Please, repent and trust Christ today.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Have you worshipped Him today?
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name. AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION
TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. Luke 1:49-50
And holy is His name. AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION
TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. Luke 1:49-50
Have you worshipped Him today?
Have you taken pause to praise His holy Name and proclaim the mighty things He has done for you?
"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God." 1 Sam 2:2
He is our all in all. He is our Rock and our salvation. There is none like Him.
Give Him praise today and tell someone about Him.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The sorrow of the world
(Arthur Pink, "Worldly Sorrow")
"The sorrow of the world works death." 2 Corinthians 7:10
Just as surely as happiness is the attendant of holiness--so misery is the certain result of sin.
The sorrow of the world is not occasioned by mourning over sin as sin--but over the retribution which sin brings.
The sorrow of the world does not arise from just views of sin, nor does it proceed from any concern that God has been offended. It does not lead the soul to God in true penitence, nor to turn to Him for consolation.
When the worldling's dream of earthly happiness has been dispelled by misfortune--he feeds only on the sour bread of self-pity and unblessed woe.
The sorrow of the world debilitates the body, disturbs peace, impairs the mind, and breaks the spirit. There is no contrite seeking unto God on the part of the suffering one--but only a fretting and murmuring against Him.
"Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores--but they refused to repent of what they had done." Revelation 16:10-11
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Good Shepherd
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep! I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand!" John 10:11, 28
Every part of our salvation, requires the exertion of infinite wisdom and almighty power. Jesus is the Shepherd of all who believe in Him. We depend upon Him—and He gives us the effectual help which we need. He is intimately acquainted with us—and knows every thought and intent of our hearts. He has His eye always upon us. His ear is always open to us. His arm is ever stretched out for our relief. We can receive nothing—but what He bestows upon us. We can do nothing—but as He enables us. Nor can we stand a moment—but as He upholds us!
It is amazing to me—that I do not find my heart all on fire with love to Jesus—when I consider—from what misery I am redeemed; to what happiness I am called; and what a price was paid for my soul! Alas! alas! my guilt and grief are that my thoughts of Jesus are so faint, and so infrequent; and that my commendations of Him are so lamentably cold and disproportionate to what they ought to be!
Yet—if the heart is right with God, and sincerely affected with the wonders of redeeming love—our gracious High Priest, who knows our weakness—will pity and pardon what is amiss, and accept our poor efforts!
Every part of our salvation, requires the exertion of infinite wisdom and almighty power. Jesus is the Shepherd of all who believe in Him. We depend upon Him—and He gives us the effectual help which we need. He is intimately acquainted with us—and knows every thought and intent of our hearts. He has His eye always upon us. His ear is always open to us. His arm is ever stretched out for our relief. We can receive nothing—but what He bestows upon us. We can do nothing—but as He enables us. Nor can we stand a moment—but as He upholds us!
It is amazing to me—that I do not find my heart all on fire with love to Jesus—when I consider—from what misery I am redeemed; to what happiness I am called; and what a price was paid for my soul! Alas! alas! my guilt and grief are that my thoughts of Jesus are so faint, and so infrequent; and that my commendations of Him are so lamentably cold and disproportionate to what they ought to be!
Yet—if the heart is right with God, and sincerely affected with the wonders of redeeming love—our gracious High Priest, who knows our weakness—will pity and pardon what is amiss, and accept our poor efforts!
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Christian's heaviest burden
(Arthur Pink, "An Honest Heart")
"Behold, I am vile!" Job 40:4
Sin is the Christian's heaviest burden--and his greatest grief.
"We are lying if we say we have fellowship with God--but go on living in darkness." 1 John 1:6
Repentance is not only a sorrowing for sin--but also a turning away from it; the throwing down of the weapons of our warfare against God.
If we truly love God, we will . . .
forsake our sins,
abandon our idols
and mortify our lusts.
An honest soul cannot do otherwise; anything short of that would be hypocrisy.
The upright man is the one who "fears God--and turns away from evil." Job 1:8
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Why did God create the world?
From Spurgeon's, "Divine Destruction and Protection"
Can your minds fly back to the time when there was no time, to the day when there was no day but the Ancient of Days?
Can you speed back to that period when God dwelt alone, when this round world and all the things that are upon it, had not come from his hand; when the sun flamed not in his strength, and the stars flashed not in their brightness?
Can you go back to the period when there were no angels,when cherubim and seraphim had not been born; and, if there be creatures older than they, when none of them had as yet been formed?
Is it possible, I say, for you to fly so far back as to contemplate God alone- no creature, no breath of song, no motion of wing-God himself alone, without another?
Then, indeed, he had no rival- none then could contest with him, for none existed. All power, and glory, and honor and majesty were gathered up into Himself.
And we have no reason to believe that he was less glorious than He is now, when his servants delight to do his pleasure nor less great than now, when he has crested worlds on worlds,and thrown them into space, scattering over the sky, stars with both his hands.
He sat on no precarious throne;he needed none to add to his power; he needed none to bring him a revenue of praise; his all-sufficiency could have no lack.
Consider next, if you can, the eternal purpose of God that he would 'create'. He determines it in his mind. Could any but a divine motive actuate the Divine Architect? What must that motive have been? He creates that he may display his own perfections. He does beget, as it were, creatures after his own image that he may live in them; that he may manifest to others the joy, the pleasure, the satisfaction, which he so intensely feels in himself.
I am certain his own glory must have been the end he had in view! He would reveal his glory to the sons of men, to angels,and to such creatures as he had formed, in order that they might reflect his honor and sing his praise.
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Oh, to write like Charles H. Spurgeon
Friday, January 23, 2009
All that can possibly want!
(Octavius Winslow, "The Witness of the Spirit")
"From the fullness of His grace--we have allreceived one blessing after another." John 1:16
Child of God, all that can possibly want is treasured up in Christ!
You have . . .
no cross--but Christ can bear it,
no sorrow--but Christ can alleviate it,
no corruption--but Christ can subdue it,
no guilt--but Christ can remove it,
no sin--but Christ can pardon it,
no need--but Christ can supply it!
Lift up your heads, you who are poor, needy and disconsolate! Lift up your heads, and rejoice that Christ is ALL to you!
All you need in this valley of tears.
All you will need in the deepest sorrow.
All you need under the heaviest affliction.
All you need in sickness.
All you will need in the hour of death.
All you will need in the day of judgment.
Indeed, Christ is IN ALL too.
He is in all your salvation.
He is in all your mercies
He is in all your trials.
He is in all your consolations.
He is in all your afflictions.
What more can you want?
What more do you desire?
A Father who loves you as the apple of His eye!
A full Savior to whom to go, moment by moment!
"Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence--so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day of celebration?
As I mentioned yesterday, today thousands of people will celebrate a day that lives in infamy.
Leading the mass celebrations today will be Planned Parenthood. Here is an actual line from a news story....
"The festivities will begin tonight at 6:30 p.m.in the Vet's Club Ballroom, located at 1626 Willamette St. The event will feature performances by musical duo Phoebe Blume and Dave Rand, as well as World Fusion Dance."We will be gathering our supporters to reflect and celebrate because it's a new day for women's health," said Rose Kelsch, Planned Parenthood public affairs field director."
Laughing...dancing...partying....drinking.....
Celebrating the death of millions of babies.
I bet there is at least one president who is thankful his mother decided not to have an abortion........
As the folks over at Defending Contending have stated.. "Oh, the irony"
Leading the mass celebrations today will be Planned Parenthood. Here is an actual line from a news story....
"The festivities will begin tonight at 6:30 p.m.in the Vet's Club Ballroom, located at 1626 Willamette St. The event will feature performances by musical duo Phoebe Blume and Dave Rand, as well as World Fusion Dance."We will be gathering our supporters to reflect and celebrate because it's a new day for women's health," said Rose Kelsch, Planned Parenthood public affairs field director."
Laughing...dancing...partying....drinking.....
Celebrating the death of millions of babies.
I bet there is at least one president who is thankful his mother decided not to have an abortion........
As the folks over at Defending Contending have stated.. "Oh, the irony"
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
36 Years and 50 million +
A senseless anniversary takes place tomorrow and will actually be celebrated by some. January 22nd marks the 1973 anniversary of the day that the Supreme Court, in the minds of liberals and feminists and way too many republicans, wrote a new law giving women a 'right to privacy'.No doubt, on television tomorrow, you will see this celebration of death. Men and women will be celebrating the 'right' to kill a baby. They will be marching. They will be giving long winded speeches. They will be laughing and shaking hands. They will be patting each others backs as they congratulate each other on a job well done in their efforts to keep abortion safe, legal and rare.
It is estimated that over 50 million babies have been murdered since Roe. Is this a number that one can really comprehend? That's a whole generation of humans who never had a chance to live their lives. And they are humans aren't they? Can anyone tell me that the picture I posted here of the baby in the womb would grow up to be anything but a human? No you can't. In fact, a few months later, this is what comes out of the womb. 
Why, it's a baby! In fact, it's a human baby. It will never be anything else. Will never be an elephant, a reindeer or even a mouse. Always a human. And the saddest part of all is that we (yes, we) have grown cold to this tragedy. Tomorrow as this celebration of death plays out in the United States, 3829 more babies will be horrifically taken from the womb that sustains their life.
The biggest contributor to this culture of death is Planned Parenthood. According to the National Right to Life's fact sheet, Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading abortion performer and promoter. An actual Planned Parenthood advertisement from the same fact sheet says, "Babies are loud, smelly and expensive. Unless you want one." Rush Limbaugh has always said something like this; "If you want to find out the true motives of anyone, follow the money trail." According to the fact sheet, in 2002, Planned Parenthood took in more than $79 million dollars from abortion procedures. That represents about 1/3 of their total revenue from 2002. Abortion is big business. If the average cost of an abortion is $400, and there are approximately 1.3 million performed each year, then revenues from abortion are toppling over a half a billion dollars.
Still, sadly, few are genuinely outraged. More folks get upset when a snail darter is threatened in a small creek. The list of endangered species in this country is ever increasing. You can be punished severely for harming any creature on that list. The same liberals who protect these species are the same ones who want ensure that humans can kill their own.
I remember the outrage and emotion that followed the space shuttle Columbia re-entry accident. Yes, the accident was a tragedy. Seven astronauts lost their lives doing what they loved to do. Imagine a shuttle accident happening over 3800 times a day. Would the public get so used to these accidents that no one even paid attention to them anymore? Well that’s exactly what’s happened in this country regarding abortion.
The public has become so accustomed to abortion as normal, that they turn a blind eye away from the fact that over 3800 babies are sacrificed on the alter of ‘pro-choice’ each day.
It does not have to continue. Roe must be overturned.
Join the National Right to Life and support them financially if you can. The republicans can no longer be trusted to end this travesty.
We must stop this evil.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Train up a child
Well, it looks like that day is upon me (and my wife). It seems my oldest son is ready to pack up the few belongings that are his and go and make his own way.I remember the summer he 'accepted' Jesus into his heart when he was about seven years old at vacation Bible school. But he will tell you through his testimony today that he was just a false convert. Just a couple years ago, however, God moved upon him and he saw how repulsive his sins were to the Creator. He repented of those sins and put his complete faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and was baptised on the right side of salvation.
Since then he has been on fire for God. He knows the Scriptures, reads the right books and has been out on the streets with me witnessing to the lost. He challenges me with deep theological discussions and then blows me away with the discernment of God's Word.
I'm reminded of the verse from Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
It seems like yesterday he came from above into my life and now, this young man who I would die for, will soon depart into the world to start a new chapter of his life.
I know I made a lot of parenting mistakes along the way and I'm sure I'll make a few more with his younger brother, but I pray I have instilled in him a few bits of wisdom that will help him all the days of his life. Yes, he will make his own mistakes and blunders like we all have. But he has an advantage that most young men his age do not have; he knows the Lord.
He has the solid Rock of ages to build his life on.
Son; may God continue to work in your life and grow you into the man of God He wants you to be. May you always give Him, and Him alone, all the glory and honor that is due Him.
Remember - "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chron. 16:9a
I love you,
Dad
Those fruits
(J. C. Ryle)
The work of the Holy Spirit, though mysterious, will always be known by the fruits He produces in the character and conduct of those in whom He dwells. The presence of the Spirit is like . . . light which can be seen, fire which can be felt, and wind which causes noticeable results.
Where there are no fruits of the Spirit--there is no presence of the Spirit. Those fruits, I need not tell you, are always the same:
conviction of sin,
true repentance,
lively faith in Christ, and
holiness of heart and life.
I am afraid there are myriads of professing Christians throughout the land, who really know nothing about the Holy Spirit. They seem to think that as baptized members of a great ecclesiastical corporation--that they possess the Spirit. But of the work of the Spirit on their own individual hearts--of conversion, repentance, and faith--they know nothing at all. They are spiritually asleep and dead--and unless they awake, are in great danger!
The work of the Holy Spirit, though mysterious, will always be known by the fruits He produces in the character and conduct of those in whom He dwells. The presence of the Spirit is like . . . light which can be seen, fire which can be felt, and wind which causes noticeable results.
Where there are no fruits of the Spirit--there is no presence of the Spirit. Those fruits, I need not tell you, are always the same:
conviction of sin,
true repentance,
lively faith in Christ, and
holiness of heart and life.
I am afraid there are myriads of professing Christians throughout the land, who really know nothing about the Holy Spirit. They seem to think that as baptized members of a great ecclesiastical corporation--that they possess the Spirit. But of the work of the Spirit on their own individual hearts--of conversion, repentance, and faith--they know nothing at all. They are spiritually asleep and dead--and unless they awake, are in great danger!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Lord, Lord?
Great post today over at Regarding Eternity
How tragic that the US Airways plane hit a flock of birds, taking out both engines.
How wonderful that the pilot was incredibly skilled & able to glide the plane down to a safe landing in a crowded river, with no deaths.
How....predictable!...that the reports you read from passengers on the plane describe people praying desperately as the plane went down.
The first interview I saw on TV regarding this crash was with a passenger named Jeff Kolodjay. His voice was still shaking; he was still visibly unnerved.
As he described the events that transpired, he said,"...and everyone was just...praying, actually..."
He stuttered for a second, uncomfortable about revealing this fact.The people on this plane got this report from the pilot: "Brace yourselves, because we're going down." Just like that, they were forced to face death.
Many people on the plane started praying. Audibly, at that. How many of these praying people do you think are practicing Christians? How many are saved of the Lord, in Christ?
How many of these people, the day before, would have felt uncomfortable in the presence of somebody praying at a restaurant? How many would have made fun?
Impending death made them suddenly realize that they weren't in control, so they began to plead to God!
Nothing they had ever done in and of this world mattered any more. All that mattered was God!
Read the rest of the post here
Sinner Saved makes a valid argument concerning the prayers of people who are not Christians praying to a God they don't believe in (yet). As I posted on his blog, the old saying goes that there are no atheists in foxholes.....true that. We can now add planes falling out of the sky to that old saying.
Why do these people start praying in times of trouble? Why do unbelievers go to Christians and ask them to pray for friends or loved ones? Why pray to, or ask another to pray to, a God you don't actually believe in?
Discuss!
How tragic that the US Airways plane hit a flock of birds, taking out both engines.
How wonderful that the pilot was incredibly skilled & able to glide the plane down to a safe landing in a crowded river, with no deaths.
How....predictable!...that the reports you read from passengers on the plane describe people praying desperately as the plane went down.
The first interview I saw on TV regarding this crash was with a passenger named Jeff Kolodjay. His voice was still shaking; he was still visibly unnerved.
As he described the events that transpired, he said,"...and everyone was just...praying, actually..."
He stuttered for a second, uncomfortable about revealing this fact.The people on this plane got this report from the pilot: "Brace yourselves, because we're going down." Just like that, they were forced to face death.
Many people on the plane started praying. Audibly, at that. How many of these praying people do you think are practicing Christians? How many are saved of the Lord, in Christ?
How many of these people, the day before, would have felt uncomfortable in the presence of somebody praying at a restaurant? How many would have made fun?
Impending death made them suddenly realize that they weren't in control, so they began to plead to God!
Nothing they had ever done in and of this world mattered any more. All that mattered was God!
Read the rest of the post here
Sinner Saved makes a valid argument concerning the prayers of people who are not Christians praying to a God they don't believe in (yet). As I posted on his blog, the old saying goes that there are no atheists in foxholes.....true that. We can now add planes falling out of the sky to that old saying.
Why do these people start praying in times of trouble? Why do unbelievers go to Christians and ask them to pray for friends or loved ones? Why pray to, or ask another to pray to, a God you don't actually believe in?
Discuss!
Poor, miserable, paltry works of a polluted worm!
(Philpot, "The Loss of All Things for Christ's Sake")
"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away." Isaiah 64:6
We once thought that we could gain heaven by our own righteousness. We strictly attended to our religious duties, and sought by these and various other means to recommend ourselves to the favor of God, and induce Him to reward us with heaven for our sincere attempts to obey His commandments.
And by these religious performances we thought we would surely be able to make a ladder whereby we could climb up to heaven. This was our tower of Babel, whose top was to reach unto heaven, and by mounting which, we thought to scale the stars.
But the same Lord who stopped the further building of the tower of Babel, by confounding their speech and scattering them abroad on the face of the earth; began to confound our speech, so that we could not pray, or talk, or boast as before; and to scatter all our religion like the chaff of the threshing floor. Our mouths were stopped; we became guilty before God;and our bricks and mortar became a pile of confusion!
When, then, the Lord was pleased to discover to our souls by faith, His being, majesty, greatness, holiness, and purity; and thus gave us a corresponding sense ofour filthiness and folly; then all our creature religion and natural piety which we once counted as gain, we began to see was but loss; that our very religious duties and observances, so far from being for us, were actually against us; and instead of pleading for us before God as so many deeds of righteousness, were so polluted and defiled by sin perpetually mixed with them, that our very prayers were enough to sink us into hell, had we no other iniquities to answer for in heart, lip or life.
But when we had a view by faith of the Person, work,love, and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we began more plainly and clearly to see, with what religious toys we had been so long amusing ourselves, and what is far worse, mocking God by them.
We had been secretly despising . . .
Jesus and His sufferings,
Jesus and His death,
Jesus and His righteousness, and setting up the poor, miserable, paltry
works of a polluted worm in the place of the finished work of the Son of God.
"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away." Isaiah 64:6
We once thought that we could gain heaven by our own righteousness. We strictly attended to our religious duties, and sought by these and various other means to recommend ourselves to the favor of God, and induce Him to reward us with heaven for our sincere attempts to obey His commandments.
And by these religious performances we thought we would surely be able to make a ladder whereby we could climb up to heaven. This was our tower of Babel, whose top was to reach unto heaven, and by mounting which, we thought to scale the stars.
But the same Lord who stopped the further building of the tower of Babel, by confounding their speech and scattering them abroad on the face of the earth; began to confound our speech, so that we could not pray, or talk, or boast as before; and to scatter all our religion like the chaff of the threshing floor. Our mouths were stopped; we became guilty before God;and our bricks and mortar became a pile of confusion!
When, then, the Lord was pleased to discover to our souls by faith, His being, majesty, greatness, holiness, and purity; and thus gave us a corresponding sense ofour filthiness and folly; then all our creature religion and natural piety which we once counted as gain, we began to see was but loss; that our very religious duties and observances, so far from being for us, were actually against us; and instead of pleading for us before God as so many deeds of righteousness, were so polluted and defiled by sin perpetually mixed with them, that our very prayers were enough to sink us into hell, had we no other iniquities to answer for in heart, lip or life.
But when we had a view by faith of the Person, work,love, and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we began more plainly and clearly to see, with what religious toys we had been so long amusing ourselves, and what is far worse, mocking God by them.
We had been secretly despising . . .
Jesus and His sufferings,
Jesus and His death,
Jesus and His righteousness, and setting up the poor, miserable, paltry
works of a polluted worm in the place of the finished work of the Son of God.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Flowery talking--without strict walking
(Arthur Pink, "Christ our Exemplar")
"Leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21
"Whoever claims to live in Him--must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6
If all professors forfeit their claim to a saving interest in Christ, who do not endeavor to sincerely and earnestly imitate Jesus in the holiness of His life--then how small a number of real Christians are there in the world! If flowery talking--without strict walking; if common profession--without holy practice; if Church membership--without denying self and treading the Narrow Way--were sufficient to constitute a Christian--then a large percentage of earth's population would be entitled to that name.
But if Christ owns none but those who follow the example that He has left--then His flock is indeed a little one. The vast majority of those who claim to be Christians have a name to live--but are dead (Rev. 3:1), being such as walk after the flesh, following the course of this world and yielding their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Romans 6:13). The demands of Christ are too rigid for them--they prefer the Broad Road where the majority are found.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
"Leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21
"Whoever claims to live in Him--must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6
If all professors forfeit their claim to a saving interest in Christ, who do not endeavor to sincerely and earnestly imitate Jesus in the holiness of His life--then how small a number of real Christians are there in the world! If flowery talking--without strict walking; if common profession--without holy practice; if Church membership--without denying self and treading the Narrow Way--were sufficient to constitute a Christian--then a large percentage of earth's population would be entitled to that name.
But if Christ owns none but those who follow the example that He has left--then His flock is indeed a little one. The vast majority of those who claim to be Christians have a name to live--but are dead (Rev. 3:1), being such as walk after the flesh, following the course of this world and yielding their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Romans 6:13). The demands of Christ are too rigid for them--they prefer the Broad Road where the majority are found.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
His people's scars and warts (Thomas Brooks)
"I will not remember your sins." Isaiah 43:25
Caesar was painted with his finger upon his scar, his wart. God puts His fingers upon all His people's scars and warts--upon all their weaknesses and infirmities, that nothing can be seen but what is fair and lovely. "You are so beautiful, My beloved; there is no flaw in you!" Song of Solomon 4:7
"I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." Hebrews 10:17
The meaning is, "I will fully forgive their sins; I will never more mention them; I will never more take notice of them; they shall never more hear of them from Me!"
"I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:34
Though God has an iron memory to remember the sins of the wicked--yet He has no memory to remember the sins of the godly!
"I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12
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Thank you for Your grace O, Lord.
"I will not remember your sins." Isaiah 43:25
Caesar was painted with his finger upon his scar, his wart. God puts His fingers upon all His people's scars and warts--upon all their weaknesses and infirmities, that nothing can be seen but what is fair and lovely. "You are so beautiful, My beloved; there is no flaw in you!" Song of Solomon 4:7
"I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." Hebrews 10:17
The meaning is, "I will fully forgive their sins; I will never more mention them; I will never more take notice of them; they shall never more hear of them from Me!"
"I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:34
Though God has an iron memory to remember the sins of the wicked--yet He has no memory to remember the sins of the godly!
"I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12
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Thank you for Your grace O, Lord.
Monday, January 12, 2009
He who has deserved a hanging ("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod" or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes" by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)
"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6
"Why should any living man complain--when punished for his sins?" Lamentations 3:39
He who has deserved a hanging--has no reason to charge the judge with cruelty--if he escapes with a whipping! And we who have deserved a damning--have no reason to charge God for being too severe--if we escape with a fatherly lashing!"
God disciplines us for our good---that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10
"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6
"Why should any living man complain--when punished for his sins?" Lamentations 3:39
He who has deserved a hanging--has no reason to charge the judge with cruelty--if he escapes with a whipping! And we who have deserved a damning--have no reason to charge God for being too severe--if we escape with a fatherly lashing!"
God disciplines us for our good---that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10
Friday, January 09, 2009
Living their best life now
From Christian News Today:
Algerian Christians Found Guilty of Proselytizing Muslims
Four defendants receive fines and suspended sentences, two others acquitted.
By Peter Lamprecht
ISTANBUL, An Algerian court gave four Christians suspended sentences and fines today for seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, a Protestant church leader said.
The case is one of several that have sparked local media and French government claims that Algeria is repressing its Christian minority, which numbers 10,000 according to conservative estimates.
A court in Tiaret city, 150 miles southwest of Algiers, gave Rachid Muhammad Seghir a six-month suspended sentence and a 200,000-dinar (US$3,282) fine. He was originally charged with “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims.”
Read rest of story here
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Praise God that they have been released and only got suspended sentences. These four Christians know that witnessing in these type of countries can lead to being arrested and sometimes even death; but they witness anyway.
Why?
Because they are Christians.
They seek to save the lost. They take seriously the command to go into all nations and preach the Gospel to every creature. They are the ones who, in the words of Mark Cahill, go down into the well. Cahill says that not everyone can go down into the well...but you can help hold the rope so someone else can go.
If you can't go to other nations (or your own town) give and pray for those who can. 150,000 people on the average die every day and most of those people are headed to Hell.
Remember, wide is the road that leads to destruction and many are on it.
Algerian Christians Found Guilty of Proselytizing Muslims
Four defendants receive fines and suspended sentences, two others acquitted.
By Peter Lamprecht
ISTANBUL, An Algerian court gave four Christians suspended sentences and fines today for seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, a Protestant church leader said.
The case is one of several that have sparked local media and French government claims that Algeria is repressing its Christian minority, which numbers 10,000 according to conservative estimates.
A court in Tiaret city, 150 miles southwest of Algiers, gave Rachid Muhammad Seghir a six-month suspended sentence and a 200,000-dinar (US$3,282) fine. He was originally charged with “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims.”
Read rest of story here
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Praise God that they have been released and only got suspended sentences. These four Christians know that witnessing in these type of countries can lead to being arrested and sometimes even death; but they witness anyway.
Why?
Because they are Christians.
They seek to save the lost. They take seriously the command to go into all nations and preach the Gospel to every creature. They are the ones who, in the words of Mark Cahill, go down into the well. Cahill says that not everyone can go down into the well...but you can help hold the rope so someone else can go.
If you can't go to other nations (or your own town) give and pray for those who can. 150,000 people on the average die every day and most of those people are headed to Hell.
Remember, wide is the road that leads to destruction and many are on it.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
David's terrible sin
(Arthur Pink)
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. " Psalm 51:1-2
Why did God permit David to fall so fearfully, and sin so grievously?
One reason may be--that we might have set before our eyes the more clearly--the solemn fact that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Unmistakably plain as the meaning of those words is, uttered by Him who cannot lie--yet how very slow we all are to really receive them at their face value, and acknowledge that they accurately describe the natural state of every human heart! But God has done more than make this bare statement: He has placed on record in His Word-- illustrations, exemplifications, demonstrations of its verity--notably so in allowing us to see the unspeakable wickedness that still remained in the heart of David!
Also, the fearful fall of David, made way for a display of the amazing grace of God, in recovering His fallen people. If we are slow to receive what Scripture teaches concerning the depravity of the human heart and the exceeding sinfulness of sin--we are equally slow to really believe what it reveals about the covenant-faithfulness of God, the efficacy of Christ's blood to cleanse the foulest stain from those for whom it was shed, and the super-abounding grace of Him who is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." Had David never sinned so grievously and sunken so low--he would have never known those infinite depths of mercy which are in the heart of God!
Also, had his terrible sin, his subsequent broken-hearted confession, and his pardon by God, never been placed in the Divine record--many of God's people throughout the centuries would have sunk in abject despair.
Also, thousands, from age to age, have by this solemn example of David's terrible sin, been rendered . . . .
more suspicious of themselves,
more watchful,
more afraid of temptation,
more dependent on the Lord,
and more fervent in prayer.
By means of David's fall--they have, themselves, been preserved from falling!
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. " Psalm 51:1-2
Why did God permit David to fall so fearfully, and sin so grievously?
One reason may be--that we might have set before our eyes the more clearly--the solemn fact that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Unmistakably plain as the meaning of those words is, uttered by Him who cannot lie--yet how very slow we all are to really receive them at their face value, and acknowledge that they accurately describe the natural state of every human heart! But God has done more than make this bare statement: He has placed on record in His Word-- illustrations, exemplifications, demonstrations of its verity--notably so in allowing us to see the unspeakable wickedness that still remained in the heart of David!
Also, the fearful fall of David, made way for a display of the amazing grace of God, in recovering His fallen people. If we are slow to receive what Scripture teaches concerning the depravity of the human heart and the exceeding sinfulness of sin--we are equally slow to really believe what it reveals about the covenant-faithfulness of God, the efficacy of Christ's blood to cleanse the foulest stain from those for whom it was shed, and the super-abounding grace of Him who is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." Had David never sinned so grievously and sunken so low--he would have never known those infinite depths of mercy which are in the heart of God!
Also, had his terrible sin, his subsequent broken-hearted confession, and his pardon by God, never been placed in the Divine record--many of God's people throughout the centuries would have sunk in abject despair.
Also, thousands, from age to age, have by this solemn example of David's terrible sin, been rendered . . . .
more suspicious of themselves,
more watchful,
more afraid of temptation,
more dependent on the Lord,
and more fervent in prayer.
By means of David's fall--they have, themselves, been preserved from falling!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
New Christians face ultimatum
From Christian News Today
JHARKHAND, INDIA - A Christian family in Jharkhand, India, is facing an ultimatum from the people of their village. On May 25, Boykin Raj and his family were told to either leave Christ or leave their village.
Christianity is still viewed with suspicion in Boykin’s village.
Boykin and his family, which includes his parents and sister, are part of a church where Gospel for Asia missionary Kijor Bune ministers. They are the only Christians in their community and just recently chose to follow Jesus. But things have not been easy for them since their decision.
“Since the time they came to faith, they have been threatened constantly by their relatives as well as the villagers,” GFA’s field correspondent wrote.
When the villagers gathered together on May 25 to decide what to do with the Christians, Boykin and his family chose to trust the Lord, whatever the outcome.
“Boykin and his family resolutely told them that they would not leave their Christian faith,” the correspondent wrote, “and they were ready to pay any price.”
They ask for prayer for the family, as the police have refused to protect them in this “religious matter.” The situation is tense, and no one is sure what will actually happen.
Pray that Boykin’s family will continue trusting the Lord, and that many in their village will somehow come to know Jesus.
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Are you prepared to pay any price for trusting and following Christ?
JHARKHAND, INDIA - A Christian family in Jharkhand, India, is facing an ultimatum from the people of their village. On May 25, Boykin Raj and his family were told to either leave Christ or leave their village.
Christianity is still viewed with suspicion in Boykin’s village.
Boykin and his family, which includes his parents and sister, are part of a church where Gospel for Asia missionary Kijor Bune ministers. They are the only Christians in their community and just recently chose to follow Jesus. But things have not been easy for them since their decision.
“Since the time they came to faith, they have been threatened constantly by their relatives as well as the villagers,” GFA’s field correspondent wrote.
When the villagers gathered together on May 25 to decide what to do with the Christians, Boykin and his family chose to trust the Lord, whatever the outcome.
“Boykin and his family resolutely told them that they would not leave their Christian faith,” the correspondent wrote, “and they were ready to pay any price.”
They ask for prayer for the family, as the police have refused to protect them in this “religious matter.” The situation is tense, and no one is sure what will actually happen.
Pray that Boykin’s family will continue trusting the Lord, and that many in their village will somehow come to know Jesus.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you prepared to pay any price for trusting and following Christ?
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
All the links of the golden chain of salvation (Thomas Brooks, "A Cabinet of Choice Jewels" 1669)
"It is by grace you have been saved!" Ephesians 2:5
All the links of the golden chain of salvation are made up of free grace! The people of God are . . .
freely loved, Deuteronomy 7:6-8;
freely chosen, John 15:16-19, Ephesians 1:4;
freely accepted, Ephesians 1:6;
freely adopted, Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 4:5-6;
freely reconciled, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20;
freely justified, Romans 3:24;
freely saved, Ephesians 2:5, 8.
Free grace is the foundation of all spiritual and eternal mercies. Free grace is the solid bottom and foundation of all a Christian's comfort in this world. Were we to measure the love of God to us by . . .
our fruitfulness,
our holiness,
our humbleness,
our spiritualness,
our heavenly-mindedness, or
our gracious behavior towards Him
--how would our hope and our confidence beevery moment staggered--if not vanquished!
But all is of grace--of free grace! O sirs! it is free grace . . .
which will strengthen you in all your duties,
which will sweeten all your mercies,
which will support you under all your changes,
which will arm you against all temptations!
"For it is by grace you have been saved!" Ephesians 2:8
"It is by grace you have been saved!" Ephesians 2:5
All the links of the golden chain of salvation are made up of free grace! The people of God are . . .
freely loved, Deuteronomy 7:6-8;
freely chosen, John 15:16-19, Ephesians 1:4;
freely accepted, Ephesians 1:6;
freely adopted, Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 4:5-6;
freely reconciled, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20;
freely justified, Romans 3:24;
freely saved, Ephesians 2:5, 8.
Free grace is the foundation of all spiritual and eternal mercies. Free grace is the solid bottom and foundation of all a Christian's comfort in this world. Were we to measure the love of God to us by . . .
our fruitfulness,
our holiness,
our humbleness,
our spiritualness,
our heavenly-mindedness, or
our gracious behavior towards Him
--how would our hope and our confidence beevery moment staggered--if not vanquished!
But all is of grace--of free grace! O sirs! it is free grace . . .
which will strengthen you in all your duties,
which will sweeten all your mercies,
which will support you under all your changes,
which will arm you against all temptations!
"For it is by grace you have been saved!" Ephesians 2:8
Friday, January 02, 2009
There are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire
The nature of Christ's salvation, is woefully misrepresented by the present-day "evangelist." He announces a Savior from hell—rather than a Savior from sin! And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire—who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness!
The very first thing said of Him in the New Testament is—"You shall call His name Jesus—for He shall save His people...[not "from the wrath to come," but] from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Christ is a Savior for those realizing something of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, who feel the awful burden of it on their conscience, who loathe themselves for it, and who long to be freed from its terrible dominion. He is a Savior for no others. Were He to "save from hell" those still in love with sin, He would be a minister of sin, condoning their wickedness and siding with them against God. What an unspeakably horrible and blasphemous thing, with which to charge the Holy One!
True, as the Christian grows in grace, he has a clearer realization of what sin is—rebellion against God; and a deeper hatred of and sorrow for it. But to think that one may be saved by Christ, whose conscience has never been smitten by the Spirit, and whose heart has not been made contrite before God—is to imagine something which has no existence in the realm of fact. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor—but the sick" (Matthew 9:12). The only ones who really seek relief from the great Physician, are those who are sick of sin—who long to be delivered from its God-dishonoring works, and its soul-defiling pollutions.
As Christ's salvation is a salvation from sin—from the love of it, from its dominion, from its guilt and penalty—then it necessarily follows, that the first great task and the chief work of the evangelist, is to preach upon SIN: to define what sin (as distinct from crime) really is, to show wherein its infinite enormity consists, to trace out its manifold workings in the heart, to indicate that nothing less than eternal punishment is its desert!
Ah, preaching upon sin will not make him popular nor draw the crowds, will it? No, it will not; and knowing this, those who love the praise of men more than the approbation of God, and who value their salary above immortal souls, trim their sales accordingly!
(Arthur Pink, "Present Day Evangelism")
The very first thing said of Him in the New Testament is—"You shall call His name Jesus—for He shall save His people...[not "from the wrath to come," but] from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Christ is a Savior for those realizing something of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, who feel the awful burden of it on their conscience, who loathe themselves for it, and who long to be freed from its terrible dominion. He is a Savior for no others. Were He to "save from hell" those still in love with sin, He would be a minister of sin, condoning their wickedness and siding with them against God. What an unspeakably horrible and blasphemous thing, with which to charge the Holy One!
True, as the Christian grows in grace, he has a clearer realization of what sin is—rebellion against God; and a deeper hatred of and sorrow for it. But to think that one may be saved by Christ, whose conscience has never been smitten by the Spirit, and whose heart has not been made contrite before God—is to imagine something which has no existence in the realm of fact. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor—but the sick" (Matthew 9:12). The only ones who really seek relief from the great Physician, are those who are sick of sin—who long to be delivered from its God-dishonoring works, and its soul-defiling pollutions.
As Christ's salvation is a salvation from sin—from the love of it, from its dominion, from its guilt and penalty—then it necessarily follows, that the first great task and the chief work of the evangelist, is to preach upon SIN: to define what sin (as distinct from crime) really is, to show wherein its infinite enormity consists, to trace out its manifold workings in the heart, to indicate that nothing less than eternal punishment is its desert!
Ah, preaching upon sin will not make him popular nor draw the crowds, will it? No, it will not; and knowing this, those who love the praise of men more than the approbation of God, and who value their salary above immortal souls, trim their sales accordingly!
(Arthur Pink, "Present Day Evangelism")
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