Quotes by A.W. Tozer

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"I say that a Christian congregation can survive and often appear to prosper in the community by the exercise of human talent and without any touch from the Holy Spirit! All that religious activity and the dear people will not know anything better until the great and terrible day when our self-employed talents are burned with fire and only that which was wrought by the Holy Ghost will stand forever!" -Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts, page 30.


"We must do something about the cross, and one of two things only we can do--flee it or die upon it." - The Root of the Righteous, page 63.


"Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficent souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrasing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show." - Man: The Dwelling Place of God, page 27.

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One of God’s Great "Don’ts"

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Cease from anger and forsake wrath, Do not fret-it only causes harm. Psalm 37:8

Fretting means getting ourselves "out of joint" mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, "Do not fret," but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" ( Psalm 37:7 ) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to "rest in the Lord" then? If this "Do not" doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This "Do not" must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.

Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.

Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" ( Psalm 91:1 ). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.

-Oswald Chambers

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The Strictest Discipline

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If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell —Matthew 5:30

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that "if your right hand causes you to sin" in your walk with Him, then it is better to "cut it off." There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then "cut it off." The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.

When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, "What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!"

There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but inMatthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

-Oswald Chambers-"My Utmost For His Highest"

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Word of the day

Regeneration

[ree-jehn’-uh-ray‘-shun]

(Latin regenerare, “to reproduce”)

The doctrine of spiritual renewal, otherwise known as being born-again. According to Titus 3:3-7, in his mercy God saves us by washing away our old nature through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life, as verse 7 states. There is some controversy as to when regeneration happens in the ordo salutis (order of salvation). Calvinists assert that regeneration happens before faith; Arminians believe it happens after faith evidences itself.

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Word of the day

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Sanctification

[saynk’-tuh-fih-kay‘-shun]

(Latin sanctifare, “to consecrate” or “make holy,” from Greek hagiazo, “to purify”)

Refers to the state or process of being set apart for special use. In Christian theology, is in reference to the change brought about by God in the believer which began at the point of salvation (justification) and continues throughout the life of the believer until the final state of glorification. The word (hagiasmos=sanctifcation/holiness) occurs several times in the NT (e.g., Rom. 6:19,22; 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Thess. 4:3,4,7; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2).

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Gold refined by fire

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“There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.—Now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.—“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Rev. 3:18; Mark 10:29, 30; 1 Pet. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:6, 7; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 16:33

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Paul Washer - Are You a True Disciple?

Expiation

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[ek’-spee-ay‘-shun]

(Latin ex- as an intensive prefix + Latin piare, “to atone”)

Meaning “to atone, or make reparations for.” In Christian theology the term refers to the penal substitution of Christ on behalf of his people. Specifically it emphasizes the removal of guilt through the payment for the penalty of sin. This notion is coupled with the concept of propitiation, which refers to the appeasement or averting of God’s wrath and justice. Both concepts are seen together as two sides of the same coin.

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The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

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Isaiah 12

12:1 You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

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Does the bible teach that there are two peoples of God, Israel and the Church?

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Not only does the bible not teach that there are two distinct peoples of God, Israel and the Church, but it is very explicitly opposed to this idea. For one thing, the Church existed in the Old Testament, long before the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 7:38); and furthermore, the clear teaching of the New Testament is that the modern day Church is really just the expansion of God's people Israel. According to Paul, being an Israelite has never been based merely on outward ethnicity (Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6-8); but those who have been called according to God's promise are Abraham's true seed (Rom. 9:8). Hence, all who have faith are Abraham's children, and the true Israel of God (Rom. 4:11-17; Galatians 3:6-9, 26-29; 4:21-31; 6:16; Phil. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; Rev. 2:9).

When Paul deals extensively with the whole question of the place of Jews and Gentiles in the people of God, in Romans 11, he shows that there is just one people, symbolized by one good olive tree; unbelieving ethnic Jews may be broken off of that tree of true Israel and believing Gentiles may be grafted in; but there is still one tree, one body, one people of God. Thus, Paul teaches elsewhere that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile in Christ (Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:11), but that all believers are members of the same body, citizens of the one commonwealth of Israel, inheritors of all the promises made to Abraham (Eph. 2:11-22; 3:6; Gal. 4:26-31; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 12:22-23). In short, there is and always has been one people of God, and that people includes all those who are grafted in to God's “good olive tree” to become Abraham's children by faith, whether ethnic Jews or Gentiles.

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Does the bible teach that in the end times there will be a restored Jewish state and a restored temple?

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In the Old Testament, the bible does indeed prophesy that Israel will be restored and a more glorious temple will be rebuilt (e.g. Amos 9:11-12; Ezekiel 40-48). The preliminary fulfillment of this prophecy came with the return from exile, and the rebuilding of the temple under Nehemiah and Ezra; however, this was just a taste, or down payment, of the ultimate fulfillment.

When Jesus came to this earth, his incarnation truly brought the presence of God to the world of men, as the tabernacle and temple had been designed to do; and hence, John says that he “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14). Thus, when he purged the temple, he prophesied that the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt after three days; but he was speaking of his own body, which is the true temple (John 2:13-22). After this ultimate temple-rebuilding, which occurred in the resurrection of Jesus, there was no longer a need for the typological temple of stone in Jerusalem, so Jesus prophesied its destruction, which happened in 70 AD (Matthew 24:1-2). Today, the prophecy of the restored temple and the restored Jewish people is being fulfilled, not in a temple of stone, for that has been destroyed in the presence of the body of Christ, which is the ultimate Temple of God, but in the spiritual body of Christ, the Church, which has become the “Israel of God” (see Gal. 6:16; and also Romans 2:28-29; 4:11-17; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:6-9, 26-29; 4:21-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:6; Phil. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; Rev. 2:9), and which God is now making into a holy Temple, built upon Christ the Cornerstone (see 1 Cor 6:19-20; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 3:12).

One of the clearest and most monumental Old Testament prophecies regarding the restoration of the tabernacle may be found in Amos 9:11-12; and in Acts 15:14-17, James clearly teaches that this passage is being fulfilled in the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles; so in sum yes, the bible prophesies of a restored Jewish nation and temple, but then goes on to teach that this prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus' becoming the true and final Temple of God, and subsequently in his making his people a holy temple in the Lord, where God's presence might dwell among them, even today.

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Tozer on the Gifts of the Spirit

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“For a generation certain evangelical teachers have told us that the gifts of the Spirit ceased at the death of the apostles or at the completion of the New Testament. This, of course, is a doctrine without a syllable of Biblical authority back of it. The result of this erroneous teaching is that spiritually gifted persons are ominously few among us. This frightening hour calls aloud for men with the gift of prophetic insight. Instead we have men who conduct surveys, polls and panel discussions. We need men with the gift of knowledge. In their place we have men with scholarship—nothing more. Thus, we may be preparing ourselves for the tragic hour when God may set us aside as so-called evangelicals and raise up another movement to keep New Testament Christianity alive in the earth.

The truth of the matter is that the Scriptures plainly imply the imperative of possessing the gifts of the Spirit. But I must also add a word of caution. The various spiritual gifts are not equally valuable, as Paul so carefully explains. Certain brethren have magnified one gift out of seventeen out of all proportion. Among these brethren there have been and are many godly souls, but the general moral results of this teaching have nevertheless not been good. In practice it has resulted in much shameless exhibitionism, a tendency to depend upon experiences instead of upon Christ and often a lack of ability to distinguish the works of the flesh from the operations of the Spirit. Those who deny that the gifts are for us today and those who insist upon making a hobby of one gift are both wrong, and we are all suffering the consequences of their error.”

-A.W. Tozer

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John Newton on Walking with Jesus

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Walking with Jesus

(Letters of John Newton)

When I speak of walking with Jesus, my idea is helped by considering how it was with His first disciples--they lived in His presence! While He stayed in a place--they stayed; and when He moved--they went with Him. Having Him thus always near, always in view--the sight of Him undoubtedly gave a composure to their whole behavior; and was a check upon their eyes, their tongues, and their actions!

When they had hard questions upon their minds--they did not puzzle themselves with vain reasonings. When they were in need--they looked to Him for a supply. When they had difficulties and dangers--they little doubted of deliverance, knowing that He was with them.

Just so, I need a faith that shall have such an abiding, experimental conviction of His nearness and presence--as if I actually saw Him! "Lord, increase my faith!"

Surely, if He were now upon earth, and I expected a visit from Him this afternoon--my heart would bound at the thought! With what a mixture of joy and fear would I open the door to receive Him! How cautious would I be--not to do or say anything that might grieve Him, and shorten His stay with me! And how gladly, if He gave me permission to speak, would I catch the opportunity of telling Him all my concerns! Surely I would be unwilling to let Him go--until He had healed the wounds in my soul, and renewed my spiritual strength; until He had taught me better how to serve Him, and promised to support me in His service. And if I heard Him say, with an audible voice, "Though they fight against you--they shall not prevail, for I am always with you to deliver you!" I would bid adieu to fear!

But, alas, my unbelieving heart! Are not these things true, even at present? Is He not as near and as kind? Have I not the same reasons and the same encouragement to set Him always before me--and to tell Him . . .
all my needs,
all my fears, and
all my troubles--
as if I saw Him with my bodily eyes!

"Be sure of this: I am with you always--even to the end of the age!" Matthew 28:20

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“The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former. . . . And in this place I will give peace."

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“The house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands.”—The glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house.

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” . . . But he was speaking about the temple of his body.—Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.—And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.—In these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”—Prince of Peace.—For he himself is our peace.—And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Hag. 2:9; 1 Chron. 22:5; 2 Chron. 7:2; John 2:19, 21; 2 Cor. 3:10; John 1:14; Heb. 1:2; Luke 2:14; Isa. 9:6; Eph. 2:14; Phi. 4:7

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John Newton on Greatness In the Kingdom of God

"One man, like Mr. Whitefield, is raised up to preach the gospel with success through a considerable part of the earth. Another is called to the humbler service of sweeping the streets, or cleaning this great minister's shoes. Now, if the latter is thankful and content in his poor station,--if he can look without envy, yea, with much love on the man that is honoured,--if he can rejoice in the good that is done, or pray for the success of those whom the Lord sends,--I see not why he may not be as great a man in the sight of God as he who is followed and admired by thousands."

"Upon a supposition of degrees of glory, I should think it probable, the best Christian will have the highest place; and I am inclined to think that if you and I were to travel in search of the best Christian in the land, or were qualified to distinguish who deserved the title, it is more than two to one we should not find the person in a pulpit, or any public office of life. Perhaps some old woman at her wheel, or some bed-rid person, hid from the knowledge of the world, in a mud-walled cottage, would strike our attention more than any of the doctors or reverends with whom we are acquainted."

"Let us not measure men, much less ourselves, by gifts or services. One grain of grace is worth abundance of gifts. To be self-abased, to be filled with a spirit of love, and peace, and gentleness; to be dead to the world; to have the heart deeply affected with a sense of the glory and grace of Jesus, to have our will bowed to the will of God; these are the great things, more valuable, if compared in the balance of the sanctuary, than to be an instrument of converting a province or a nation."

-John Newton

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If then you have been raised with Christ

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seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3 ESV)

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Justification

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[jus’-tuh-fih-kay‘-shun]

(From the Greek word dikaioo, “to declare/make righteous”)

The act by which God declares a sinner to be just on the basis of the righteousness of Christ alone. According to Romans 1:18-3:28, justification is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ apart from works or merit.

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Not a Neutral World

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Jesus did not come to a neutral world with the result that some people moved from neutrality to be anti-Jesus, and others moved from neutrality to be pro-Jesus. Nobody was neutral. And nobody is neutral. We have all sinned. We are all guilty. We are all perishing. Therefore, we are all under God’s righteous wrath. And we are already condemned.

Whether we stay that way depends on how we respond to Jesus. He came not to make neutral people into pro-Jesus people, but to make guilty people non-guilty, condemned people not condemned, and to make dead people eternally alive. God does not owe anybody acquittal or life. That Jesus came to offer it and that some accept it, is all undeserved grace.

- John Piper

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He Does as He Pleases

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He Does As He Pleases

"For the Lord Almighty has purposed--and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out--and who can turn it back?" Isaiah 14:27

To say that God is sovereign, is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His will.

Whatever takes place in time is but the outworking of that which He has decreed in eternity. The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible and infinite!

We insist that God does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases!

"But our God is in the heavens--He has done whatever He has pleased!" Psalm 115:3

"The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths!" Psalm 135:6

"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: What have you done?" Daniel 4:35

- A. W. Pink

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Philippians 4:11-14

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I Have Learned The Secret!

11. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

14. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

ESV

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The Differences Between Religion And The Gospel

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RELIGION: I obey-therefore I’m accepted.

THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted-therefore I obey.

RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God.

THE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God-to delight and resemble Him.

RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.

RELIGION: When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.

THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.

RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.

THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him.

RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate. I’m not confident. I feel like a failure.

THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.

RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’

THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.

RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God.

THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

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Ps. 113:4-5 & Jonathan Edwards

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I was reading this morning in Ps. 113, and came to verses 4 & 5:

⁴The LORD is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens.
⁵Who is like the LORD our God,
Who is enthroned on high

I was reminded of this quote from the life of Jonathan Edwards:

"Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception -which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust; and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. I have several other times had views very much of the same nature, and which have had the same effects."

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No Mr. President!

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Daniel 4:34-35

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Nebuchadnezzar Restored

34. At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35. all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

So much for “God can’t move unless you let Him”!

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A New Creation

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It is radical, revolutionary, lasting!

(Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God")

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

In the new birth, God exerts a quickening influence or power upon His own elect. Regeneration is very, very much more than simply shedding a few tears because of some temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or "joining the church." The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf--but is the inception and reception of a new life! It is no mere reformation, but a radical transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle--the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting!

In the new birth:

God lays hold of one who is spiritually dead--and quickens him into newness of life!

God takes up one who was shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin--and conforms him to the image of His Son!

God seizes a drudge of the Devil--and makes him a member of His holy family!

God picks up a destitute beggar--and makes him joint-heir with Christ!

God comes to one who is full of enmity against Him--and gives him a new heart that is full of love for Him!

God stoops to one who by nature is a rebel--and works in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure!

By His irresistible power, God transforms . . .
a sinner--into a saint;
an enemy--into His friend,
a drudge of the Devil--into His beloved child!

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“For as the Father has life in himself ...

So he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”

Our Savior Christ Jesus . . . abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.—“I am the resurrection and the life.”—“Because I live, you also will live.”—We share in Christ.—Those . . . who have shared in the Holy Spirit.—Partakers of the divine nature.—“The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. . . . Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” . . . who lives forever and ever.—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality.—To the King of ages, immortal, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

John 5:26; 2 Tim. 1:10; John 11:25; John 14:19; Heb. 3:14; Heb. 6:4; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:45, 51, 52; Rev. 4:8, 9; 1 Tim. 6:15, 16; 1 Tim. 1:17

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Throwing the Dice

"We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall." Proverbs 16:33

If the fall of the dice is under the Lord's control, then whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of the dice is guided by Him, how much more the events of our entire life, especially when we are told by our blessed Savior, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered! Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father!" It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so relieve your mind from worry that you would be the better able to walk in patience, calmness, and cheerfulness, as a Christian should.

When a man is anxious, he cannot pray with faith or serve his Master. When you worry and fret about your lot and circumstances, you are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own! You have been attempting "providing" work and forgetting that it is yours to "obey". Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing.

Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether He will let you starve while He has laid up so great an abundance in His garner! Look at His heart of mercy and ask if that heart can ever prove unkind! Look at His inscrutable wisdom and ask if that wisdom can ever be at fault. Above all, look to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while He pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If He remembers even sparrows, will He forget one of His poor children?

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." Psalm 55:22

- C. H. Spurgeon

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Living Sacrifice - A Biblical Truth

As Christians, we're called to give ourselves to God as a "living sacrifice." The Apostle Paul helps us understand this truth in his letter to the believers in Rome:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)

Living Sacrifice - Dying to Self
So, how do we truly present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice? In a nutshell, we must die to our prior selves. This concept is wonderfully presented in this anonymous poem…

When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted worthy to suffer for Christ;

That is dying to self.

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence;

That is dying to self.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did;

That is dying to self.

When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God;

That is dying to self.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown;

That is dying to self.

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances;

That is dying to self.

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit, inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart;

That is dying to self.

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Sanctification - Biblical Meaning - Pt. 1 of 6

Sanctification is a biblical doctrine that is emphasized a great deal in Christian teaching. Yet despite its importance, it is often perceived as a religious notion too complex to comprehend. Though sanctification may at first seem to be a foreign concept, it is one of the greatest things that has and is happening to every believer in Jesus Christ. Here we will explore the basic biblical doctrine of sanctification and discuss the key role it plays in a Christian's spiritual growth.

Sanctification comes from the verb sanctify. Sanctify originates from the Greek word hagiazo, which means to be "separate" or to be "set apart." In the Bible, sanctification generally relates to a sovereign act of God whereby He "sets apart" a person, place, or thing in order that His purposes may be accomplished. In the book of Exodus, God sanctifies a place of worship. "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory," says Exodus 29:43. Even a day can be sanctified as seen in Genesis 2:3 where the seventh day is "set apart" as a holy day of rest. "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

Similarly, when a person is sanctified he or she is being set apart by God for a specific divine purpose. The very moment we are saved in Christ we are also immediately sanctified and begin the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. As God's children we are "set apart" from that moment to carry out His divine purposes unto eternity. Hebrews 10:14 says, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." Are you set apart for God?

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Sanctification - Different Than Salvation - Pt. 2 of 6

It is important to differentiate between justification and sanctification. Justification is another word for salvation. Jesus gave his life on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. His blood washes away our sins and frees us from an eternity of suffering and condemnation. Believers are saved because of what Christ has already done. We can do nothing to earn salvation, it is the gift given to every child of God regardless of race, age, maturity, or merit. Sanctification occurs as a result of salvation. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit enters our life. We are no longer held hostage by death, but are free to live the life God desires for us. We are thus sanctified simply because of our standing as lost souls saved by grace.

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Sanctification - A Continuing Process - Pt. 3 of 6

Sanctification does not stop with salvation, but rather it is a progressive process that continues in a Christian's life. Unlike the things and places that are sanctified by God in the Bible, people have the capacity to sin. Even though we have been "set apart" as God's children, we continue to behave in ways that are contrary. As Christians, we realize shortly after we have been saved that there is a new inner battle being waged within us - a battle between our old sin-lead nature and new Spirit-lead nature. Paul in Galatians best describes this inner struggle in Galatians 5:17: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Like Paul, our heart's desire is to please and obey God, but our flesh is weak making sin difficult to resist. Yet, it is in our continual struggle with sin and obedience to God that sanctification does its work.

But what is the work of sanctification? What does it practically mean to be "set apart"? Sanctification can be described as an inward spiritual process whereby God brings about holiness and change in the life of a Christian by means of the Holy Spirit. The effects of living in a fallen world have harmed everybody differently. We all face different issues, struggle with sin, and past hurts of varying degrees, hindering our ability to live the life God desires for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit enters our life to start a transformation process (progressive sanctification). He convicts us on areas that need to be changed, helping us to grow in holiness. We begin to view the world, people, and personal difficulties from a more biblical perspective. Our choices begin to be motivated by love and truth and not selfishness. For instance, we may have misplaced our confidence and security on beauty, wealth, and materialism, but God may ordain difficult circumstances to liberate us from these growth-hindering snares. The transformation process may be painful, but it is always motivated by God's love for us. Further, God promises in His Word to not give us more than we are able to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This is the working process of sanctification is the life of every believer. Though the process is personal for each individual, the end goal is to prevent sin and produce spiritual growth. Note that sanctification has nothing to do with living in sinless perfection. We will never be sinless in this life. In fact, the Bible warns against such false teachings in 1 John 1:8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Sanctification is not about trying to be sinless in order to earn the favor of God. Rather, sanctification is for our own benefit. God commands us to pursue sanctification so that through it we may be blessed.

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Sanctification - A Christian Responsibility - Pt. 4 of 6

Sanctification is one of the most challenging aspects of the Christian walk. Our natural tendency is to embrace sin, yet God in His divine wisdom has chosen to give us the responsibility of working out our own sanctification. "Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work," says 2 Timothy 2:21.

But how do we pursue sanctification? How are we personally responsible? Lovingly, God has sent His Holy Spirit and His written Word, the Bible, to guide us. Though every person's sanctification is unique and personal, there are common disciplines in the pursuit of sanctification that are unchanging.

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Sanctification - Practical Steps - Pt. 5 of 6

Prayer is of utmost importance. When we are suffering or facing temptation, our mind and body are weak. Satan knows this and tries to take advantage of us. When we pray, we are in spiritual union with God. Not only will prayer comfort us in our hardship, but it will also give us the strength to overcome sin. Through prayer, we are also more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

God has also given us the written Word - the Bible. The Bible is not merely a history book, but its words have the power to sanctify us. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, Jesus used the Word of God to overcome temptation. "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).

God's Word also has the power to transform our mind, convict, and bring to light the darkness that is within our hearts. It is the instrument which God uses to develop in us knowledge, faith, and personal holiness; all of which are essential elements of sanctification. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Whether by studying or listening to teaching, the sanctifying work of God's Word is enormous to a believer who recognizes its truth and power.

Believers are also sanctified in worship. True fervent worship is what God desires from His people. When our worship is genuine, it transforms our hearts and brings us into close union with God. John 4:23 says, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."

Additionally, before Jesus ascended into heaven he tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for a gift God will send (Acts 1). This is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate helper and sanctifier. When we yield to His leading, He has the power to help us resist sin and make positive change. "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

When we sin and ignore the Holy Spirit's leading, we break fellowship with Him, thereby cutting off the life-changing power. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 commands us: "Do not quench the Spirit."

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Sanctification - Key to Spiritual Growth - Pt. 6 of 6

Sanctification is both a matter of position and progression. We are sanctified because Jesus Christ has saved us and yet sanctification continues to work within to transform us unto the likeness of Christ. Sanctification is the responsibility of every believer in Christ. When we choose to pursue sanctification in our life, positive growth occurs. The pursuit of it involves the surrender of the body and the will to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It takes time and is a working progress that cannot be hurried. Like a newborn baby that gradually matures unto adulthood, so is the work of sanctification in the life of a new believer. The work of sanctification will ultimately be completed in every believer's life when Jesus Christ returns. This is the hope of every Christian.

Paul puts it best in his epistle to the Thessalonians: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

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Reproaches have broken my heart

“Is not this the carpenter's son?”—“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”—“Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”—“He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”—“We know that this man is a sinner.”—“He is leading the people astray.”—“This man is blaspheming.”— “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.”—For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.—If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.

Ps. 69:20; Matt. 13:55; John 1:46; John 8:48; Matt. 9:34; John 9:24; John 7:12; Matt. 9:3; Matt. 11:19; Matt. 10:25; 1 Pet. 2:19-23; 1 Pet. 4:14

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“My sheep hear my voice.”

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”—I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking. “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one.” . . . I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

“Speak, for your servant hears.”—And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.—Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

John 10:27; Rev. 3:20; Song 5:2, 6; 1 Sam. 3:10; Luke 19:5, 6; Ps. 85:8

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Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.—When you . . . believed in him, [you] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”—Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We walk by faith, not by sight.—Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

Heb. 11:1; 1 Cor. 15:19; 1 Cor. 2:9, 10; Eph. 1:13, 14; John 20:29; 1 Pet. 1:8, 9; 2 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 10:35

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Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear.

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.—While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.—Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!—But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

“Ah, Lord God! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”—He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.—“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.”

Isa. 59:1; Ps. 138:2; Dan. 9:21; Ps. 27:9; Ps. 22:19; Jer. 32:17; 2 Cor. 1:10; Luke 18:7, 8

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Little Did She Know: The Perfection of God's Providence

"Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech's family." Ruth 2:3

"She happened." Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident, but how divinely was it overruled! Ruth had gone forth with her mother-in-law's blessing, under the care of her God, to do humble and honorable toil, and the providence of God was guiding her every step! Little did she know that amid the sheaves she would find a husband, and that he would make her the joint owner of all those broad acres, and that she, a destitute foreigner, would become an ancestor of the great Messiah!

God is very good to those who trust in Him, and often surprises them with unlooked-for blessings. Little do we know what may happen to us in the future; but this sweet fact should cheer us, that nothing which is really good for us shall be withheld from us!

The word "chance" is banished from the Christian's vocabulary, for we see the hand of God in everything. The seemingly trivial events of today or tomorrow, may involve consequences of the highest importance. Take comfort--our Lord deals as graciously with all His servants as He did with Ruth!

- C. H. Spurgeon
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But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . peace.

To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

God has called you to peace.—“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”—May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.—You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.—“Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Great peace have those who love your law.

Gal. 5:22; Rom. 8:6; 1 Cor. 7:15; John 14:27; Rom. 15:13; 2 Tim. 1:12; Isa. 26:3; Isa. 32:17, 18; Prov. 1:33; Ps. 119:165

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Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.—“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”— No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.—By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

1 John 2:5; Heb. 13:20, 21; 1 John 2:3; John 14:23; 1 John 3:6, 7; 1 John 4:17

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“Consider what great things he has done for you.”

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”

I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. . . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. . . . Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.—The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.—He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

1 Sam. 12:24; Deut. 8:2, 5; Ps. 119:75, 71, 67; Ps. 118:18; Ps. 103:10, 11, 14

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“Behold, the Lamb of God”

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.’”—He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

You were ransomed . . . not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was . . . made manifest in the last times for your sake, . . . so that your faith and hope are in God.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

John 1:29; Heb. 10:4-7; Isa. 53:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-21; Rev. 5:12
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Be Strong, Be Courageous, Endure Hardness

"Woe is me--that I dwell among these scoundrels of Meshech! It pains me to live with these people from Kedar!" Psalm 120:5

As a Christian, you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry, "Woe is me!"

Jesus did not pray, "O that you should be taken out of the world!" And what He did not pray for--you need not desire! Better far in the Lord's strength to meet the difficulty and glorify Him in it.

The enemy is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are upon you and that more is expected from you than from others! Strive to give no occasion for blame. Like Daniel, let your godliness be the only fault which they can discover in you.

Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, "If I were in a more favorable position, I might be able to serve the Lord's cause. But I cannot do any good where I am!" But the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need they have of your exertions! If they are crooked, the more necessity that you should set them straight! If they are perverse, the more need have you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be but where there are many sick? Where is honor to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle?

When weary of the strife and sin which meets you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured the same trial! They were not carried to heaven on beds of ease and you must not expect to travel more easily than they! They had to hazard their lives unto the death, in the midst of the battlefield and you will not be crowned until you also have endured hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, "Be courageous! Be strong!" 1 Corinthians 16:13

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The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.—David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.—“God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”—“‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them.’ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”—Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

He who promised is faithful.—Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”—The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Gen. 21:1; Ps. 62:8; 1 Sam. 30:6; Gen. 50:24; Acts 7:34, 36; Josh. 21:45; Heb. 10:23; Num. 23:19; Matt. 24:35; Isa. 40:8

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Porn and paper pastors

Beneath this nicely-alliterated title is an excellent article from Dan Phillips. “This post is not about pornography, men, women, nor marriage. It is about people with paper pastors.” It’s not what you may think, neither is this an article ripping on pastors… Check it out!

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The Book of Revelation

Why was the book of Revelation written? It was not written primarily, let me assure you, in order that people might be able to work out the date of the end of the world! That is a very grievous misunderstanding of the book.

The book of Revelation was written in order that God's people, who were passing through terrible persecutions and terrible adversity, might still be able to go on rejoicing. It is a book that showed them the ultimate victory of the Lord over Satan and all the other forces. They were to rejoice. It was written for men and women who had been in trouble, and was meant to primarily help them, not primarily for people who were to live two thousand years later.

And so it has been a help to Christian people in every age and in every generation. If your understanding of Revelation does not help you rejoice, then you are misunderstanding it.

- Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Corrective Tract for the Prosperity Gospel

Mark 8:34-36:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Is this preached anymore today? I am so sick to tears of preachers and TV’s so called evangelists teaching on how I can be “Blessed” (acquiring wealth) How I can build “My kingdom” here “What’s in it for me” and “HOW CAN I KEEP MY WALLET FULL”! This Self Centered Americanized Gospel sickens me to no end!

“Teach us smooth things” and “Tickle my ears” tell me that I can have this world and the next one too!

But I guess if they preached to deny yourself, take up your cross, losing your life for His and in gaining the world you would lose your soul, wouldn’t fill the pews now would it?

Oh how many faithful have been damaged after being told that “God has a wonderful plan for you” right before being fed to the lions.

You may not become rich, you may never drive a BMW, and guess what, you may even remain poor. Who cares!!! God saved a wretch like me when I didn’t deserve it, GOD is GOOD!

Now… can we start teaching the whole Gospel?

Consider the costs!

-Chad

Gratitude!

Oh, how he must have loved, to have descended from heaven to earth, and from earth to the grave! How he must have loved to have chosen us, when we were hating him - when we were enemies, he hath reconciled us unto God by his own death. Dead in trespasses and sins, corrupt. Wrapped up in the cerements of evil habits, hateful and hating one another, full of sin and every abomination, yet he loved us so as to yield up his soul unto death for us. We are dealing with great things here indeed, and we must not forget the greatness of the influence which such an atonement, the result of such love, must have upon the Christian’s heart. Oh, the greatness of the peace which passeth all understanding, which flows from this great atonement! Oh, the greatness of the gratitude which must blaze forth from such a sacred fire as this!

-C.H. Spurgeon

It Is God Who Justifies - Octavius Winslow

“‘It is God who justifies.’
(Romans 8:33)

Behold the eternal security of the weakest believer in Jesus. The act of justification, once passed under the great seal of the resurrection of Christ, God can never revoke without denying Himself. Here is our safety. Here is the ground of our dauntless challenge, ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies.’ What can I need more? What more can I ask?

If God, the God of spotless purity, the God of inflexible righteousness, justifies me, ‘who is he that condemns?’ Sin may condemn, but it is God that justifies! The law may alarm, but it is God that justifies! Satan may accuse, but it is God that justifies! Death may terrify, but it is God that justifies! ‘If GOD is for us, who can be against us?’ Who will dare condemn the soul whom He justifies?

How gloriously will this truth shine forth in the great day of judgment! Every accuser will then be dumb. Every tongue will then be silent. Nothing shall be laid to the charge of God’s elect. GOD Himself shall pronounce them fully, and forever justified: ‘And those He justifies, He also glorifies.’”

—Octavius Winslow, Morning Thoughts (February 1)

HT: Of First Importance

Paul Washer street preaching the Gospel in Lima

fleecing of the flock

JOHN HAGEE AGREES WITH WORD FAITH PROSPERITY PREACHER JOHN AVANZINI

Below Jerry Jackson, from his piece John Hagee—Preacher of Truth or Apostle of Error?, gives us some more about details concerning Hagee’s preaching the Prosperity Gospel of the Word Faith movement:

John Hagee believes that it is God’s will for God’s people to be healthy and prosperous, as long as they obey God’s ordinances. On April 16, 1993 John Hagee appeared on the Praise-A-Thon broadcast of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. During this appearance he said that “poverty is caused by sin and disobeying the Word of God.” In another Praise-A-Thon broadcast on November 4, 1992 he said, “poverty is a curse.”

According to Hagee, Christians achieve prosperity through giving. In the same November 4, 1992 broadcast he said, “When you give to God, He controls your income. There is no such thing as a fixed income in the kingdom of God. Your income is controlled by your giving”…

In the same November 4, 1992 Praise-A-Thon broadcast, John Hagee said, “There is a relationship between your soul and physical and financial prosperity. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth.’ That’s the spoken Word of God. ‘And then shalt thou prosper and have good success.’ When? After you speak and act upon the Word of God. And you’ve been hearing that tonight out of the mouth of John Avanzini (well known Faith teacher).” (Online source)

So according to John Hagee, “There is a relationship between your soul and physical and financial prosperity… After you speak and act upon the Word of God. And you’ve been hearing that tonight out of the mouth of John Avanzini.” Well, following are some classic Word Faith prosperity teachings from “the mouth” of Dr. John Avanzini:

Jesus was handling big money because that treasurer He had was a thief. Now you can’t tell me that a ministry with a treasurer that’s a thief can operate on a few pennies. It took big money to operate that ministry because Judas was stealing out of that bag.”
(Praise the Lord, TBN 09/15/88)

Jesus had a nice house, a big house–big enough to have company stay the night with Him at the house. Let me show you His house. Go over to John the first chapter and I’ll show you His house. . . Now, child of God, that’s a house big enough to have company stay the night in. There’s His house…

John 19 tells us that Jesus wore designer clothes. Well, what else you gonna call it? Designer clothes–that’s blasphemy. No, that’s what we call them today. I mean, you didn’t get the stuff He wore off the rack. It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all deal. No, this was custom stuff. It was the kind of a garment that kings and rich merchants wore. Kings and rich merchants wore that garment…

You don’t think these Apostles didn’t walk around with money? I mean, they had money. I just thank God that I saw this and gave up the denominational line and got on God’s line before I starved me and all my family to death. Go to Acts 24. 1 mean. you don’t think there wasn’t money in this Paul’s life! … Paul had the kind of money that people, that government officials, would, would block up justice to try to get a bribe out of old Paul.”
(Believer’s Voice of Victory,TBN 01/20/91)

And in her excellent article John Avanzini and His Talking Stones Ingrid Schlueter recaps her experience at the 2008 Inspiring Excellence conference when she heard Azanzini speak:

Avanzini had a whole new doctrinal revelation to tell us about: the doctrine of reverse entrapment. If you’ve never heard of that before, that’s because God just showed it to him right there. Reverse entrapment is when you put a gift to Avanzini on a credit card and outsmart the lenders who are trying to get rich off your debt. When you put a gift on a credit card, I quote, “something happens in the spirit world.”

Here he tells everyone how to have a credit card breakthrough. Turns out Avanzini has a way for you to get rid of your mortgage debt. All you have to do is to give him a gift the size of your house payment and God will see that your mortgage gets paid off right away. If you don’t have a house, $500 will do nicely for future debt. Avanzini assured us that it worked for him. (Online source)

It should be noted that I have personally seen this message and after Avanzini teaches that foolishness, which he does attribute to God, he turns to his close friend pastor Robb Thompson–who puts on the Inspiring Excellence conference–and asks, “Pastor, am I out of bounds with that?” Thompson emphatically encourages Avanzini and he continues right on with his fleecing of the flock.

ARE CHRISTIANS DRIVING CHURCH NUMBERS DOWN?

By Paul Proctor
April 4, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

The reports are everywhere now about the declining numbers of church members and baptisms – especially among Southern Baptists; so much so that church leaders address it at almost every opportunity as if attempting to somehow spark a zeal in remaining members like a coach might do in the locker room of a losing team at halftime.

Everyone is trying to figure out what’s wrong.

This might come as a shock to many, but I would suggest that the answer here might just be nothing is wrong – that those declining numbers that are troubling the pulpits of American churches right now may well be God’s will being carried out by His own being called out of a growing apostasy flourishing within them.

In no way am I condemning all established churches and religious institutions – so don’t misquote me or suggest to anyone that that is what I am doing here. It is not. I am only pointing to another exodus obviously underway and the largely overlooked reasons for it.

Being the recipient of untold numbers of emails over the years from heartbroken readers who have left or been thrown out of their churches for taking a biblical stand on important issues has given me a perspective that many pulpiteers and pew warmers are not privy to. It is, unfortunately, the view of the majority that those who don’t run with the majority are backsliders.

I don’t agree.

You see, the majority functions on a false, yet implied premise, that God must operate within an established and recognized religious institution or it is not God. But, I would challenge that notion by simply pointing to the early church that was largely spurned and hated by the religious establishment of the day.

Were not the temple numbers also down because of The Way? Did it not trouble the religious leaders back then as well? Why do you think Saul was terrorizing Christians prior to his Damascus road encounter with the Lord – because the numbers were up?

If God is in control, as so many of today’s church members are fond of saying – then He must also be in control of the declining numbers.

Does this mass exodus serve the will of men or the will of God?

This is the question that must now be asked.

Consider the declining economy. Is it not our increasing debt that is causing it to falter and fail? If it is the unrestrained borrowing of money that has caused it, how then can borrowing more money in even greater quantities, solve it?

It can’t – in spite of what the experts in charge now claim.

It’s not a “stimulus package” – it’s a suicide pact.

Now, consider the declining church numbers.

Is it not biblical compromise and carnal indulgence that has ultimately caused it – pleasure palaces built with borrowed money to produce sensory circuses that can better compete with the world for your patronage and mine with watered-down gospel messages, coffee shop ministries, rock and roll worship and people-pleasing programs? If it is, then how can more biblical compromise and carnal indulgence solve it?

That’s right – it can’t.

So, while pastors feverishly try to save their ministries (careers) and members try to save their churches (attendance), the exodus is steadily taking it all away – away from the wishful thinking and wayward agendas of misguided men to the promised land of God’s provision where the rot and stench of spiritual death and decay is left behind for the Living Waters of truth, repentance and faith in Christ.

I find nothing in the bible about the importance of saving religious organizations or Christian ministries – only lost souls. And feeding the flesh more of what it craves will simply not accomplish that.

"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." – Matthew 3:2

© 2009 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserve

Thus says the Lord?

With so many self proclaimed prophets in the world today supposedly speaking predictions from God, how are we to know which ones are truly speaking under the authority of the Lord?

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him”. Deuteronomy 18: 20-22

The Tenderness of Jesus

"He will carry the lambs in His bosom, holding them close to His heart." Isaiah 40:11

Who is He of whom such gracious words are spoken? He is the Good Shepherd. Why does He carry the lambs in His bosom? Because He has a tender heart, and any weakness at once melts His heart. The sighs, the ignorance, the feebleness of the little ones of His flock draw forth His compassion. He purchased them with blood, they are His property; He must and will care for that which cost Him so dear.

"He will carry the lambs in His bosom, holding them close to His heart."

Here is boundless affection. Would He put them in His bosom if He did not love them much?

Here is tender nearness--so near are they that they could not possibly be nearer.

Here is hallowed familiarity--there are precious love communications between Christ and His weak ones.

Here is perfect safety--in His bosom, who can hurt them? They must hurt the Shepherd first.

Here is perfect rest and sweetest comfort.

Surely we are not sufficiently sensible of the infinite tenderness of Jesus!

He is risen!

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered?—“By him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect.

Rom. 8:3; Heb. 10:1, 2; Acts 13:38, 39; Heb. 2:14-17

Teach me your way, O Lord.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.—Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”— Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord.”—All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

Ps. 27:11; Ps. 32:8; Ps. 25:8, 9; John 10:9; John 14:6; Heb. 10:19-22; Hos. 6:3; Ps. 25:10

The Plan of Salvation

There is a wretched tendency among men to leave Christ himself out of the gospel. They might as well leave flour out of bread. Men hear the way of salvation explained, and consent to it as being Scriptural, but they forget that a plan is of no service unless it is carried out; and that in the matter of salvation their own personal faith in the Lord Jesus is essential. A road to York will not take me there, I must travel along it for myself. All the sound doctrine that ever was believed will never save a man unless he puts his trust in the Lord Jesus for himself.

I heard of a friend who deeply desired to be the means of the conversion of a young man, and one said to him, "You may go to him, and talk to him, but you will get him no further; for he is exceedingly well acquainted with the plan of salvation." It was eminently so; and therefore, when our friend began to speak with the young man, he received for an answer, "I am much obliged to you, but I do not know that you can tell me much, for I have long known and admired the plan of salvation by the sacrifice of Christ." Alas! he was resting in the plan, but he had not believed in the Person. The plan of salvation is most blessed, but it can avail us nothing unless we personally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. What is the comfort of a plan of a house if you do not enter the house itself?

It is not the plan of salvation which can save, it is the carrying out of that plan by the Lord Jesus in his death on our behalf, and our acceptance of the same. Under the Jewish law, the offerer brought a bullock, and laid his hands upon it: it was no dream, or theory, or plan. In the victim for sacrifice he found something substantial, which he could handle and touch: even so do we lean upon the real and true work of Jesus, the most substantial thing under heaven. We come to the Lord Jesus by faith, and say, "God has provided an atonement here, and I accept it. I believe in the fact accomplished on the cross; I am confident that sin was put away by Christ, and I rest on him." If you would be saved, you must get beyond the acceptance of plans and doctrines to a resting in the divine person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear reader, will you have Christ now?

-C.H. Spurgeon

They will see his face!

“Please show me your glory.” . . . “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”—No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.—“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.”

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.”—I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.—We shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.—For the Lord himself will descend from heaven. . . . And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Rev. 22:4; Ex. 33:18, 20; John 1:18; Rev. 1:7; Num. 24:17; Job 19:25, 26; Ps. 17:15; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17