Isolating the Will

 Stop Affirming “Libertarian Free Will” – It’s a Bait-and-Switch Heresy:

If you're committed to a biblically consistent view of reality, it's time to drop the phrase "Libertarian free Will" like a hot heresy. Why? Because it's not just bad theology—it’s a sneaky, misleading label designed for confusion. Let’s break it down: “Libertarian free Will” is not about the Person—it’s isolating the Will from everything else that makes you, You. Your character. Your personality. Your desires. Your nature. This phrase pits "Will" against the very things that determine how the will functions. Provisionists love this trick. They use it to suggest that “freedom” means Will can choose against Your own nature, desires, and character—as if Will floats in a vacuum, free from even You, and definitely free from God's determined reality. That’s not just unbiblical. That’s nonsense. Nobody—including God—has that kind of "Will". God’s will is not “free” to act in contradiction to His own character, personality, preferences, or nature. That’s not a limitation—it’s consistency. Holiness isn’t random. Adam pre-Fall didn’t have a “Will” that was pitted against every other thing that made Adam who Adam was. Even a sinner today chooses based on what they want most in the moment—which is always in line with their nature, preferences, and character. So here's the deal: If someone wants to say we are “Free Person”, in refrence to other Created "Free Persons"—fine. That at least acknowledges the person is “free” from being externally forced by other created beings. But the will itself? It’s never independent of the person it belongs to. And the person is never independent of God's determined reality. So stop acting like it is. Stop giving "Libertarian Free Will" a platform. The real issue isn’t “can we choose?” It’s why we choose what we do. And Scripture is clear: “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9), and the unregenerate mind “cannot submit to God” (Rom. 8:7-8). So let’s call it what it is: Libertarian free Will is a label that exists only to smuggle in irrationality. It’s theological make-believe that lets people pretend they’re upholding “freedom” while ignoring God's sovereignty AND HUMAN NATURE. Bottom line? Don't affirm that phrase. Expose it. Correct it. Replace it. Because a “Will” that’s free from everything, including God and your own nature, is a lie—and a heretical one at that. Let’s put "Will" back in its proper place—as the result of a chain of reasoning, NOT above the chain pretending to create it out of nothing like a god it never was.

Look at Christ

 “When I look at myself, I do not see how I can be saved.  But when I look at Christ, I do not see how I can be lost.”

— Martin Luther

When sin is small

 “If you fail to see the blazing glory of God and the beauty of His holiness, then you will fail to see how monstrous sin is. When God is small, sin is small.”

— Michael Reeves

Freeness of Grace

 Though I be the unworthiest sinner that ever had access to Christ, yet since he delights to glorify the freeness and riches of his grace in admitting those that are most unworthy, and since he expresses it by inviting me, shall I not hearken to him?

—David Clarkson, Works 1:90

Grace Gems of the Today: Merciful.

 Blessed are the merciful

By Arthur Pink and others.

[This is the fifth, in our series of eight beatitudes.]

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7

Gospel mercy is not a product of human nature--it is the fruit of a heart transformed by divine grace. Before regeneration, we were hard, self-centered and indifferent to the souls of others. But when God had mercy on us--pardoning our sin, cleansing our guilt, and raising us from spiritual death--He made us into merciful people. This beatitude is not a call to earn mercy, but a declaration of the mercy which God's grace produces in those whom He saves.

Mercy is that compassion which is moved by the sight of misery, and which attempts to relieve those in misery.

What greater misery exists, than the misery of sin?

What deeper need can there be, than the need of pardon from the thrice holy God?

The merciful, then, are those who are moved--not merely by physical suffering--but by the eternal peril of those who are rushing madly on to a dreadful Hell! Having themselves tasted the sweetness of forgiveness, they long to see others reconciled to God. They pray, they plead, they labor that sinners might flee to Christ. They are not content to let men run undisturbed to damnation--they intervene, with the gospel of mercy in their mouths, and the love of Christ in their hearts.

And what is the promise? "They shall obtain mercy!" The merciful shall be shown mercy in their daily walk--receiving patience, grace, and strength from their Heavenly Father.

And on that final day when they stand before the Judge of all, they will not receive the awful sentence they so justly deserved. Instead of Hell, they will be met with mercy--divine, sovereign, everlasting mercy! The One who should have banished them to Hell, will, in His great mercy on the unworthy, welcome them into glory! With nail-pierced hands, He will receive them--those who were once ill-deserving and Hell-deserving, declaring before all Heaven: "These are My merciful ones . . .
  redeemed by My Son's sin-atoning death,
  kept by My power, and
  now brought Home by My marvelous mercy!"
 

Struggling Christians

 5 things struggling Christians need to remember in the fight:

- You’re in a war—stop acting like you’re on vacation. (Eph. 6:11-12) - The enemy accuses daily—Christ intercedes hourly. (Heb. 7:25) - Victory doesn’t mean ease—it means endurance. (Matt. 24:13) - Your scars are proof you didn’t quit. (2 Tim. 4:7) - The empty tomb is your guarantee—you fight from victory, not for it. (1 Cor. 15:57)

Basing your Assurance

 Stop basing your assurance of salvation on the strength of your faith or your lack of sin.

Base your assurance on this: God chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world

Look Away from

 “Faith is the way in which I can look away from myself – both from my sin and my progress in sanctification – and look to Christ as my only hope.”

-Robert Godfrey

Looking Again

 Assurance isn’t found by staring harder at ourselves.

It’s found by looking to Christ — and looking again. -- Jeffery Perry

Read: an act of Worship

 Read as an act of worship. Read to be elevated into the great truths of God so that you may worship the Trinity in Spirit and in truth. Be selective about what you read, however. Measure all your reading against the touchstone of Scripture. So much of today’s Christian literature is froth, riddled with Arminian theology or secular thinking. Time is too precious to waste on nonsense. Read more for eternity than time, more for spiritual growth than professional advancement.

Feed My Sheep, ed. Don Kistler, Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 2002, p. 120.

Joel Beeke

Even You

 "The essence of the doctrine of election is this: God has saved you! Because he had a plan to save you and he always fulfills his plans, it means that no one can thwart God's plan. Even you." -W. Robert Godfrey

Preserving Faithfulness

 If someone Reformed is asked on what his perseverance in the state of grace rests, then he will not answer, “On something in me, on the power and the capacity for withstanding of the new life that I possess,” but, “Solely on the preserving faithfulness of God.”

—Geerhardus Vos

Are you Weary?

 O, Christian, Are You Weary? D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Being “Weary in Well Doing”

Being a Christian these days can be a wearying task. We fight indwelling sin, forces of spiritual darkness, and personal trials that come our way. In addition to these difficulties, we have suffered through Covid for multiple years and now watch the effects of a new war, inflation, and whatever else might come. Do you find yourself weary in doing good?

In his book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965), D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives a chapter to encourage those who are “Weary in Well Doing” (190–202). His main text is Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (KJV). He describes spiritual depression from weariness in this way: “Here, the devil does something much more subtle, in that there is apparently nothing wrong at all. What happens is that people just become weary and tired, while still going in the right direction…. shuffling along with drooping heads and hands… the very antithesis of what the Christian is meant to be in this world” (191).

He then describes weariness in general and turns these thoughts to the Christian life. Life has times of youth and old age in which people are granted “compensations” to help them through these years. Between these times, however, is especially when the weariness may come: “The most difficult period of all in life is the middle period” (192). Whereas one has worked hard to get to this point, the motivation is not the same to continue in one’s success. Goals are achieved, life is routine, and the excitement of learning and discovery may vanish. The internal push for progress dissipates once one reaches life’s plateau.

Lloyd-Jones then focuses on the Christian: “Now this is equally true in the religious or the spiritual life” (192). “The initial experience… was new and surprising and wonderful and clear” (193), but “now we have become accustomed to the Christian life” (193). It seems “routine… the same thing day after day. Then this trial [weariness] arises, and we are no longer carried over it by that initial momentum which seemed to take us through it all in the early stages at the beginning…. This is the condition with which the apostle deals with here…. some kind of doldrums…. a standstill” (193). What are we to do? How can we overcome weariness in well-doing?

Lloyd-Jones warns us of three dangers and tells us what not to do. First, we may be tempted to “give up, or give way, or give in” (194). Second, a greater temptation, “The danger of the majority at this point is just to resign themselves to it and to lose heart and to lose hope” (194). Though it may seem “heroic” or ring of “loyalty” to grit our teeth and carry on, addressing our weariness in our own strength will only lead to weariness still. And third, if we are not careful, “We will resort to artificial stimulants” (195). Even in his day, Lloyd-Jones warns against drunkenness that begins with “a little alcohol to help him to carry on” or giving in to “drugs and various other things” (195).

Finally, Lloyd-Jones offers us some solutions. “The first thing must be self-examination” (196). We have to look at ourselves to discover the root of our weariness. Are we working too hard and too much and running down our bodies? Are we doing the Lord’s work in human strength alone? Also, what is our motivation for doing what we do? To been seen of men or to please God alone? Or, has “God’s work” become not “something which you do” but “something that keeps you going” (198)? Would we know what to do with ourselves if the busyness of ministry and Christian activity was taken away? Are we “being in control” or is “the thing controlling us” (198)? If the latter, “ultimately it exhausts us and depresses us” (198).

Lloyd-Jones then goes on to give three “certain great principles” to overcome weariness in well-doing (198). First, we have to remember that “there are phases in the Christian life as in the whole of life” (198). Life in general and the spiritual life begins with infancy and moves to maturity. As infants, everything is exciting, fresh, and new. In our maturity, our energy is the same but harnessed and used in different ways. We have to remember that Christian maturity will not be quite the same experience as when we first believed.

Second, he says, “It is ‘well doing’ remember,” not just doing (199). “You are set in the midst of the most glorious campaign into which a man could ever enter” (200). If we merely look at the Christian life as “doing” and not “well-doing,” then we have lost sight of who we are in Christ, what He has done in us, and what we are doing for Him.

Are you weary? Do not give up, and do not grow weary of doing good. In due season you will reap as you persevere in serving the Lord.

Third, Lloyd-Jones reminds us, “The next principle is that this life of ours is but a preparatory one…. This life is but the ante-chamber of eternity and all we do in this world is but anticipatory of that” (200). This thought brings us back to Galatians 6:9: “for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Lloyd-Jones closes with a number of texts to reinforce this forward look. We have not fully seen, heard, or imagined what is yet to come (1 Corinthians 2:9). We should keep our mind on heavenly things (Colossians 3:1) and thereby bound in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). As Christ saw the joy set before Him and thought nothing of His cross, so also we may suffer from time to time but will one day join Him above (Hebrews 12:2, 4; cf. Colossians 1:24). If these truths guide you through your weariness, “You will go forward still more gloriously, until eventually you will hear Him saying: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord’, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (p. 202; Matthew 25:21, 23, 34).

Are you weary? Do not give up, and do not grow weary of doing good. In due season you will reap as you persevere in serving the Lord.

Exiled.

 Yes, that is essentially accurate. Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373), one of the most important defenders of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism, was exiled multiple times by different emperors. Here is a more detailed breakdown of his exiles:

1. Exiled by Constantine (335–337) – At the Council of Tyre in 335, Athanasius was accused of various charges, including obstructing grain shipments to Constantinople. Emperor Constantine exiled him to Trier (modern Germany). However, after Constantine's death in 337, his son Constans allowed Athanasius to return.

2. Exiled by Constantius II (339–346) – Constantius II, who favored Arianism, opposed Athanasius. In 339, he deposed Athanasius and installed the Arian bishop Gregory of Cappadocia in Alexandria. Athanasius fled to Rome, where he found support from Pope Julius I. He was later restored in 346.

3. Exiled by Constantius II (356–362) – Under increasing Arian influence, Constantius II exiled Athanasius again in 356. He fled into the Egyptian desert, where he stayed among the monks and continued writing against Arianism.

4. Exiled by Julian the Apostate (362–363) – Julian, seeking to weaken the Christian church, allowed many exiled bishops to return, including Athanasius. However, after seeing Athanasius' influence in strengthening Nicene Christianity, Julian exiled him again in 362. Athanasius withdrew briefly but returned after Julian's death in 363.

5. Exiled by Valens (365–366) – Emperor Valens, an Arian sympathizer, ordered Athanasius' removal again in 365. Athanasius hid for a few months but was allowed to return in 366, spending the rest of his life in Alexandria until his death in 373.

In total, Athanasius was exiled five times over his lifetime, spending roughly 17 years in exile out of his 45-year tenure as bishop of Alexandria. His steadfast opposition to Arianism earned him the title Athanasius contra mundum ("Athanasius against the world").

The Secret

 The secret of a successful spiritual life is just to realize two things: I must have complete, absolute confidence in God and no confidence in myself.

—Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Completely Human Centered.

I normally do not make posts this long, but since I probably have zero readers, I will archive this material online for my own sake; but as a preface the beginnings of this post should be understood in terms of 1 Corinthians 1-2 (foolishness of the gospel.)

Provisionism is Not Foolishness:

Provisionism is not foolishness. In fact, it makes perfect sense.

It’s simple. Even children are trained in this framework from a young age:

If you choose to believe in Santa…

If you stay on the good list and endure to the end of the year…

Then you will receive good gifts as a reward.

But if you don’t believe or if you fall away into bad behavior, you get coal.

That’s Provisionism in a nutshell. Believe, behave, endure, and receive the reward. It’s not foolishness because it’s not foreign—it’s how every human system works.

For adults, it’s even more practical:

You lost your job and owe a mortgage you can’t pay.

The good news? There’s a corporation willing to help.

If you believe the owner will pay you at the end of the month…

If you stay in the corporation and endure to the end without quitting…

Then you will certainly receive your paycheck.

That’s not foolishness—that’s just a contract. Work, endure, and be rewarded.

Provisionism is not foolishness. It (Provisionism) is completely rational, completely understandable, and completely human-centered.

And that’s exactly the problem.

Paul Was Not Ashamed of the Foolishness He Preached

Paul didn’t preach a transactional system that made sense to the world. He preached a Gospel so offensive, so radical, that it was mocked, rejected, and called foolishness by those who were perishing (1 Cor. 1:18).

The world understands contracts. It does not understand a God who saves people who didn’t choose Him (John 15:16).

The world understands religious effort. It does not understand a God who says “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16).

The world understands wages. It does not understand grace that actually saves rather than just offering an opportunity (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Provisionism is not foolishness because it’s not the message Paul preached. It’s just another works-based system with better branding.

I’m Not Ashamed of Calvinism Because It Is Foolishness

Calvinism is mocked, twisted, strawmanned, and hated—and that’s exactly how it should be.

Paul never had to defend an accepted Gospel. He had to defend a rejected one.

Paul never had to clarify a reasonable Gospel. He had to clarify a foolish one.

Paul never had to suffer for a man-centered Gospel. He suffered for a God-centered one.

So when the world rejects Calvinism, when it ridicules and distorts it—that is exactly what should happen. That’s what always happens when you preach that God alone saves, that man is powerless, and that salvation is not a paycheck but a gift given to the elect.

The only reason to say “I am not ashamed” is when the world is calling your message foolish.

And the world does not call Provisionism foolish. It makes too much sense to them. It’s too familiar. Too humanistic.

But the Gospel Paul preached? That was offensive. That was foolishness to those who were perishing.

And if that’s what Paul preached, then I’m standing right there with him.

In need

Are you in need of assurance today? Look! To Calvary, where God proved He is for us. To justification, which proves that no accusation against us will stick. To the interceding Christ, standing to assure us we can never be condemned. To the indestructible love of God that persuades us that nothing will ever be able to separate us from Jesus Christ our Lord. (from Jeffery Perry on x.com)

He wore my crown

He wore my crown, the crown of thorns; I wear his crown, the crown of glory. He wore my nakedness; I wear his royal robes. He bore my shame; I bear his honour. Spurgeon

Heap. David Dickson.

"Puritan Gold" "I have taken all my good deeds, and all my bad, and cast them together in a heap before the Lord, and fled from both, and have taken myself to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him I have sweet peace." "David Dickson"

Anatomy. Obadiah Sedgwick

Every self-considering Christian does see so much sin in his heart and life, that he is abased under the burden of it; how heavy then is this thought upon his heart: that there are many thousands of secret, unseen errors chargeable upon him by the all-knowing, heart-searching God. - Obadiah Sedgwick (1600-1658), The Anatomy of Secret Sins

Growing as a Christian

Michael Reeves -- "If you are not increasingly grieved by your own sin, you are not growing as a Christian."

God sent the Son in Love

This idea that the Lord Jesus Christ is at great pains to persuade God the Father to forgive and accept us is utterly unscriptural and entirely false. —Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Saved in Eternity, 55

Walter Marshall once told

Walter Marshall once told Thomas Goodwin all about the sins that weighed heavily on his conscience. Goodwin’s response was that he had forgotten to mention his greatest sin: not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of his sins and the sanctifying of his nature.

Remember (Thomas Wilcox)

Remember your sin—Christ's pardon 

your deservings—Christ's merits 

your weakness—Christ's strength 

your pride—Christ's humility 

your infirmities—Christ's restorings 

your guilts—Christ's blood 

your failings—Christ's raisings up 

your vileness—Christ's righteousness. —Thomas Wilcox

"Let sin break your heart, but not your hope in the gospel." -Thomas Wilcox.

When you see sin, look at Christ's grace that did pardon it; and when you are proud, look at Christ's grace, that shall humble and strike you down in the dust. --Thomas Wilcox

The Supreme Art

"It's the supreme art of the devil that he can make the law out of gospel." Martin Luther

Proper Worship

I am not unaware how difficult it is to persuade the world that God rejects and even abominates everything relating to His worship that is devised by human reason. ~ John Calvin

Question for Non-Cals by CCP

Question for non-Cals: God knows if He takes one action ‘A’ the person will choose ‘X’. However, God knows if He takes another action ‘B’ the person will instead choose ‘Y’. How did God NOT “choose your choice” by choosing which action to take?

Faith is a Gift

Calvin on faith being a gift from God “Faith itself is a work of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in none but the children of God. So then, in various respects, faith is a part of our regeneration, and an entrance into the kingdom of God, that he may reckon us among his children. The illumination of our minds by the Holy Spirit belongs to our renewal, and thus faith flows from regeneration as from its source; but since it is by the same faith that we receive Christ, who sanctifies us by his Spirit, on that account it is said to be the beginning of our adoption.” -- John Calvin

ENJOY GOD'S GENEROSITY

Let’s get rid of the inhuman philosophy which only allows necessities. Not only does it wrongly deprive us of legitimate enjoyment of God’s generosity, but it cannot be effected without depriving man of all his senses, reducing him to a block. --John Calvin. We should therefore learn that the only good we have is what the Lord has given us gratuitously; that the only good we do is what He does in us; that it is not that we do nothing ourselves, but that we act only when we have been acted upon, in other words under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1960, p. 317-318, www.eerdmans.com.

One Hundredth Part

 You are worse than you think you are, but also far more loved than you feel you are.

--Timothy Keller.

No one knows the one-hundredth part of the sin that clings to his soul.

--John Calvin

Spiritual Discovery

One man may give another an affecting view of divine things with but common assistance: but God alone can give a spiritual discovery of them. --Jonathan Edwards

SOLE SOUL MEDIATOR

 The doctrine of making angels and saints mediators and intercessors is condemned because it associates Christ with others in that significant role. Yet, when you join 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 and 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 with Christ's obedience, you do the same.

—Puritan Anthony Burgess

By Feelings

 “Salvation by feelings is no more possible than salvation by good works.”

— Charles Spurgeon

Clothed

 What didst Thou see in me that I, a poor, diseased, despised sinner, should be clothed in Thy bright glory? — The Valley of Vision, ‘Freedom’

CONSTANTLY HUMBLED

“Though God could have wholly delivered his people from the filth of sin, as well as from the guilt of it, and as well from lesser sins, as from great and scandalous; yet he hath left these infirmities and weaknesses in the hearts and lives of his people, that they may be constantly humbled in themselves, and prize Christ the more.” 

 —William Bridge, Works 4:230

Now in the covenant of works, the 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 sin breaks the covenant; but in the covenant of grace, the 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 sin doth not break the covenant between God and the soul. 

 —Puritan William Bridge, Works 4:232

“I will not question my spiritual estate and condition for every sin; I will grieve for every sin of infirmity because it is a sin, but I will not question my condition, because it is but a sin of infirmity.” —Puritan William Bridge, Works 4:237

John Flavel Come Unto Jesus

“Lord, I am fully satisfied of the fulness of thy saving power, but greatly doubt whether ever I shall have the benefit thereof; “for I see so much sin and guilt in myself, so great vileness and utter unworthiness, that I am overweighed, and even sink under the burden of it: My soul is discouraged because of sin. “This objection is prevented in the words of my text, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden.’ “Let not the sense of your sin and misery drive you from your only remedy: “Be your sins never so many, and the sense and burden of them never so heavy, yet, for all that, Come unto me: “You are the persons whom I invite and call. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

 — John Flavel

 

Utterly False

 It is utterly false that it does not matter to what church we belong. It matters to every man who has a conscience and loves his God. I dare not associate in church fellowship with Ritualists and Rationalists; loyal subjects will not join the society of traitors.

Charles Spurgeon

Over-whelmed

A young overwhelmed preacher complained to Luther that preaching was too heavy a burden for an inexperienced man like him and that he should have stayed in his former profession. Luther responded with words that, according to Roland Bainton, "Luther was constantly repeating to himself": "If Peter and Paul were here, they would scold you because you wish right off to be as accomplished as they. Crawling is something, even if one is unable to walk. Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to his honor and not to applause. Pray that God will give you a mouth and to your audience ears. I can tell you preaching is not a work of man. Although I am old and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach. So pray to God and leave all the rest to him." Roland Bainton, Here I Stand, p. 361

 Jesus was born under the Law because He came to perfectly obey it in our place. He came to do what we, because of our sinful nature, could not do. It is this perfect obedience to the moral will of God that constitutes His active obedience.

 We are brought into God's Kingdom by grace; we are sanctified by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace; we are called to serve and, finally, we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace.

 “The Secret Rapture False Teaching”

By Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“I have said that the teaching about the secret rapture did not appear before 1830. We have, in fact, an authoritative statement as to how it began.

There was a New Testament scholar called Tregelles, who belonged to the so-called Plymouth Brethren. In 1830 and subsequently he was present at the Powerscourt Conferences which were attended by J.N. Darby and B.W. Newton, and others belonging to that school.

This is what Tregelles says: 'I was not aware that there was any definite teaching that there should be a secret rapture of the Church at a secret coming until this was given forth as an utterance in Mr. Edward Irving's church, from what was then received as being the voice of the Spirit - it was from that supposed 'revelation' that the modern doctrine arose.'

The teaching of the secret rapture of the Church at the coming of our Lord was first taught as the result of a prophetic utterance in Edward Irving's church.
It originated as an Utterance in Tongues, interpreted by somebody, and, indeed, Tregelles emphasized this by saying that this teaching was a 'revelation'.

As I understand the New Testament, we should always be suspicious of a teaching that is based upon some supposed 'revelation'.

According to Tregelles, the teaching with regard to the preliminary rapture of the saints, which first came in as a prophetic utterance, was accepted by certain people present at the 1830 conference, including J.N. Darby.

But it was not accepted by B.W. Newton, nor by George Mueller, and there was a division even among that circle.

Only J.N Darby and certain of his followers accepted it.

D.L. Moody, the evangelist, adopted J.N. Darby's teaching and because Moody was such a well-known man as a result of his evangelistic campaigns, it was popularized immediately.

The formation of the Moody Bible Institute popularized it still more and the publication of the Scofield Bible was possibly most influential of all in spreading this 'new revelation' teaching.

That, then, is the teaching about this Preliminary Rapture and the friends who believe this claim that there are certain scriptures which prove it.

So let us look first at 2 Thessalonians 2:8: 'And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming' - or, 'the epiphany of His parousia' or, 'the manifestation of His coming'. There is, it is claimed, a distinction between His 'coming' and the 'manifestation of His coming'.

But this is surely answered by 2 Thessalonians 1: 9-10 where the destruction of the sinners and the glorification of the saints occur together.

Furthermore, 2 Thessalonians 2:1 identifies the parousia with the coming of the Lord.
With regard to Matthew 24:40-41 which reads, 'Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left', the whole setting is that of judgment and in the context is comparable to the flood.

This verse therefore means that at the final judgment there will be a separation.
Finally, in John 5:28-29 our Lord says, 'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which ALL that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation'; while in John 6:39-40 He refers to 'the last day'.

So, the clear teaching of Scripture is that there is Only One Coming, not two; nor are there two stages. There is NO 'Secret' Rapture, and No coming of our Lord at any moment. Certain things must happen first, as we have seen.

The Scripture declares plainly that the Lord Jesus will NOT come until the Apostacy shall have taken place, the Man of Sin, the son of perdition shall have been revealed as in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.

Many other portions also of the Word of God distinctly teach that certain events are to be fulfilled before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because His appearing is our blessed hope to which we look forward, let us purify ourselves now, seeking to live as children of the light, and obviously different from the children of night and of darkness."
- “Great Doctrines of the Bible” by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God incomparable

 If God be an incomparable God, then they are incomparably blessed who have him for their happiness - George Swinnock

Buy without Price

 Isaiah 55:1 (ESV): "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Revelation 22:17 (ESV):  "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price."

Rev 3:15  “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!   So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.   For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.   18  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 

“**John 4:10 (ESV):** "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.'"”

Winners are Weepers

 "Winners of souls are first weepers for souls."

— Charles Spurgeon

"Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, God would have put you there." — Charles Spurgeon

In times of adversity, believers comfort themselves with the solace that they suffer nothing except by God’s ordinance and command, for they are under his hand. -- John Calvin

I find myself frequently depressed ... and I find no better cure than to trust in the Lord with all my heart.

-- Charles Spurgeon

Because of our sin nature, we can’t trust our feelings! -- Answers in Genesis (probably Ken Ham).

We must judge our feelings against the absolute authority of God’s Word. --Answers in Genesis.