what words and deeds may be brought out. Far from being neutral, the will must reach into the heart for its choices. Every thought, word and deed will partake of the nature of the treasure within.   Man is like a stream which cannot rise above its source. If the fountain is polluted, the outflow will be evil. If the source be sweet, the stream will not be bitter and cannot choose to be so.  These three illustrations alike contain the same lesson. What a man is determines what he chooses. Choices of the will always reveal the character of the heart, because the heart determines the choices. ~  Walter J. Chantry

DOWNWARD

"Growth in grace is growth downward. It is the forming of a lower estimate of ourselves. It is a deepening realization of our nothingness. It is a heartfelt recognition that we are not worthy of the least of God's mercies."
- A.W. Pink

THOROUGHLY CONVINCED

"Unless we are thoroughly convinced that without Christ we are under the eternal curse of God, as the worst of His enemies, we shall never flee to Him for refuge."
~John Owen

HAPPY TO GAZE ON JESUS

Happy were it, if puzzled and perplexed Christians would turn their eyes from the defects that are in their obedience, to the fullness and completeness of Christ's obedience; and see themselves complete in Him, when most lame and defective in themselves. - John Flavel,

MY HOPE IS IN WHOSE ABILITY

During your proclamation of Christ to a lost world, is your ultimate hope placed in the ability of the sinner to know Jesus, love Jesus, and hence place faith and repentance towards Jesus? Would you articulate that to the sinner? Well, ultimately my hope is placed in your ability to know Jesus, love Jesus, and trust Him. (Psalm 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, )

  My laptop has an electrical cord, if the cord did not exist, nor the battery exist, the laptop would have no power. My mind, heart, soul, and body is a laptop and cord, but the power does not come from the cord, it comes from an outside source; the person of the Holy Spirit, uniting me to Christ; He is the Vine, His is the Power, and the Glory and Dominion forever. Who will dare say that the power comes from himself?

Some people have a theology which supports this, others do not; If someone seems uncertain of the claims of Scripture and Christ, then can you tell them, "I have good news dear soul, God has the power and grace to grant you faith, repentance, understanding, a new heart, humility, clarity, and trust in Him; a desire to pray, seek Him, love Him, and confess Him." others are simply left with saying, "Well, God has already done his part, and the rest is up to you to muster up your own faith, repentance, new heart, humility, love, and desire; I hope you press on and make the difference."

 

 

ENTIRELY DEPENDENT

When it comes to the salvation of your sinful soul, are you entirely dependent on the power and grace of God, even to acknowledge that your dependency came from God, not from your ability to make yourself dependent.

Contempt

The god of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ, than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The god who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of mushy sentimentality. The heathen outside of the pale of Christendom form gods out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a god out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolutely supreme God, and no God at all. 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 nothing but contempt!" ~ A.W.Pink

CONTENTMENT IS

Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.
Jeremiah Burroughs

Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such an one is “content” with such as he has (Heb. 13:5).--A.W. Pink.

WHERE HE WISHES

I am observed years back, "We cannot put the Holy Spirit in a bottle, and think to shake him out like a genie upon presenting enough solid information in our preaching and conversations. He blows where He wishes, and though God can be very pleased with the sermon and sheep be nourished, yet the Holy Spirit may not wish to blow through that day for the purpose of regenerating anyone"; So while solid paper and pen presentations are great to an extent, they cannot be worshiped, because they do not possess power in themselves, and if we think they do, then we will observe years of frustration as the field continues to be barren and fruitless.

EVERYTHING IS NECESSARY

Everything is necessary that he sends. Nothing can be necessary that he withholds.--

John Newton -

Man is not able

Helpful beginnings to church unity. We confess that #1. Sinful Man is not able in mind, heart, body, nature, or will to love God, trust God, please God, follow God, obey God, or prepare himself for such in any form to any degree.; (What professing Christian wants to say rather that: Man is able, after all I was able (...).

 

Helpful beginnings to church unity. We confess that #2. The bible presents a group of people called "the elect" whom God elected. Because Sinful Man is not able in mind, heart, body, nature, or will to love God, trust God, please God, follow God, obey God, or prepare himself for such in any form to any degree--we confess that those whom God elects, and calls the elect, were not elected by God because they the sinner met a condition or command of God, be it the 613 commandments, the commandment of repentance and faith in Christ, or any other condition or command.‎(What professing Christian wants to say rather that: Man must meet a condition of God, before God considers him elect, after all I was able to meet the condition of God so that he considered me elect on the basis of meeting His condition.)

 Helpful beginnings to church unity.  We confess that #3.  The bible presents the grace of God as that which is a working of the divine sovereign effectual power of God the Holy Spirit and is the effectual and sole cause of a sinners new birth, repentance, faith, changed: mind, heart, nature, will, and body.

Fattening the children of Perdition

Verily, we know not what an evil it is to indulge ourselves, and to make an idol of our will. Once I would make much ado, if I saw not the world carved and set in order to my liking; now I am silent, when I see God is fattening and feeding the children of perdition. I pray God, I may never find my will again.

Samuel Rutherford

SHAKING OUR FOUNDATIONS

"We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them." not sure of who said it, but found it on the wall of Rose Corpus.

PRINCIPAL CAUSES

Therefore the Christian heart, since it has been thoroughly persuaded that all things happen by God's plan, and that nothing takes place by place by chance, will ever look to him as the principal causes of things, yet will give secondary attention to the secondary causes in their proper place. 

~ John Calvin

TROUBLED CONSCIENCE

"The faithful preaching of the gospel is never soothing to the impenitent, so that the removal of an outstanding preacher is commonly a matter of rejoicing for those whose consciences he has troubled." 

 --Leon Morris 'The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries' page 146

THIS THUNDERBOLT

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.

THIS, therefore, is also essentially necessary and wholesome for Christians to know: That God foreknows nothing by contingency, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His immutable, eternal, and infallible will....Martin Luther......By this thunderbolt, "Free-will" is thrown prostrate, and utterly dashed to pieces. Those, therefore, who would assert "Free-will," must either deny this thunderbolt, or pretend not to see it, or push it from them. But, however, before I establish this point by any arguments of my own, and by the authority of Scripture, I will first set it forth in your words....Martin Luther...(thanks Victor C.)

NOT MADE TO BEAR THEM

Many , even most, of our problems come from attaching our hopes to things that were not made to bear them - things that will sink like stones in water and pull us down with them. - Mark Dever

 

THESE TWO QUESTIONS

"All the disputes between us and the Arminians may be reduced to these two questions: 1. Is God dependent upon man, or is man dependent on God? 2. Is man a debtor to God, or God a debtor to man? ~ Augustus Toplady (1740-1778)

Who am I

In 1507, Luther was ordained to the priesthood. When he celebrated his first Mass, as he held the bread and cup for the first time, he was so awestruck at the thought of transubstantiation that he almost fainted. “I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken,” he confessed. “I thought to myself, ‘Who am I that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my hands to the divine majesty? For I am dust and ashes and full of sin, and I am speaking to the living, eternal and true God’” (Luther, cited in Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995], 238)

quoted from:  http://www.ligonier.org/blog/fortress-truth-martin-luther/

 

 

Stick to John 10

Did you hear about the shepherd who went out looking for his sheep? He did his tee-totally best to find them, but it turns out they followed the voice of a stranger and escaped his best efforts to rescue them. So here we are today telling people what the shepherd attempted, instead of what the shepherd accomplished. Not me. I'll stick to John 10. All of it.

Heathen Philosophers

"They go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers and say that a man's free will is the cause why God chooseth and not another, contrary to all the scriptures."

- William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536)

Jesus accomplished

We don't go around telling people what Jesus attempted, we proclaim what Jesus accomplished. 

 Some OT passover Lamb was able to "secure the safety" of the infant he was slain for, and yet men today suggest that the real Divine Passover Lamb is not able to "secure the safety" of the children of Abraham. How can an animal do better than the God that made it.

 

Shine the Attention on Jesus

What would you think of someone who was a member of your congregation who said, "Our confessional says we believe in Jesus, and just as the confession says, I believe in Jesus;  but the past 7 years you keep on insisting that the Jesus we believe in is actually fully God, and I have never believed that and still don't believe that "detail", can't we just sit back and agree that we believe in Jesus, and let it go at that?"  Can this "Detail" about His Person be "generalized" and "accepted?"  Yet "true" Arminians do the same thing in regards to Sin, Depravity, Election, Atonement, Sovereignty, Regeneration;  Can we not just agree in the "general point" we are saved by grace through faith, and avoid your "details" of what that means,  Are we going to make a primary role of Christ "atoning for sins" to be something left to vague generalities that leaves enough wiggle room for us both, when we dare not leave wiggle room for those who deny his deity, and yet accept the liability for those who malign His work and accomplishment.

If Jesus saved everyone He died for, then give Him credit for it, if He didn't save everyone He died for then embarrass Him for it;  Why keep the accomplishment of Christ a mystery.  When you do that, you rob Him of the Glory that is due Him.  How can one grow in his boast of Christ, when he refuses to study the very cause of his boasting.  What good is getting this soul addicted to generalities to evangelize, when he cannot even boast of specifically what Christ accomplished, because He refuses to look into what Christ accomplished.   Be honest and say, "Trust in the same Jesus I do, he made salvation available for Goliath, but overall Jesus didn't make any other difference for that sinner;  either Jesus fell short, and my boasting wanes, or Jesus didn't intended to "truly save him" and thus Jesus may not have intended to "truly save you", but He did intend to make your salvation a "possiblity"

If Jesus saved everyone He died for, then give Him credit for it, if He didn't save everyone He died for then embarrass Him for it; Or else, be clear and own up to the fact you don't think Jesus died to "save"; Whatever you do, don't bury the accomplishment of Jesus as some fuzzy vague generality that we, in effect, cannot be proclaim clearly.

 

The savior is waiting to enter your heart?  Well, keep him.  My Savior didn't wait, He worked, and is working through the Holy Spirit, He will give a new heart, He didn't wait, He wrought;  He didn't die for Esau, and He is not waiting on Esau.  I proclaim to you, Trust the Jesus that accomplishes, not the Jesus that attempts and fails.  We don't go around telling people what Jesus attempted, we proclaim what Jesus accomplished.

So they will cling to Him.

(f) God permits the world to hate his own, so they will forsake the filth of the world, and cling to him. (Geneva Bible Footnote on: Gen 46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, [and] also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd [is] an (f) abomination unto the Egyptians. )

More Diagnostics

Many are called, but few are chosen; Narrow is the way that leads to life eternal; but no sweat, my will is reliable enough to place me among those few on the narrow way. (how foolish and how vain; Your faith and hope are placed in your own will);  Are you saying your will is reliable enough to place you among those few on the narrow way?

AVOIDING GOD

As one insightful friend told me once (Scott T.) "Many men go to church in order to avoid God." (as it is some manner of hiding in a bush, or finding fig leaves).

rough draft

Arminians ask "Why witness if God has already determined who will be saved?"; But in reality such a question is that of an Open Theist! Because if God foreknows (using the foresee fallacy) who will say "yes" then our witnessing cannot "increase" those who will be saved; So why does the Arminian witness if it does not increase who says "yes"; To avoid open-theism, the Arminian must answer, "Because God knew before the foundation of the world who will choose Him, and God uses the means of witnessing to accomplish His end." Whereas the Calvinist answers, "Because God knew before the foundation of the world whom He has chosen, and God uses the means of witnessing to accomplish His end." The number of converts will be the same in either system, because God's knowledge is the same in either system. (unless of course one is really an Open Theist, and God's knowledge is mutable or wrong; as a side note, Arminians might not be aware that they make God's knowledge to be "deductive", where God is learning who will become elect by examination of results, which means at one point He was not omniscient.) Arminians might argue, "evangelism cannot increase the elect, and failure of evangelism cannot decrease the elect;" Such observations are skewed, for it could be equally stated to Arminians "in your system evangelism cannot increase the elect, and failure of evangelism cannot decrease the elect.", otherwise God's knowledge is wrong and mutable. (Hence the pathway to Open Theism, which one writer aptly called atheism in disguise) ------ Obedience to God is never a fool's errand. Obedience through the grace and glory of Christ is pleasing to God. God's pleasure is not based on human results. When God calls you to love your enemy, you obey, God does not determine your success based on the reaction of your enemy. God calls us to proclaim Christ, success is obedience to proclaim Christ; God does not determine your success on the basis of-- if men decide to meet the conditions of God for regeneration while you proclaim Him. (btw, Did you meet the conditions of God for regeneration, were you able to do that?)

outline list

IT IS GOD WHO: - draws people to Himself (John 6:44,65). - creates a clean heart (Psalm 51:10). - appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48). - works faith in the believer (John 6:28-29). - chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4). - chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14). - grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29). - grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26). - calls according to His purpose (2 Tim. 1:9). - causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3). - predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30). - predestines us to adoption (Eph. 1:5). - predestines us according to His purpose (Eph. 1:11). - makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13). IT IS MAN WHO: - 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).

I am His

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. Once I was a slave but now I am a son; once I was dead but now I am alive; once I was darkness but now I am light in the Lord; once I was a child of wrath, an heir of hell, but now I am an heir of heaven; once I was Satan's bond-servant but now I am God's freeman; once I was under the spirit of bondage but now I am under the Spirit of adoption that seals up to me the remission of my sins, the justification of my person, and the salvation of my soul. ~ Thomas Brooks

Why Evangelize

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0tAfrPlNq8&feature=player_embedded

Atonement Questions for the Arminian

#1.  Jesus' death on the cross, was His best divine attempt to save the world?   #2.  The Father sending His perfect Son to die on the cross, was His best divine attempt to save the world?  #3.  Did the Father and Son attempt to save the world at the cross?  #4.  Did Jesus atone for all the sins of every sinner and the Father send that sinner to Hell with all his sin's atoned for?  #5.  What sin of the reprobate did the death of Jesus not atone?;

First Cause

Question for churchmen: Are you the first cause of your faith, or is God the first cause of your faith? If you answer I am the first cause, then you deny Scripture. The faith described in the Old and New Testaments are GIFTS, and fruit of the Spirit, IMPUTED by God, Himself. If you answer that God is the first cause, but that He only DRAWS men, and then will leave them to their own free choice, or free will, to choose salvation, you, again deny Scripture. What does the Word say? "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I WILL raise him up at the last day." God does not ABORT what He begins. He is the AUTHOR and COMPLETER of our faith. ~ MarkMarissa Namirr

One Group

A covenant promise, a Deliverer of the enslaved, a Deliverance of the enslaved, a passover Lamb, a High Priest, a tabernacle for God to dwell among them, a Land to possess....all given to one set of infants, those of Abraham's seed; which was not given or "offered" to any other people. Are you of Abraham's seed: Christ, the true Isaac, born of God by the Holy Spirit and His Word endowed with living faith which too is a gift of God, and that not of yourself?  (thus evidence of election and limited atonement).

Fail: Jesus intended to raise Lazarus, thankfully for Him, Lazarus was willing to be raised; I guess Jesus intentionally avoided calling men from the dead whom He knew would say no to His offer, otherwise Jesus would have been embarrassed that His divine intention failed.

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphis over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sere leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche. He that believes in a God must believe this truth. There is no standing-point between this and atheism. There is no half way between a mighty God that worketh all things by the sovereign counsel of his will and no God at all. A God that cannot do as he pleases—a God whose will is frustrated, is not a God, and cannot be a God. I could not believe in such a God as that. ~ C. H. Spurgeon

Efficacious

IF limited atonement is NOT true then those in hell will have a good argument before God in saying, "but Christ died for ME!" (True or False?) via.Brian K.  ;;

In such a hypothetical, yes the damned would have a powerful argument; and what would the Father say in order to reject the efficacy of His Son's Divine Sacrifice. 

Two Prisoners

‎"Paul was Nero's prisoner, but Nero was much more God's." ~ WILLIAM GURNALL

OVERTHROWS EMPIRES

'While I drink my little glass of Wittenberg beer the gospel runs its course and overthrows empires.' -Martin Luther

LEARN THIS

"Learn then this basic truth, that the Creator is absolute Sovereign, executing His own will, performing His own pleasure, and considering nought but His own glory. "The Lord hath made all things for Himself" (Prov. 16:4). And had He not a perfect right to? Since God is God, who dare challenge His prerogative?" (The Pinkster)

THE MARKET IS SACRED

Holiness consisteth not in a cowl or in a garment of gray. When God purifies the heart by faith, the market is sacred as well as the sanctuary; neither remaineth there any work or place which is profane - Martin Luther

Crown of Thorns

“They gave our Master a crown of thorns. Why do we hope for a
crown of roses?” -Martin Luther

THESE TWO ARE ONE

"God’s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion." -Jonathan Edwards;

NO POWER IN FAITH

‎"Never make a Christ out of your faith, nor think of as if it were the independent source of your salvation. Our life is found in 'looking unto Jesus,' not in looking to our own faith. By faith all things become possible to us; yet the power is not in the faith, but in the God upon whom faith relies."-Charles Spurgeon

Dying to Self

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, that is dying to self-

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence,- That is dying to self.-

When you are content with any food, any offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, and interruption by the will of God, that is dying to self;

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown,- That is dying to self-

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God, whild your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances, that is dying to self-

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, that is dying to self-

someone on FB named Kristen.

ALL IN ASIA

2 Tim 1:15  You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me,

SHARE

2 Tim 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

2 Tim 2:3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

2 Tim 4:5  ...endure suffering

2 Tim 1:15  You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me,

VERY HINGE

“[It is] essentially wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know, whether or not the will does any thing in those things which pertain unto Salvation. Nay, let me tell you, this is the very hinge upon which our discussion turns. It is the very heart of the subject” - Martin Luther

YOU CAN'T

I can't open your heart, but you can't shut my mouth. Jesus is King, Praise Him.

DESPISE THE BODY

Reading a powerful sermon, here is good excerpt: That is why Paul says, “...that their bodies might be dishonored among them.” You see, people that indulge in these types of activities dishonor their body. It literally means to treat the body with contempt, to despise it. (!!!) I never caught this implication before, insightful.

The lie is, people think, "oh but we love pleasing the body", well that is a lie, in reality your actions show that you love despising the body.

WHO IS ARBITRARY NOW

Is Almighty God bound to the arbitrary human standard of fairness or does God have the right to issue Mercy as He deems appropriate?--B. Bradley

DRAW NEAR TO GOD

The other day I was thinking about Hebrews 4:16 by vague recollection not by direct reading of it or study.  I knew what it said roughly, and here is what it says exactly...."Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I was thinking with sorrow, "Yea, but my old nature is so vile, corrupt, and unclean, it seems extremely audacious for me to approach the throne in prayer, knowing how miserable my mind, heart, and actions are each day; and though I am a new creation, how even more appauling that I nonetheless fall so short of maturity in Christ...." and so I continued to mope.

Tonight, a thought hit me, and it was this, "Ok, yea, but which is more audacious to approach the throne of grace knowing your spiritual poverty...OR...viewing the life, work, perfection, purity, obedience, death, blood, resurrection of Jesus as unsufficient to bring you to the throne of grace?"  I then realized that my thoughts the first night were more foolish in overlooking the accomplishment of Jesus as the grounds for my access to the throne.  I could not think of the exact verse, but I was thinking about something in Romans 3, and now I know it was this:  Romans 3:26   It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God is JUST towards Jesus, that it is proper and right to accept and honor His blood redemption of sinners.  Hence, it is also JUST for me to approach the throne on the basis of Jesus' work.  Not that I am in a position to judge Jesus, but that I surely must not....."trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing," 

Then as these thoughts blessed me, I decided to look at the original context of Hebrews 4, and this great introduction was made by the writer...the same point I needed to know concerning approaching the throne of grace.

Hebrews 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

1.  We have a high priest.
2.  We have a great high priest.
3.  The writer goes at length in this letter to explain the superiority of Jesus as our High Priest.
4.  This short kernel sums it up:  He was in all points tempted like as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN.

And this introduces verse 16, which I was rembering out of context.

Hebrews 4:16   Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We come boldly, but NEVER on the basis of our past, present, future--- performance, purity, ability.  The word "therefore" points us back to the Great High Priest who is WITHOUT SIN, and that is the basis for us approaching the throne.  We come boldy, and ALWAYS on the basis of our High Priest who is without sin.  He is the Priest, He is the Lamb, He is the Door, He is the Mediator of a Better Covenant.established on Better Promises;

Hebrews 7:19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

Did I catch that?-- a better hope is introduced, THROUGH WHICH we draw near to God.
Praise God for Grace,  Jesus is Grace.

EAGER PRAYER

How do we view prayer/praying?  How eager are we to pray?    Do we view it as:

-something we "have to do", just like paying taxes?  But we murmur that we hope we "grace" will lower the tax, and increase our "free time" for ourself.

-something we need to do, like changing the car's oil every 4 months?  That we want it done and over with on one day, knowing it disrupts our normal day and week? 

-something we need to do, like a house chore?  Let's get the laundry done, vacuum, and pray, and quicker we get it done, the shorter our murmuring will be.

-something we "ought" to do, but begrudgingly like spending a day with in-laws? But you give a plastic smile, and a cheerful remark, still wondering when you can leave this irksome obligation.

-something that is just unavoidable, like seeing commericals interrupt our TV show, or sports show, or movie?  But hopefully we can move on back to our normal programming of earthly attention.

-something that God requires, so we better do it?  But in the deepest level of our veiled conscience we are thinking....'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?:  (Malachi 3:14)

-something that we will do if it has a drive through window?  There are days I am hungry but due to driving a long distance will not go sit for a steak, and since they do not have a drive through window, I'll go find a place which can get me a meal and get me moving on to my personal destination.
Is prayer, praying, prayer time....seen, pursued, with a sincere joyful eagerness as one who loves God? 

If Jesus rang your doorbell, would you talk to him for 5 minutes like he was proslyetizing with the local cult, but then be glad to shut the conversation down and send him on His way?

I've conciously turned my phone ringer off to ensure that I get a good nap with no interruptions, do I think about making preparations for a good prayer time?

May God grant us a new heart to have a eager desire to pray and fellowship with Him.  As Peter jumped from the boat and swam with joy to see the resurrected Christ, may we jump away from our temporal mindedness and pray with joy to rejoice in the greatness and goodness of God.

FAMILY WORSHIP

The commander of Columbia shuttle that disintegrated in mid-air was so devoted to family worship that he recorded eighteen videos for his family, one for each day that he was supposed to be gone. How valuable do you think those videos are to his family now? What a legacy he has left. - Joel Beeke

Richard and Subina Wurmbrand

FOCUS ON GOD

Focus on the God of the labor, not the fruit of the labor.

The Issue is not where we meet at, but Whom we meet with;  Focus on the glory of God, not the glory of the facilities.


When we say narrow is the way, our conception is still too broad of away; the way is narrow, even narrower than we presume.

TO KNOW GOD

To know God is to love God

To know God is to enjoy God

To know God is to trust God

To know God is to obey God

To know God is to pray to God..

To know God is to sing to God.

To know God is to rejoice.

To know God is to hope.

To know God is to persevere.

To know God is to endure.

To know God is to proclaim God

15 Minute Devotional on these phrases via Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/118min?feature=mhum#p/u/6/MiVUPf8ZSvY

CHRIST EVIDENT

Boast not of Christ's work "for you", unless you can show the Spirit's work "in you." Think not that Christ and the Spirit can ever be divided. I doubt not that many believers know these things, but I think it good for us to be put in remembrance of them. Let us prove that we know them by our lives. ~Ryle

CANNOT FAIL

What is God's remedy for dejection at apparent failure in our labours? This—the assurance that God's purpose cannot fail, that God's plans cannot miscarry, that God's will must be done. Our labours are not intended to bring about that which God has not decreed.  —Arthur W. Pink

WHATEVER GOD ORDAINS IS RIGHT

Nice Song, Nice Video.  Great Lyrics, Great Raw Guitar..

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1745360386611#!/video/video.php?v=1676219978144..

INWARD CONFLICT

This inward conflict


(Philpot, "The Knowledge of Good and Evil" 1845)

"I know that nothing good lives in me—that is, in

my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what

is good—but I cannot carry it out." Romans 7:18

Now it is this which makes the Lord's people such a

burdened people—that makes them so oppressed in

their souls as to cry out against themselves daily,

and sometimes hourly—that they are what they are

—that they would be spiritual, yet are carnal—that

they would be holy, yet are unholy—that they would

have sweet communion with Jesus, yet have such

sensual alliance with the things of time and sense—

that they would be Christians in word, thought, and

deed; yet, in spite of all, they feel their carnal mind,

their wretched depravity intertwining, interlacing,

gushing forth—contaminating with its polluted stream

everything without and within—so as to make them

sigh, groan, and cry being burdened, "What a wretched

man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

Romans 7:24

He would not be entangled in these snares for ten thousand

worlds—he hates the evils of his heart, and mourns over the

corruptions of his nature. They make the tear fall from his

eye, and the sob to heave from his bosom—they make him

a wretched man—and fill him day after day with sorrow,

bitterness, and anguish.

None but a saved soul, under divine teaching, can see

this evil—and mourn and sigh under the depravity, the

corruption, the unbelief, the carnality, the wickedness,

and the deceitfulness of his evil heart.

This inward conflict, this sore grief, this internal burden,

that all the family of God are afflicted with—is an evidence

that the life and grace of God are in their bosoms.

"Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

So you see how it is—in my mind I really want to obey

God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a

slave to sin." Rom. 7:25

A KING REJECTED

A KING REJECTED, FORESHADOWING A KING REJECTED.

‎2 Samuel 2:11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.


Matthew Henry:

Here is, I. A rivalship between two kings - David, whom God made king, and Ishbosheth, whom Abner made king. One would have thought, when Saul was slain, and all his sons that had sense and spirit enough to take the field with him, David would come to the throne without any opposition, since all Israel knew, not only how he had signalized himself, but how manifestly God had designated him to it; but such a spirit of contradiction is there, in the devices of men, to the counsels of God, that such a weak and silly thing as Ishbosheth, who was not thought fit to go with his father to the battle, shall yet be thought fit to succeed him in the government, rather than David shall come peaceably to it. Herein David's kingdom was typical of the Messiah's, against which the heathens rage and the rulers take counsel, Psa_2:1, Psa_2:2.

AND his concise commentary:

The nation in general refused David. By this the Lord trained up his servant for future honour and usefulness; and the tendency of true godliness was shown in his behaviour while passing through various difficulties. David was herein a type of Christ, whom Israel would not submit to, though anointed of the Father to be a Prince and a Saviour to them

HOW MANY WAYS CAN I SAY THIS

I've read both passages before, but this is the first time I've seem them as two bookends. It is like Paul is stuttering, and repeating himself as many as he can to help us snap out of it and wake up.

AS IF...."HOW MANY WAYS CAN I SAY THIS GUYS???"

‎1 Cor. 1:17-18 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. [18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.


1 Cor. 2:1-5 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. [2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, [4] and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [5] that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.


Despite 1:18 being True, and in fact PRECISELY because it is true, does Paul insist on 1:17...which is repeated in chapter 2.

ARE YOU BUILDING SOMETHING

Are you building something that will condemn the world?


Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righ teousness that comes by faith.

Is your life building something that will condemn the world, who is condemned already. John 3. If Noah built something that condemned the world, which was already condemned being a son of Adam, how much more did the works and work of Jesus build something that will condemn the world.

Matthew 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Matthew 11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. Matthew 11:24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

Luke 10:12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Luke 10:14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

Are you building something that will condemn the world, which is condemned already? The message and life of the disciples did. Are you His disciple too?

Mark 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

I have a lot to learn from Hebrews 11 that Jesus might ask of me..... Mark 8:21, How is it that ye do not understand?

OBJECTIVE IN LEARNING

The objective in all learning, even to learn the alphabet as a 2 year old...is to aid in knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, trusting Jesus, serving Jesus, obeying Jesus, resting in Jesus, valuing Jesus, honoring Jesus, proclaiming Jesus, exalting Jesus, glorifying Jesus. If this is not the objective in your learning, then you have learned all, even your alphabet, in vain; and therefore, in the final analysis have learned nothing at all.

EFFECTS OF HIS GRACE

God ... as he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, actually worketh faith and repentance to us, gives them unto us, bestows them on us; so that they are mere effects of his grace in us. And his working in us infallibly produceth the effect intended, because it is actual faith that he works, and not only a power to believe."

- John Owen

THE MATERIAL CAUSE

The efficient cause of our eternal salvation the Scripture uniformly proclaims to be the mercy and free love of the Heavenly Father toward us; the material cause to be Christ...and what can be the formal or instrumental cause but faith?
 
(John Calvin:  Inst. 3.14.17)