Sunday, July 31, 2022
Friday, July 29, 2022
JOY IS NOT SELF-INDUCED
Darrell B. Harrison. (on twitter).
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
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.
Monday, July 25, 2022
Thursday, July 21, 2022
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!
Monday, July 18, 2022
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Saturday, July 9, 2022
Friday, July 8, 2022
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Monday, July 4, 2022
Sunday, July 3, 2022
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.
Friday, July 1, 2022
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.