Endeavor to Affect our Hearts with it.

 When by faith we have attained a view of the glory of Christ, in our contemplations on his person, we should not pass it over as a notion of truth which we assent unto, - namely, that he is thus glorious in himself, - but endeavor to affect our hearts with it. John Owen.

Five Answers to Five Errors

 To be very accurate, Calvinism does not have—and never has had—five points. Rather, it has five answers to the five errors of Arminianism.

-W. Robert Godfrey, Saving the Reformation: The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort

A FOUNTAIN OPENED

 

Assurance

“If assurance is not of the essence of saving faith, and it can be lost because of sin, sensitive persons will inevitably scrape their consciences raw until they find clues and, as Calvin warned, there will be no satisfaction with evidences;……there will never be enough to secure the soul’s confidence.” -Michael Horton “

There is nothing then that can satisfy the conscience in respect of the guilt of sin, but the blood, and death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” -Thomas Goodwin

Why not love the world?

 

A GRAIN OF FAITH MORE THAN A TON OF EXCITEMENT.

 

Offense and Tumult

 

Satan lies on the label.

 Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst:

He promises honor and pays with disgrace. He promises pleasure and pays with pain. He promises profit and pays with loss. He promises life and pays with death. But 𝘎𝘰𝘥 pays as He promises. —Thomas Brooks, Works 2:322

Satan labels the pot to be honey, when it is actually poison.

Satan lies.

Satan's promise is a lie.

Temptation is a lie.

Great Quotes by Gurnall

 “Never think to find honey in the pot when God writes poison on its cover.

“We may say of every sin in this respect...if God call it folly, there is no wisdom to be found in it.

“The devil, indeed, teacheth sinners to cover foul practices with fair names.”

— William Gurnall

 “Never think to find honey in the pot when God writes poison on its cover.

— William Gurnall

APPLAUSE IS WORTH NOTHING.

 

(Do not seek to impress others or your self with your: Chess rating, Bench Press, Cycling Distance.  Though exercise for the sake of energy for the sake of serving Christ and telling of His glory and grace -- is a proper motivation to exercise.)

Not for our Faith, nor according to our Faith

We are not elected....for our faith nor according to our faith, but "to our faith", that is, elected (in order that) we might (would) believe.  

-- William Perkins. 

THE SOVEREIGN DECREE OF GOD

 

I am His by purchase

 

I SIN CONTINUALLY, BUT CHRIST HAS DIED

 

Not its results

 

God has entrusted the ministry of the Word to us, not its results.

-- R.C. Sproul

JOY IS NOT SELF-INDUCED

For the Christian, joy is not a self-induced, self-sustained, emotional state of being. It is a Spirit-instilled, Spirit-sustained state of heart and mind. That joy is a fruit *of* the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) means it originates and proceeds from the Spirit of God, not from ourselves.

Darrell B. Harrison.  (on twitter).  

Series of Quotes by Calvin

 Now, since the arrangement of all things is in the hand of God, since to him belongs the disposal of life and death, he arranges all things by his sovereign counsel, in such a way that individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify him by their destruction. If any one alleges that no necessity is laid upon them by the providence of God, but rather that they are created by him in that condition, because he foresaw their future depravity, he says something, but does not say enough. Ancient writers, indeed, occasionally employ this solution, though with some degree of hesitation. The Schoolmen, again, rest in it as if it could not be gainsaid. I, for my part, am willing to admit, that mere prescience lays no necessity on the creatures; though some do not assent to this, but hold that it is itself the cause of things. But Valla, though otherwise not greatly skilled in sacred matters, seems to me to have taken a shrewder and more acute view, when he shows that the dispute is superfluous since life and death are acts of the divine will rather than of prescience. If God merely foresaw human events, and did not also arrange and dispose of them at his pleasure, there might be room for agitating the question, how far his foreknowledge amounts to necessity; but since he foresees the things which are to happen, simply because he has decreed that they are so to happen, it is vain to debate about prescience, while it is clear that all events take place by his sovereign appointment.

— John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 23, Paragraph 6

...how foolish and frail is the support of divine justice afforded by the suggestion that evils come to be, not by His will but by His permission... It is a quite frivolous refuge to say that God otiosely permits them, when Scripture shows Him not only willing, but the author of them...

— John Calvin, The Eternal Predestination of God, 10:11

(Definition of Otiosely: serving no practical purpose or result.)

The devil, and the whole train of the ungodly, are in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle, so that they can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how muchsoever they may have planned, move a single finger to perpetrate, unless in so far as he permits, nay unless in so far as he commands, that they are not only bound by his fetters but are even forced to do him service (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 17, Paragraph 11)

...thieves and murderers, and other evildoers, are instruments of divine providence, being employed by the Lord himself to execute judgments which he has resolved to inflict.

— John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 17, Paragraph 5)

For God's will is so much the highest rule of righteousness that whatever he wills, by the very fact that he wills it, must be considered righteous. When, therefore, one asks why God has so done, we must reply: because he has willed it. But if you proceed further to ask why he so willed, you are seeking something greater and higher than God's will, which cannot be found. Let men's rashness, then, restrain itself, and not seek what does not exist, lest perhaps it fail to find what does exist.

— John Calvin

Here they recur to the distinction between will and permission, and insist that God permits the destruction of the impious, but does not will it. But what reason shall we assign for his permitting it, but because it is his will? It is not probable, however, that man procured his own destruction by the mere permission, without any appointment, of God; as though God had not determined what he would choose to be the condition of the principal of his creatures. I shall not hesitate therefore to confess plainly with Augustine, "that the will of God is the necessity of things, and that what he has willed will necessarily come to pass." God is very frequently said to blind and harden the reprobate, and to turn, incline, and influence their hearts, as I have elsewhere more fully stated. But it affords no explication of the nature of this influence to resort to prescience or permission.... For the execution of his judgements, he, by means of Satan, the minister of his wrath, directs their counsels to what he pleases and excites their wills and strengthens their efforts. Thus when Moses relates that Sihon the king would not grant a free passage to the people, because God had "hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate" he immediately subjoins the end of Gods design: "That he might deliver him into thy hand" Since God willed his destruction, the obduration of his heart therefore was the divine preparation for his ruin.”

— John Calvin, Institutes, III, xxili, 8; and II, iv, 3

And it ought not to seem absurd for me to say that God not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and in him the ruin of his descendants, but also meted it out in accordance with his own decision...

— John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 23, Paragraph 7

A distinction has been invented between doing and permitting, because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that He directs their malice to whatever end He pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute His judgements… How foolish and frail is the support of divine justice afforded by the suggestion that evils come to be, not by His will but by His permission… It is a quite frivolous refuge to say that God otiosely permits them, when Scripture shows Him not only willing, but the author of them…Who does not tremble at these judgments with which God works in the hearts of even the wicked whatever He will, rewarding them nonetheless according to desert? Again it is quite clear from the evidence of Scripture that God works in the hearts of men to incline their wills just as he will, whether to good for His mercy’s sake, or to evil according to their merits.

— John Calvin, The Eternal Predestination of God, 10:11

We hold that God is the disposer and ruler of all things, –that from the remotest eternity, according to his own wisdom, He decreed what he was to do, and now by his power executes what he decreed. Hence we maintain, that by His providence, not heaven and earth and inanimate creatures only, but also the counsels and wills of men are so governed as to move exactly in the course which he has destined.

— John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 16, Paragraph 8

Creatures are so governed by the secret counsel of God, that nothing happens but what he has knowingly and willingly decreed.

— John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 16, Paragraph 3

God causes everything and of necessity, that is, in accordance with his providence.

— John Calvin, The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 1996, pg. 253

Everything that happens, happens of necessity, as God has ordained.

— John Calvin, The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, 1996, pg. 258

We define predestination as the eternal design of God, whereby he determined what he wanted to do with each man. For he did not create them all in the same condition, but foreordains some to everlasting life and others to eternal damnation.

— John Calvin

NO NATURAL MAN CAN BELIEVE THE GOSPEL

 

What a wonderful Person

 

(James Smith, "The Person and Work of Christ" 1849)  LISTEN to audio!  Download audio

What a wonderful person is my glorious Lord Jesus! All the divine attributes are found in Him. As there are no limits to His fullness, there can be no limit to my supplies, or the least prospect of need.

Jesus is my divine Savior!
His bounty will supply me,
His omnipotence will deliver me,
His omnipresence will protect me,
His omniscience will guard me,
His love will animate me,
His mercy will heal me,
His grace will support me,
His compassion will comfort me,
His pity will relieve me,
His goodness will provide for me,
His tenderness will soothe me,
His kindness will encourage me,
His patience will bear with me,
His justice will avenge me,
His faithfulness will embolden me,
His holiness will beautify me,
His anger will awe me,
His life will quicken me,
His light will illumine me,
His Word will regulate me,
His joy will delight me,
His blessedness will elevate me,
His long-suffering will lead me to repentance,
His immutability will secure the fulfillment of all the promises to me,
His truth will be my shield and buckler,
His sovereignty will raise my admiration,
His condescension will inspire me with gratitude and love,
and His all-sufficiency will satisfy me both in time and eternity!

In Jesus, God has reconciled me to Himself, imputing my trespasses to Him, and His obedience to me.

God by Jesus, takes away . . .
  all my sins,
  His own wrath, and
  my deserved condemnation!

All good things . . .
  are treasured up in Christ,
  were procured for me by Christ,
  flow to me through Christ, and
  are conferred on me for the sake of Christ!

How exactly suited is the Lord Jesus to my case! Inflexible justice demands my blood, but He becomes my substitute, and spills His own!

In Jesus, I see my sin, and God's justice meet!
He removes the one, and satisfies the other!

What is Jesus called in God's holy Word?
A Savior, in reference to my lost condition.
A Reconciler, in reference to the enmity that existed between myself and God.
A Redeemer, in reference to my slavery to sin.
A Mediator, in respect to the disagreement between myself and the Most High God.
A Refiner, with respect to my filthiness.
An Advocate, with regard to my perplexed cause.
A Prophet, in respect to my ignorance.
A Priest, with a view to my guiltiness.
A King, in regard to my weakness and foes.
A Bridegroom, regarding my lowly estate and relationship.
A Physician, with regard to my many soul maladies.
In a word, Jesus is "All In All."

O to know more of Jesus, in . . .
  the glory of His person,
  the riches of His grace,
  the perfection of His work,
  the tenderness of His heart,
  the strength of His love and
  the effectual working of His power!

GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO GOD

 

PREACHING THE LAW

 

NOT JUST PROPOSITIONS

 

Same Bible Same Holy Spirit

 

FEELING VERSUS FAITH

 

I Belong to God

 

Organized Idolatry

 

YET HE LOVES US

 

EVERYTHING IS BEING USED FOR YOUR GOD

 

Coram Deo Described

 

God knows what He is doing.

 

LOOK UP

 

This is JC Ryle, Upper Room Pg. 197-98

God will give me a new one.

 Chop off my head, and it won't harm me. I have a God who will give me a new one.

~ Martin Luther

HOW IS A SINNER JUSTIFIED

 Q. How is a believing sinner justified?

A. Not because of the worth of his faith or because of his imperfect Christian obedience, but purely by grace, for the sake of Christ’s perfect atonement & intercession, with faith only as an instrument, & apart from works of the Law.

—Wilhelmus Schortinghuis (1700-1750), Essential Truths in the Heart of a Christian, Pg. 94

Entirely Independent

 

PRAYER IS THE GRANDEST POWER

 

DISTINGUISHING LOVE

 

HOW MUCH WE ARE HATED

 A great comment I found online: Conservative Christians need to come to terms with how much we are hated by dominant currents in the culture. We should expect miraculous conversions, which have occurred in every age, but we should not expect unchurched people to just drift into our churches w/o radical conversion.

God will save his own elect

 

He is called your Advocate.

 "For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me."

―Psalm 51:3

“Are you accused by Satan, world, or your own conscience? He is called your Advocate. Are you ignorant? He is called the Prophet. Are you guilty of sin? He is called a Priest, and High Priest. Are you afflicted with many enemies, inward and outward? He is called a King, and King of kings. Are you in straits? He is called your way. Are you hungry or thirsty? He is called Bread and Water of Life. Are you afraid you shall fall away, and be condemned at the last? He is our second Adam, a public person, in whose death we died, and in whose satisfaction we satisfied; as there is no temptation or affliction, but some promise or other doth especially suit therewithal: so there is no condition, but some name, some title, some attribute of Christ doth especially suit with it: and as you do not look on Christ, but in reference to your condition, so you are not to look upon your condition alone, but with Christ's attribute suitable thereunto; if you look upon Christ's attribute of love without your condition, you may presume; if on your condition without Christ's attribute of love, you may despair: think on both together and you will not be discouraged.”

―William Bridge, A Lifting Up for the Downcast

Nothing in us

 Martyn Lloyd-Jones | Romans

Nothing 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴 determines whether we are saved or whether we are not.

It is the choosing and the calling of God alone that matters.

9.292

Darrell B. Harrison

 

VALLEY OF DEATH

 "Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff will give me breath. ” Psalm 23:4.

————————————————

Charles Spurgeon

Checkbook from the Bank of Faith.

————————————————

These words that describe the security experienced on our deathbed, are very sweet. How many people have repeated them with intense delight in their last hours! But the verse is equally applicable to the agonies of the spirit in the midst of life.. Some of us, like Paul, die daily because of a tendency to darkness of soul. On his pilgrimage, Bunyan puts the Valley of the Shadow of Death long before the flowing river at the foot of the heavenly hills. Some of us have walked through the dark and dreadful gorge of the “shadow of death” several times, and we can testify that only the Lord enabled us in the midst of their wild thoughts, their mysterious horrors and their terrible of pressures. The Lord has sustained us and kept us above all real fear of evil, even when our spirit would have been overwhelmed. We have been wrinkled and beaten down, yet we have lived, for we have felt the presence of the Great Shepherd, and we have had the confidence that his fall would prevent the enemy from delivering a deadly blow to us.

If the present time were darkened by the raven’s wings of great affliction, we must glorify God through quiet trust in Him.

FAITHFULNESS OF GOD BY A.W. PINK

 A.W. Pink,  The FAITHFULNESS OF GOD

There are seasons in everyone’s life when it isn’t easy, even for Christians, to believe that God is faithful. Our faith is greatly tested, our eyes are filled with tears, and we can no longer distinguish the work of His love. Our ears are distracted by the noises of the world, harassed by Satan's atheist whispers, and we can no longer hear the sweet accents of his still, peaceful voice. Longed plans have fallen apart, friends we trusted have failed us, someone who professed to be a brother or sister in Christ has betrayed us. We're dumbfounded. We wanted to be faithful to God, and now a dark cloud hides him from our sight.

 

It is difficult for us, yes, even impossible for reasons carnal, harmonize your severe providence with your grace-filled promises. Oh, you feeeling soul, fellow pilgrim who has been harshly tested, seek grace to heed what Isaiah 50:10 says: “Who is there among you that feareth the LORD, and heareth the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and lacks light, trusts in the name of the Lord, and rely on his God

 

When you are tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness, cry out, “Get back, Satan.” Although you cannot harmonize the mysterious dealings of God with the declarations of His love, wait on Him until you receive more light. At the right time it will be seen clearly. “What I am doing, you do not understand now; but you will understand later” (John 13:7). What will come next will prove that God has not abandoned or deceived His son. "But the Lord will wait to have mercy on you, and therefore he will be exalted having mercy on you: for the Lord is the God of judgment: blessed are all that wait for him" (Isa. 30:18).

 

Do not judge the Lord with the weakness of senses, Instead, trust that he will make you the object of his grace, Behind a providence that frowns the frown Hides a smiling face.

 

Saints that you fear, weapons of new courage, The clouds that terrorize you so much, They are full of mercy, and they will break in pouring blessings upon your heads. "

The mere pleasure of God

 

Drowned in Sin, before drowned in Water.

 

A grave with Christ is a Comfortable Place

“A grave with Christ is a comfortable place.”

— John Flavel

LOOKING UNTO JESUS

 

JIM ELLIOT QUOTE

 

JIM PRAYED TEN DAYS

 “Jim devoted ten days largely to prayer to make sure that this was indeed what God intended for him. He was given new assurance, and wrote to his parents of his intention to go to Ecuador. Understandably, they, with others who knew Jim well, wondered if perhaps his ministry might not be more effective in the United States, where so many know so little of the Bible's really message He replied: "I dare not stay home while Quiches perish. What if the well-filled church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures Moses, and the prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers.”

~Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor

Every Situation

 

You are mine, You shall be mine. I claim you for myself.

 

The Word is a Lamp

 The Word is called a lamp, to direct us; a medicine, to heal us; water, to wash us ; fire, to inflame us; salt, to season us; milk, to nourish us; wine, to rejoice us; rain, to refresh us; a treasure, to enrich us; and the key, to unlock heaven-gates unto us.

— Henry Smith

Bring Heaven to Us

 

It would fall infinitely short

 “If every leaf and spire of grass, nay, all the stars, sands, and atoms, were so many souls and seraphims, whose love should double in them every moment to all eternity,

“yet would it fall infinitely short of what is due to his worth and excellency.

“Suppose a creature composed of all the choice endowments that ever dwelt in the best of men since the creation of the world, in whom you find a meek Moses, a strong Sampson, a faithful Jonathan, a beautiful Absalom, a rich and wise Solomon, nay, and add to this, the understanding, strength, agility, splendor, and holiness of all the angels,

“it would all amount to but a dark shadow of this incomparable Jesus.”

— A “Mr. Jenkin,” cited in Flavel’s Fountain of Life

JOHN FLAVEL ON ASSURANCE

 John Flavel, on the believer pleading for assurance on the ground of the preciousness of Christ’s blood:

“Lord, I am not only thy creature, but thy redeemed creature; one that thou hast bought with a great price: O, I have cost thee dear! for my sake Christ came from thy bosom,

“and is it imaginable, that after that thou hast in such a costly way, even by the expense of the precious blood of Christ, redeemed me, thou shouldst at last exclude me? Shall the ends of both creation and redemption of this soul be lost together?

“…will [God] be content, when sin has marred the frame, and defaced the glory of [the soul], to recover it to himself again, by the death of his own dear Son, and after all this, cast it away as if there were nothing in all this?

“‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:’ I know thou wilt have a respect to the work of thy hands; especially to a redeemed creature, upon which thou hast expended so great sums of love, which thou hast bought at so dear a rate.”