I ask not that happiness fills all his days,
But fear of his Holy God grows;
That mourning both sin and contempt for Your Name,
Your comfort in Christ he would know.

I ask not that he’d do all he wants to achieve,
But instead would submit to Your will;
And as he learns meekness, You’d teach him Your ways,
In awe of You he would “Be still”.

I ask not that he’d be satisfied with his lot,
But a hunger and thirst he would feel,
And for righteousness’ sake a slave he would be,
Your Spirit in him as Your seal.

I ask not for accolades in his career,
But mercy to others he’d show;
Keen to forgive those who’ve wronged him at all,
His own sins once scarlet – now snow.

I ask not that he’d win the acclaim of his friends,
But Your face alone he would seek;
His conscience now cleansed by the blood of the Lamb
Your truth from his heart he would speak.

I ask not that his life from trouble be free,
But his work be the gospel of peace,
And that deep in his heart his sonship he’d know
So that fear and worry can cease.

O Lord, now I’m trembling – please come, strengthen me,
Voice faltering as I intercede;
Should he be persecuted because of his faith
I pray that Your grace meets our need.

(based on Matthew 5:3-10)

HT-waiting for our blessed hope

HT-I’ll be Honest

If you listen to most within America’s ‘Evangelical’ community, the way to battle wickedness is to be relevant with the culture, or to put conservatives in office that will enforce laws on the wicked and make them do right, taking back the nation for Christ. However, the true follower of Christ knows none of these methods are effective. The truth must be given, not watered down, not tampered with, not mixed with man-made methods. How should we, as believers, live in a world that is growing more wicked by the hour? This comes from J. R. Miller and can originally be found at Grace gems…

“In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah . . . and his wife Elizabeth . . . Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.” Luke 1:5-6

Any Christian should be able to live godly–in the midst of friendly influences and favoring circumstances; but it is doubly important that we be loyal and true to Christ–when surrounded by an ungodly society!

There is one thing which we ought to attend to, with reference to our temporal necessities; it is mentioned in our verse, “but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. The great business which the disciple of the Lord Jesus has to be concerned about (for this word was spoken to disciples, to professed believers) is, to seek the kingdom of God, i.e., to seek, as I view it, after the external and internal prosperity of the Church of God. If, according to our ability, and according to the opportunity which the Lord gives us, we seek to win souls for the Lord Jesus, that appears to me to be seeking the external prosperity of the kingdom of God; and, if we, as members of the body of Christ, seek to benefit our fellow members in the body, helping them on in grace and truth, or caring for them in any way to their edification, that would be the internal prosperity of the kingdom of God. But in connection with this we have also to “seek…His righteousness”, which means (as it was spoken to disciples, to those who have a Father in heaven, and not to those who were without), to seek to be more and more like God, to seek to be inwardly conformed to the mind of God. If these two things are attended to (and they imply also that we are not slothful in business), then do we come under that precious promise: “and all these things (that is food, raiment, or anything else that is needful for this present life) shall be added unto you”. It is not for attending to these two things that we obtain the blessing, but in attending to them.

I now ask you, my dear reader, a few questions in all love, because I do seek your welfare, and I do not wish to put these questions to you, without putting them first to my own heart. Do you make it your primary business, your first great concern, to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Are the things of God, the honour of His name, the welfare of His church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul, your chief aim? Or does your business, or your family, or your own temporal concerns, in some shape or other primarily occupy your attention? I never knew a child of God who acted according to the above passage in whose experience the Lord did not fulfill His word of promise, “all these things shall be added unto you”.

His counsel, His affectionate entreaty, and His commandment to us His disciples is “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth”. The meaning obviously is, that the disciples of the Lord Jesus, being strangers and pilgrims on earth, i.e., neither belonging to the earth nor expecting to remain in it, should not seek to increase their earthly possessions, in whatever these possessions may consist. This is a word for poor believers as well as for rich believers.

It might also be said by a brother whose earnings are small, ‘should I give also according to my earnings? They are already so small, that my wife can only with the greatest difficulty manage to make them sufficient for the family’. My reply is: have you ever considered, my brother, that the very reason why the Lord is obliged to let your earnings remain so small may be the fact of your spending everything upon yourselves, and that, if He were to give you more, you would only use it to increase your own family comfort, instead of looking about to see who among the brethren are sick, or who have no work at all, that you might help them, or how you might assist the work of God at home or abroad? There is a great temptation for a brother whose earnings are small to put off the responsibility of assisting the needy and sick saints, or helping on the work of God, and to lay it upon the few rich brethren and sisters whith whom he is associated in fellowship, and thus rob his own soul!

From ‘Valuable Selections From the Writings of George Müller’

What did he confess? He confessed, as our text tells us that he was a sinner. Now, how suitable is this prayer for us! For is there a lip here present that this confession will not suit—”God be merciful to me a sinner?” Do you say,—”the prayer will suit the harlot, when, after a life of sin, rottenness is in her bones and she is dying in despair—that prayer suits her lips?” Ay, but my friend, it will suit thy lips and mine too. If thou knowest thine heart, and I know mine, the prayer that will suit her will suit us also. You have never committed the sins which the Pharisee disowned; you have neither been extortionate, nor unjust, nor an adulterer; you have never been even as the publican, but nevertheless the word “sinner” will still apply to you; and you will feel it to be so if you are in a right condition. Remember how much you have sinned against light. It is true the harlot hath sinned more openly than you, but had she such light as you have had? Do you think she had such an early education and such training as you have received? Did she ever receive such checkings of conscience and such guardings of providence, as those which have watched over your career? This much I must confess for myself—I do, and must feel a peculiar heinousness in my own sin, for I sin against light, against conscience, and more, against the love of God received, and against the mercy of God promised. Come forward, thou greatest among saints, and answer this question,—dost not this prayer suit thee? I hear thee answer, without one moment’s pause—”Ay, it suits me now; and until I die, my quivering lips must often repeat the petition, ‘Lord have mercy upon me a sinner.’ ” Men and brethren, I beseech you use this prayer to-day, for it must suit you all. Merchant, hast thou no sins of business to confess? Woman, hast thou no household sins to acknowledge? Child of many prayers, hast thou no offense against father and mother to confess? Have we loved the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength; and have we each loved our neighbor as ourself. Oh, let us close our lips as to any boasting, and when we open them, let these be the first words that escape from them, “I have sinned, O Lord; I have broken thy commandments; Lord, have mercy upon me a sinner.” But mark, is it not a strange thing that the Holy Spirit should teach a man to plead his sinnership before the throne of God? One would think that when we come before God we should try to talk a little of our virtues. Who would suppose that when a man was asking for mercy he would say of himself, “I am a sinner?” Why surely reason would prompt him to say, “Lord have mercy upon me; there is some good point about me: Lord have mercy upon me; I am not worse than my neighbors: Lord have mercy upon me. I will try to be better.” Is it not against reason, is it not marvellously above reason, that the Holy Spirit should teach a man to urge at the throne of grace, that which seems to be against his plea, the fact that he is a sinner? And yet, dear brethren, if you and I want to be heard, we must come to Christ as sinners. Do not let us attempt to make ourselves better than we are.

How many times have you heard someone claim they died and got a glimpse of heaven? Recently a co-worker told me the Pastor of her sister’s church preached a sermon on heaven. In his sermon, he mentioned a little boy who’d died and entered heaven {the child was revived by doctors}. While in heaven, he saw his grandpa who he’d never met. The mother of the child showed the little boy a picture of his grandpa, and he said that wasn’t him. So she proceeded to show him another picture, one of his grandpa when he was younger, and he said that was him. I didn’t say much as I listened, but all the while I knew what she thought was true was anything but. Stories like this are told everywhere, those who do not understand what the Bible actually teaches about death and heaven swallow this as truth.

Several days later as I recalled this again, I went to 2nd Corinthians 12 and Paul’s being caught up to the third heaven. The one thing I notice about Paul’s truthful account, he makes no mention of any family members being there. Not that they weren’t there, but the emphasis is not on deceased loved ones, it is on the unspeakable words Paul heard; this inexpressible language left him with the understanding that what he heard is not lawful for a man to utter. Another thing I noticed is that Paul refuses to boast that he went there personally, he refers to himself as a man he knew in Christ; boasting is sinful.

John MacArthur says this about heaven, based on Ezekiel 1:26-28 – “Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His lions and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face.”
That is Ezekiel’s description of God’s throne in heaven. We can’t fully understand all he described, and neither did he. But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he attempted to describe what he saw: blazing light reflected off polished jewels and colored wheels of light mingled with angelic beings (the “living beings”). Around the throne of the eternal, glorious God, he saw a flashing, sparkling, spinning rainbow of brilliance. In referring to the faces of the angelic creatures some say the lion refers to majesty and power, the man to intelligence and will, the ox to patient service, and the eagle to swift judgment. Although it’s hard to interpret the specifics, we can say this is describing the sovereignty, majesty, and glory of God and the incredible beauty, symmetry, and perfection of His heaven. The wheels that moved in concert, the flashing lightning, the sparkling jewels, and the brilliant light all picture God’s glory. Ezekiel gave us a picture of heaven, but it’s beyond our ability to fathom.’ – John MacArthur, from his sermon entitled ‘Where heaven is and what it is like’

In Ezekiel’s breathtaking description, the emphasis is on the throne and the One who sits on the throne, not deceased loved ones. When Ezekiel saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, it caused him to fall on his face.
In Revelation 1:13-17, we see John’s vision of the Lord, ‘and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded bout the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead”. All of these men had a supernatural vision, God had granted them a look into things most will never know. The response by these men to their God-empowered visions is one you never hear those who claim to have died, gone to heaven and come back say … ‘I fell on my face’. What John, the Apostle Paul and Ezekiel saw and heard was indescribable; leaving them awestruck, causing them to fall down, to go limp, as if dead. What they saw took their breath away and produced a state of lifelessness because what their eyes were taking in was beyond human ability to describe.
Many of these so-called trips to heaven and back almost always include going into the light, looking down over their earthly body, hearing a voice telling them it isn’t time, to go back, etc. Again, none of this is biblical. If someone dies {take note, the biblical accounts of heaven were visions and the ones who’d had the visions were alive}, they will not be coming back. The Bible teaches when a person dies, they either go to be with the Lord, or they go to outer darkness/hell to await final judgment.
Upon death, the soul separates from the body, it does not tarry hovering over the body. The believer in Christ is ushered in before the Lord {Philippians 1:23; 2nd Corinthians 5:8}. The unbeliever enters into hell {Luke 16:22-23; Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30}. Those who claim to have died and come back to life never really died; their heart may have stopped briefly, or they may have stopped breathing momentarily; but they were not legally dead. Their souls never separated from their earthly bodies; they still had brain activity. They may very well have been resuscitated, but that does not mean they were dead. To be dead is to be without life; no heartbeat, no breathing, no brain activity, no movement. One may indeed have a temporary stoppage of breathing, or a heart that stops briefly, but that does not classify you as legally dead. The better terminology for this would be ‘my heart stopped temporarily’, or ‘I stopped breathing for a short time’; not ‘I died on the operating table three times’. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die (depart, to be dead, separation, departure}, but after this the judgment” – Hebrews 9:27. Death is permanent and final.

How do we explain the stories about near death experiences? The story I was told concerned a child and an angel carrying him to his grandpa; I recall in God’s word the fact that we are all born sinners, radically depraved. This child is just as prone to demonic visions/activity and/or drug induced hallucinating visions as any adult. My suggestion is the so-called trips to heaven and back are either demonic, drug-induced, or the person claiming to have died and gone to heaven is very imaginative; I know they are not of God because His word speaks otherwise.

I’m grateful for the widespread response this series of blogposts has generated, including all the feedback we have received from people who disagree about certain points. Yes, a few vocal critics have replied with mocking or misrepresentation, as if to illustrate the validity of some of my central concerns. But most of the response we have received (including a lot of the dissent) encourages me—because it comes from young people who seem genuinely thoughtful about the dangers I have tried to highlight, and I trust they are genuinely committed to cultivating a thoroughly biblical worldview.
read on

The following letter is one of the most beautiful that we have ever read regarding the submission of the believer’s will and personal aspirations to the will of God. It was sent from one missionary wife and mother to another. The two wish to remain anonymous, but allowed us to publish the letter for your edification. It is our prayer that it will be as great a blessing to you as it has been to us.

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I recently began to feel the acute pains of missing home. I think it began with my sister going into labor and me being so far away in a tiny village when I received the news. I felt so far away and sensed a growing sadness in not experiencing that moment with my family. I was bombarded by a growing array of thoughts about having missed so many other joyous family moments. I looked at my little daughter who is a constant joy in my life, and I ached with the desire for her grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles to experience her life as I do daily. But they won’t, and when they see her again, this stage will be gone. These sad thoughts grew, linked themselves to others, and spiraled downward to a place where my sacrifice no longer seemed worth it, but my heart refused compliance. I began to think: if I could only have some assurance as to when we should be finished with the work, then I could set my eyes upon the light at the end of the tunnel. However, this caused my heart to leap at the thought of returning home to family rather than at the precious reality that a new people group is now offering a new praise unto our Father.

Today, while reading ‘Candles in the Dark’ by Amy Carmichael, I came across an excerpt of a letter to a dear friend in which she quoted Deuteronomy 18:2, ‘the Lord is their inheritance as He hath said unto them’. Amy then followed by writing the following: “I thought then as I think now of the lovely inheritance you might have had. But he is your Inheritance instead of that lovely earthly joy. Throughout all eternity that word will be opening up its treasures”.

At that point I could not remember exactly what the context was for this verse, so I looked up Deuteronomy 18:1-2. God, in giving instruction to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land, lays down what should be the inheritance rights for the Levites, those God-chosen servants who were to devote their lives in worshipful service in the temple. My heart sank as I read:
“The priests, who are Levites – indeed the whole tribe of Levi – are to have no allotment of inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the LORD by fire, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.”

Tears burned my eyes as the Lord spoke these words directly and deeply to my heart. I thought of the other eleven tribes who received – as their right – a share in the goodness of the land. I then thought of my family, in their homes, enjoying the blessings, those ‘lovely earthly joys’ God had freely given them. And I heard my Lord Most Dear whisper in my heart, ‘But that is not to be your place. Your inheritance is different’. As I was soaking this in, tears again burned my eyes, and I whispered back to Him, ‘this is a hard word’. My desires to have my daughter grow up around her grandparents and family and an eventual life of pleasant familiarity in America crumbled around me. Then, I again heard God whisper, ‘this is not your inheritance. Your inheritance is Me’. How true this is for my life. I even live on the offerings made to the Lord by my brothers and sisters who have received a very different inheritance. As I closed my Bible my eyes again went to Amy Carmichael’s letter:
‘You will never regret your choice. It is wonderful to be free to pour out all, every drop of one’s life; and that is what you have done and are doing. No, you will never regret it, never’.
There, in my mind’s eye, I knelt beside the road of my spiritual journey, dug a small hole and buried, hopefully deep enough, my desires for a different inheritance. He is enough! My heart still feels weighted down with mourning the death of a desire. However, my heart is secure in knowing that He is enough. I must, in faith, cling to this promise. He is my inheritance, my eternal inheritance, just as He promised.

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“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our
gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”—2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.

If there were no other text in the sacred Word except this one, I think we should all be bound to receive and acknowledge the truthfulness of the
great and glorious doctrine of God’s ancient choice of his
family. But there seems to be an inveterate prejudice in the
human mind against this doctrine; and although most other
doctrines will be received by professing Christians, some with
caution, others with pleasure, yet this one seems to be most
frequently disregarded and discarded. In many of our pulpits it
would be reckoned a high sin and treason to preach a sermon upon
election, because they could not make it what they call a
“practical” discourse. I believe they have erred from the truth
therein. Whatever God has revealed, he has revealed for a
purpose. There is nothing in Scripture which may not, under the
influence of God’s Spirit, be turned into a practical discourse:
for “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable” for some purpose of spiritual usefulness. It is true,
it may not be turned into a free-will discourse—that we know
right well—but it can be turned into a practical free-grace
discourse: and free-grace practice is the best practice, when the
true doctrines of God’s immutable love are brought to bear upon
the hearts of saints and sinners. Now, I trust this morning some
of you who are startled at the very sound of this word, will say,
“I will give it a fair hearing; I will lay aside my prejudices; I
will just hear what this man has to say.” Do not shut your ears
and say at once, “It is high doctrine.” Who has authorized you to
call it high or low? Why should you oppose yourself to God’s
doctrine? Remember what became of the children who found fault
with God’s prophet, and exclaimed, “Go up, thou bald-head; go up,
thou bald-head.” Say nothing against God’s doctrines, lest haply
some evil beast should come out of the forest and devour you
also. There are other woes beside the open judgment of heaven—
take heed that these fall not on your head. Lay aside your
prejudices: listen calmly, listen dispassionately: hear what
Scripture says; and when you receive the truth, if God should be
pleased to reveal and manifest it to your souls, do not be
ashamed to confess it. To confess you were wrong yesterday, is
only to acknowledge that you are a little wiser to-day; and
instead of being a reflection on yourself, it is an honour to
your judgment, and shows that you are improving in the knowledge
of the truth. Do not be ashamed to learn, and to cast aside your
old doctrines and views, but to take up that which you may more
plainly see to be in the Word of God. But if you do not see it to
be here in the Bible, whatever I may say, or whatever authorities
I may plead, I beseech you, as you love your souls, reject it;
and if from this pulpit you ever hear things contrary to this
Sacred Word, remember that the Bible must be the first, and God’s
minister must lie underneath it. We must not stand on the Bible
to preach, but we must preach with the Bible above our heads.
After all we have preached, we are well aware that the mountain
of truth is higher than our eyes can discern; clouds and darkness
are round about its summit, and we cannot discern its topmost
pinnacle; yet we will try to preach it as well as we can. But
since we are mortal, and liable to err, exercise your judgment;
“Try the spirits whether they are of God”; and if on mature
reflection on your bended knees, you are led to disregard
election—a thing which I consider to be utterly impossible—then
forsake it; do not hear it preached, but believe and confess
whatever you see to be God’s Word. I can say no more than that by
way of exordium.

Continue on here…

Every time we sin, we do as much as say, “I do not acknowledge God to be my sovereign; I will do as I please.” Each time we speak an ill-word we really say, “My tongue is my own, he is not Lord over my lips.” Yea, and everytime the human heart wandereth after evil, and lusteth for that which is forbidden, it attempts to dethrone God, and to set up the Evil One in his place. The language of sin is “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice; I will not have God to reign over me.” Sin is a deliberate treason against the majesty of God, an assault upon his crown, an insult offered to his throne. Some sins, especially, have rebelhon written on their forehead—presumptuous sins, when a man’s conscience has been enlightened, and he knows better, and yet still forsakes the good and follows after evil; when a man’s conscience has been aroused through some judgment, or sickness, or under a faithful ministry; if that man returns, like a dog to his vomit, he has, indeed, insulted the sovereignty of God. But have we not all done this, and are there not some here in particular of whom we once had good hope, but who have turned back again to crooked ways? Are there not some of you who, Sabbath after Sabbath, get your consciences so quickened that you cannot be easy in sin as others are and though you may, perhaps, indulge in sin, yet it costs you very dearly, for you know better? Did I not hear of one who sits in these seats often, but is as often on the ale bench? Did I not hear of another who can sing with us the hymns of Zion, but is equally at home with the lascivious music of the drunkard? Do we not know of some who in their business are anything but what they should be, yet for a show can come up to the house of God? Oh, sirs, oh, sirs, ye do provoke the Lord to jealousy! Take heed, for when he cometh out of his resting-place, and taketh to himself his sword and buckler, who are you that you should stand before the dread majesty of His presence! Tremble and be still! Humble yourselves, and repent of this your sin.

C.H. Spurgeon
1834-1892
from ‘A Jealous God’

An extract from The Chief of Sinners Saved

The insufficiency of nature to such a work as conversion
is, shows that men may not fall down and idolize their own wit
and power. A change from acts of sin to moral duties may be done
by a natural strength and the power of natural conscience: for
the very same motives which led to sin, as education, interest,
profit, may, upon a change of circumstances, guide men to an outward
morality; but a change to the contrary grace is supernatural.

Two things are certain in nature. (1.) Natural inclinations never
change, but by some superior virtue. A loadstone will not
cease to draw iron, while that attractive quality remains in it.
The wolf can never love the lamb, nor the lamb the wolf; nothing
but must act suitably to its nature. Water cannot but moisten,
fire cannot but burn. So likewise the corrupt nature of man being
possessed with an invincible contrariety and enmity to God, will
never suffer him to comply with God. And the inclinations of a
sinner to sin being more strengthened by the frequency of sinful
acts, have as great a power over him, and as natural to him, as
any qualities are to natural agents: and being stronger than any
sympathies in the world, cannot by a man’s own power, or the power
of any other nature equal to it, be turned into a contrary channel.

(2.) Nothing can act beyond its own principle and nature.
Nothing in the world can raise itself to a higher rank of being
than that which nature has placed it in; a spark cannot make itself
a star, though it mount a little up to heaven; nor a plant endue
itself with sense, nor a beast adorn itself with reason; nor a
man make himself an angel. Thorns cannot bring forth grapes, nor
thistles produce figs because such fruits are above the nature
of those plants. So neither can our corrupt nature bring forth
grace, which is a fruit above it. Effectus non excedit virtutem
suae causae [the effect cannot exceed the power of its cause]:
grace is more excellent than nature, therefore cannot be the fruit
of nature. It is Christ’s conclusion, “How can you, being
evil, speak good things?” Matt. 12:33, 34. Not so much as
the buds and blossoms of words, much less the fruit of actions.
They can no more change their natures, than a viper can do away
with his poison. Now though this I have said be true, yet there
is nothing man does more affect in the world than a self-sufficiency,
and an independence from any other power but his own. This attitude
is as much riveted in his nature, as any other false principle
whatsoever. For man does derive it from his first parents, as
the prime legacy bequeathed to his nature: for it was the first
thing uncovered in man at his fall; he would be as God, independent
from him. Now God, to cross this principle, allows his elect,
like Lazarus, to lie in the grave till they stink, that there
may be no excuse to ascribe their resurrection to their own power.
If a putrefied rotten carcass should be brought to life, it could
never be thought that it inspired itself with that active principle.
God lets men run on so far in sin, that they do unman themselves,
that he may proclaim to all the world, that we are unable to do
anything of ourselves towards our recovery, without a superior
principle. The evidence of which will appear if we consider,

1. Man’s subjection under sin. He is “sold under sin,”
Rom. 7:14, and brought “into captivity to the law of sin,”
ver. 23. “Law of sin:” that sin seems to have a legal
authority over him; and man is not only a slave to one sin, but
many, Tit. 3:3, “serving divers lusts.” Now when a man
is sold under the power of a thousand lusts, every one of which
has an absolute tyranny over him, and rules him as a sovereign
by a law; when a man is thus bound by a thousand laws, a thousand
cords and fetters, and carried whither his lords please, against
the dictates of his own conscience and force of natural light;
can any man imagine that his own power can rescue him from the
strength of these masters that claim such a right to him, and
keep such a force upon him, and have so often baffled his own
strength, when he attempted to turn against them?

2. Man’s affection to them. He does not only serve them,
but he serves them, and every one of them, with delight and pleasure;
Tit. 3:3. They were all pleasures, as well as lusts; friends as
well as lords. Will any man leave his sensual delights and such
sins that please and flatter his flesh? Will a man ever endeavour
to run away from those lords which he serves with affection? having
as much delight in being bound a slave to these lusts, as the
devil has in binding him. Therefore when you see a man cast away
his pleasures, deprive himself of those comfortable things to
which his soul was once knit, and walk in paths contrary to corrupt
nature, you may search for the cause anywhere, rather than in
nature itself. No piece of dirty, muddy clay can form itself into
a neat and handsome vessel; no plain piece of timber can fit itself
for the building, much less a crooked one. Nor a man that is born
blind, give himself sight.

God deals with men in this case as he did with Abraham. He would
not give Isaac while Sarah’s womb, in a natural probability, might
have borne him; but when her womb was dead, and age had taken
away all natural strength of conception, then God gives him; that
it might appear that he was not a child of nature, but a child
of promise.

 

Read the story here.

Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty
Tuesday, August 09, 2011

If everything you know about Christian living came from blogs and websites in the young-and-restless district of the Reformed community, you might have the impression that beer is the principal symbol of Christian liberty.
For some who self-identify as “Young, Restless, and Reformed,” it seems beer is a more popular topic for study and discussion than the doctrine of predestination. They devote whole websites to the celebration of brewed beverages. They earnestly assure one another “that most good theological discussion has historically been done in pubs and drinking places.” They therefore love to meet for “open dialog on faith and culture” wherever beer is served—or better yet, right at the brewery. The connoisseurs among them serve their own brands and even offer lessons in how to make home brew.

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“I have prayed for YOU”. Luke 22:32

We must not overlook the individuality of our Lord’s intercession. As if forgetting for that moment the whole Church, and regarding Peter as representing in his person each tempted believer, Jesus makes him the especial object of His prayer. How much comfort do we lose in overlooking this truth- in not more distinctly recognizing the personal interest which each believer has in the love of Christ! “My grace is sufficient for you;” “I have prayed for you,” are the gracious words with which Jesus would meet each individual case.

Think not then, O believer, that you are alone, unloved, uncared for, unthought of- Jesus bears you upon His heart; and if loved, and cared for, and remembered by Him, you can afford to part with some creature stream, however loved and valued that stream may be. Keep your eye intently fixed upon your Lord’s intercession.

We too much lose ourselves in the crowd, and merge ourselves in the mass. We forget alike our individual interest in the covenant, and our personal obligation to glorify God in our different walks of life. But it is the especial privilege of the believer to concentrate upon himself, as in focal power, every thought and affection of God, just as the eye of a well-executed portrait may be said to fasten itself exclusively upon each individual in the room. “I have prayed for you.” O cheering declaration!

Christian reader, lose not sight of it. Come and lay your hand of faith upon the covenant of grace, and say, “the fulness of the covenant is mine.” Lay your hand upon the covenant of God, and say, “the God of the covenant is mine; Jesus, its Mediator, is my Savior. He obeyed, suffered, bled, and expired, all for me. ‘He has loved me, and has given Himself for me.’

Lord! do you think of me? does my case come up before Your notice? do You bear my burden upon Your arm, my sorrow upon Your heart, my name upon Your lips; and do You pray for my poor, assaulted, and trembling faith?
Yes, Lord, You do. I believe it, because You have said it, and press the precious truth, so rich in consolation, to my trembling, grateful heart.”

A Southern Baptist seminary president has reaffirmed confusing and controversial comments he made earlier when he called for his fellow Baptists to repent of a “form of homophobia.”
 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Rev. Albert Mohler, Jr. stated last week that evangelicals need to repent of their treatment of homosexuals. The prominent Christian leader made his controversial remarks during the just completed Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix. He has since reaffirmed his comments in an interview with Baptist Press.

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One of the toughest battles against temptation comes from within our own minds. John MacArthur preaches an excellent message on this, go here for his sermon.

ABC News’ 13-week primetime summer series, “Nightline Prime” premieres Wednesday, June 22 with a five-part investigation into the realm of the extra-sensory, the spiritual, and the experiences many call beyond belief.
“Sometimes the most interesting trips are the ones that take you places you never thought you’d go.  These are mysteries in the most profound sense,” said “Nightline” executive producer Jeanmarie Condon.  “Stories that defy proof and perception are the ultimate adventure – and perfect for summer – to kick off our 13 specials.”
The five installments of “Beyond Belief” begin airing Wednesday, June 22 at 10:00pm ET/PT and continue on the four subsequent Wednesdays:

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A few years ago, I wanted to go into a deeper walk with the Lord. I had never even known it was possible until a few things took place in my life. Until that point, God was just Someone who was kind of real and ‘way out there’ somewhere. You know, ‘out there’

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Recently Joni Stacy, PFLAG Regional Director for the Central Region, forwarded a newsletter including the formation of a new group called Heartland Clergy for Inclusion and their Heartland Proclamation.

“I feel as if I’ve been waiting my whole life for this type of acknowledge and unconditional love for the LGBT community from clergy,” said Joni in her email. “It’s finally here publicly, and the message is loud and clear: There are many Christian clergy who support LGBT folks and they are apologizing for their silence.”
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If you read this proclamation, this line must have stood out like a sore thumb…’ Homosexuality is not a sickness, not a choice, and not a sin.’
I beg to differ! Here are the words of Christ our Lord concerning homosexuality and its defilement; from Matthew 15:19-20, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:These are the things which defile a man.”
The heart comes from the Greek word kardia and means ‘the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours;of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence;of the soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions’. Sin originates in the thought life.

How many times do we have to post these passages from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10—”Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” This is what the Bible truly teaches, however, apostates will embrace sin for the sake of unity and to build this counterfeit church of Satan’s.

For anyone who is in bondage to sin, there is hope in Jesus Christ. Pray God will reveal to you your sins. Cry out as the tax collector did, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ Keep crying out to God until either He saves you or you die and go to hell. God is a God of love, but He is also holy and righteous. It is because He is holy that He must punish sin; this is also why no one who practices sin will enter His kingdom. “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” You have no guarantee of a tomorrow; may God be merciful.