Proverbs
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil. Proverbs 3:7 |
The Word
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
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Beatitudes
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 |
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 Talking from personal experience, one of the largest contributing factors that have caused me to lose assurance of salvation, has been the ignorance of the way in which God saves sinners from start to finish, and without any aid from those being saved whatsoever. I had somehow mistakenly assumed that my salvation was without doubt in the hands of God, but I was also co-partner in that salvation. After all, I had chosen to follow Christ hadn’t I?
What I have since realised through Scripture, is that far from me deciding to walk the path of Christ of my own accord, it was He who first chose me, and it was He who gave me the gift of faith to believe in Christ for the salvation of my soul. This is what is known as the doctrine of regeneration, or otherwise known as effectual calling. This is a sovereign work of God Almighty, whereby he does a supernatural work in the heart of those He has chosen, that they are able to respond in faith to the call of the Gospel, as detailed in the previous article, and is completely detached from anything done by the believer independently.
Contrary to the popular notion of “making a decision for Jesus” as popularised in the modern churches, we are no more able to do this of our own volition, than a dead man is able to get up off his bed and run around the room.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
(Ephesians 2:4-9)
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
(Ephesians 2:4-9)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(John 1:12-13)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:6-8)
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT BY GOD.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
(John 6:44-45)
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
(John 6:63-65)
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:29-31)
Quite often, the thought of our own precious free will being by-passed completely, offends our pride drastically. We become drawn into issues concerning the helplessness of it all, and how God is somehow a tyrannical being that chooses some to be with Him for eternity, and others to be destined for an eternity spent in Hell. However these issues will only ever arise for those who have a wrong perspective of the absolute impassible gulf that divides sinful man from a Holy and Righteous God, and the enormous cost and effort it has taken on the part of God in order to bridge that gap.
So often in the churches across all denominations, the Gospel message is twisted to cater to the needs and desires of those we preach to. This often leads to many who respond to these flesh based messages, so much so, that huge “mega-churches” now exist, based on the preaching of man, rather than the true Gospel of Christ. But for those who accept this lie as the truth, and allow their hearts to become hardened to the call of Christ through the message of the Bible, a terrible destiny awaits them upon the return of the One whose name they have taken in vain.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
(Matthew 7:21-23)
However to those whom God has chosen and called, He regenerates them by His own Spirit, making them alive and able to hear and respond to the message of Christ crucified in their place. Those who are regenerated, or born again in such a way, have eyes to see themselves truly as the grotesque sinners they are, and the Lord God as the Holy and Righteous Creator that He is. From this place of pure grace and kindness on the part of God, those chosen can do nothing but stand amazed that such an All Powerful, and Mighty God, would not even spare the life of His own Son, that they may receive His life for all eternity.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
(1 John 4:9-10)
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 Sourced from: HeartCry!
August 29th. SUBLIME INTIMACY 
Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” John 11:40
Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture heroically on Jesus Christ’s statements when the facts of your common-sense life shout – “It’s a lie?” On the mount it is easy to say – ‘Oh, yes, I believe God can do it’; but you have to come down into the demon-possessed valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at the whole of your mount-of-transfiguration belief. Every time my programme of belief is clear to my own mind, I come across something that contradicts it. Let me say I believe God will supply all my need, and then let me run dry, with no outlook, and see whether I will go through the trial of faith, or whether I will sink back to something lower.
Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. May God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us.
Originally posted 2009-08-29 05:46:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
I just wanted to share a wonderful message I heard at our church fellowship today, preached on the Gospel of John, chapter 13. The preacher is Simon Lawrenson, who is head pastor at Calvary Chapel, Southampton, and who’s sermons I find to be a breath of fresh air here in the U.K.. I will possibly [..more..]
On Musical Mediatrixes
By Pastor Larry DeBruyn
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us . . . seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus . . .”
(Ephesians 2:4-6)
The Matrix: Though defying rational explanation, it is what it is. Foremost, music is spiritual. [..more..]
His Plan for Me
When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way; and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there
And I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my [..more..]
John MacArthur discusses the critical issues involving the Emergent church movement.
Part 1
Part 2
Originally posted 2009-09-17 11:22:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
For many years I have been largely ignorant of reformed theology due to a lack of doctrinally sound teaching throughout much of the charismatic church, which has been my background for most of my Christian life. Since the Lord woke me up to this fact however, I have been utterly fascinated and amazed how much [..more..]
Our dear sister Steph posted this beautiful Psalm on the forum and it was such a blessing that I though I would post it here as well.
Whether you like this type of music or not is neither here nor there, for this message is both hard hitting and true, and needs to be taken on board by all of us who dare profess to follow Christ.
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Sourced from: HeartCry!
John Newton
1725 – 1807
In 1767 William Cowper, the poet, moved to Olney. He worshipped in the church, and collaborated with Newton on producing a volume of hymns, which was eventually published as Olney Hymns in 1779. This work was to have a great influence on English hymnology. The volume included Newton’s well-known hymns
“Glorious Things of [..more..]
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Humility
"Humility before God is nothing if not proved in humility before men."
Andrew Murray |
Psalms
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 |
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