C.H. Spurgeon – Morning & Evening Devotional
Thought for the morning of Wed September 8, 2010 - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
Verse
— ho 14:8
Thought
Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes have been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in us. O Christian, prize this precious union to Christ; for it must be the source of all the fruitfulness which thou canst hope to know. If thou wert not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst be a barren bough indeed.
Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, "From me is thy fruit found." The fruit owes much to the root-that is essential to fruitfulness-but it owes very much also to external influences. How much we owe to God's grace-providence! in which he provides us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue.
Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The gardener's sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let us give to him all the glory of our salvation.
Thought for the evening of Wed September 8, 2010 - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
Verse
Thought
In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God's grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, "Thou shalt," man shall not say, "I will not." Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. "Because he lives we live also." "For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." "Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!
A.W. Tozer Daily Devotional
The Deity of the Holy Spirit - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
The Arian controversy of the fourth century compelled the Fathers to state their beliefs with greater clarity than before. Among the important writings that appeared at that time is the Athanasian Creed. Who composed it matters little to us now. It was written as an attempt to state in as few words as possible what the Bible teaches about the nature of God; and this it has done with a comprehensiveness and precision hardly matched anywhere in the literature of the world. Here are a few quotations bearing on the deity of the Holy Spirit:
?There is one Person of the Father, another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost.?
?But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.?
?And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other: none is greater, or less than another; But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together: and co-equal.?
?So that in all things, as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Uhity is to be worshiped.?
In her sacred hymnody the Church has freely acknowledged the Godhead of the Spirit and in its inspired song it has worshiped Him with joyous abandon. Some of our hymns to the Spirit have become so familiar that we tend to miss their true meaning by the very circumstance of their familiarity. Such a hymn is the wondrous "Holy Ghost, with Light Divine"; another is the more recent "Breathe on Me, Breath of God"; and there are many others. They have been sung so often by persons who have had no experiential knowledge of their content, that for the most of us they have become almost meaningless.
David Wilkerson – Today
WALKING IN THE GLORY - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
One thing that can keep us going in the coming hard times is an understanding of God's glory. Now, this may sound like a high, lofty concept to you, one that's best left to theologians. But I'm convinced the subject of God's glory has very real, practical value for every true believer. By grasping it, we unlock the door to an overcoming life!
The glory of God is a revelation of our Lord's nature and being. You may recall from the Old Testament that Moses got a literal glimpse of God's glory. Before then, the Lord had sent out Moses with no explanation of himself other than the words, "I AM." But Moses wanted to know something more of God. So he pleaded with him, "Lord, show me your glory."
God responded by taking Moses aside and putting him in the cleft of a rock. Then, Scripture says, he revealed himself to Moses in all his glory (see Exodus 34:6–7). The way God wants us to know his glory is through the revelation of his great love toward humankind. And that's just what he revealed to Moses.
I believe this passage is absolutely essential to our understanding of who our Lord is. Often when we think about the glory of God, we think of his majesty and splendor, his power and dominion, or some manifestation in his people. All such things can be a result of seeing God's glory. But this isn't the glory he wants us to know him by. The Lord is forever waiting to show us his love, to forgive us, to shower us with his mercy and to restore us to himself.
The revelation of God's glory has powerful effects on those who receive it and pray for an understanding of it. Up to this point, Moses had viewed the Lord as a God of law and wrath. He trembled with terror in the Lord's presence, petitioning him, crying out to him, pleading with him on behalf of Israel. This had been the basis of his face-to-face relationship with the Lord.
Yet now, at the first sight of God's glory, Moses was no longer fearful of the Lord. Instead, he was moved to worship: "Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped" (Exodus 34:8). He saw that God wasn't just the thunder, lightning and piercing trumpet that had made him shrivel in fear. On the contrary, God was love and his nature was one of kindness and tender mercy!
Do you see the incredible truth Scripture is showing us here? True worship arises from hearts that are overcome by a vision of God's unmerited love for us. It's based on the revelation that God gives us of himself, of his goodness, his mercy, his readiness to forgive. So, if we're to praise God both in spirit and in truth, our worship must be based on this awesome truth about him.
Once we receive a revelation of God's glory, our worship can't help but change. Why? Seeing his glory changes the way we live! It affects our countenance and behavior, changing us from "glory to glory," making us more like him. Each new revelation of his love and mercy brings supernatural change.
Oswald Chambers – My Utmost for His Highest
Do It Yourself -- Wed September 8, 2010 - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
Verse
— 2co 10:5
Thought
Deliverance from sin is not deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, which the saint has to destroy by neglect; and other things which have to be destroyed by violence, i.e., by the Divine strength imparted by God's Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but to stand still in and see the salvation of God; but every theory or conception which erects itself as a rampart against the knowledge of God is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God's power, not by fleshly endeavour or compromise (v. 4).
It is only when God has altered our disposition and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin: Jesus Christ deals with sin in Redemption. The conflict is along the line of turning our natural life into a spiritual life, and this is never done easily, nor does God intend it to he done easily. It is done only by a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense of character; He makes us holy in the sense of innocence, and we have to turn that innocence into holy character by a series of moral choices. These choices are continually in antagonism to the entrenchments of our natural life, the things which erect themselves as ramparts against the knowledge of God. We can either go back and make ourselves of no account in the Kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things and let Jesus bring another son to glory.
John MacArthur – Grace To You – Drawing Near
Attacks on God's Character - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
"Stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:11).
Paul's exhortation to "stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:11) refers to the various tactics Satan employs in spiritual warfare. One of his tactics is to call God's character and motives into question by raising doubts about His Word.
He used that approach in the Garden of Eden, when he said to Eve, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Gen. 3:1). In one brief statement Satan disputed and distorted God's Word. God didn't forbid them to eat from any tree. They could eat freely from every tree except one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17).
Satan followed his distortion with an outright denial of God's Word: "You surely shall not die!" (3:4). He implied that God lied when He said that sin will result in death. Satan then went on to tell Eve that if she ate the fruit, she would in fact become like God Himself (v. 5). The implication is that God was withholding something good from Eve, and to keep her from seeking it, He intimidated her with empty threats of death and judgment.
Do you see the insidious nature of Satan's approach? Tragically, Eve didn't. Rather than trusting and obeying God, she believed Satan's lies and concluded that the tree was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. Then "she took from its fruit and ate" (v. 6).
Satan deceives and spreads his lies from generation to generation (2 Cor. 11:14). Although he is subtle, his attempts to discredit God by disputing, distorting, and denying His Word should be obvious to discerning Christians.
Don't be victimized by Satan's attacks. Become strong in the Word through systematic Bible study. Yield to the Spirit's control through prayer and obedience to biblical principles.
Suggestions for Prayer:
- Ask God for the discernment to recognize Satanic deceptions, and the wisdom to pursue truth.
- Pray for God's enabling as you discipline yourself for diligent Bible study.
Read 1 John 2:12-14. How did John describe those who are strong in the Word?
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
John MacArthur – Grace To You – Strength For Today
The Spotlight Stays on Christ - Wed, 08 Sep 2010
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me.” - John 15:26
After He has drawn us to Christ, the Holy Spirit helps us give Christ the preeminence.
In the spiritual realm it is important that our attention be kept focused in the right direction—toward the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, through the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, helps us understand what such focus is all about: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (12:1-2).
John 15:26 is one of two references in the Gospel of John in which the Holy Spirit bears witness to Christ (see also John 16:14-15). Commentator Leon Morris tells us, “This bearing of witness was not an end in itself. Behind it was the purpose ‘that all might believe through him.’” It has always been the Spirit’s desire that people recognize Christ’s authority and submit to His will (Phil. 2:9-13). Thus Paul further reminds us that “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).
We saw yesterday that the power and wisdom of the Spirit are crucial if any individual is to be transformed from spiritual condemnation to spiritual life. After that, it is just as necessary that we rely on the Holy Spirit to keep us focused on Jesus Christ and our ongoing responsibilities of obedience and service to Him. How foolish it is for any of us who profess Christ to then follow Him by looking to our own strength rather than His glory. We forget that the Spirit has given us a clear view of the freedom involved in following Jesus as Lord: “But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:16-17).
Suggestions for Prayer:
If you have tended to focus more on yourself than on Christ, confess that sin and ask that God would renew your focus on His Son.
For Further Study:
Read the following passages from John’s Gospel, and identify the witness to Christ in each one: 1:6-8; 5:31-37; 8:18; 10:25; 12:17.
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
J.A. Matteson – Immutable Word Ministries
God Brings Newness of Life - Mon, 06 Sep 2010
J.A. Matteson
09.06.10
"...for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction...." 1 Thessalonians 1:5
ὅτι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐγενήθη εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐν λόγῳ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν δυνάμει καὶ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ [ἐν] πληροφορίᾳ πολλῇ, καθὼς
Unwavering in his assurance that his readers in Thessalonica are beloved of God—s evidenced by their positive response to the Gospel—the Apostle's implied message is also that not all in the world who hear the gospel respond to it in faith, this being both their doing as a result of sin and God's grace by means of His choice irrespective works. And this we affirm to be true by Scripture, history, and personal experience. The general call of the Gospel to salvation is broadcast to the inhabitants of the earth, elect and reprobate. It comes to and remains in word only to the reprobate, which is to say that the hearer physically registers the message in his mind, but it is not understood nor indeed can it be, for the things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned; it does not penetrate the soul so as to bring full conviction of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. Therefore, it is not accepted but rejected, and ricochets off the reprobate conscience as a bullet off a smooth rock. To the reprobate the natural assessment of the content of the Gospel is regarded as foolishness, laughable, mere babble from ignorant men, unenlightened ramblings by mental weaklings.
With regard to the reprobate the seed of the general call of the gospel rests in the infertile soil of their hearts where conviction of sin and belief in the Savior remain absent, resulting in a response of casual dismissal, or perhaps inward disdain or at times expressed verbal scoffing. In their natural unregenerate state all sinners—reprobate and elect alike—do not seek after God, “God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ps. 53:2-3). Further amplifying the dire state of the natural unregenerate sinner the Apostle declares, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6-8). If any man is to seek after God in faith it first requires a supernatural act by God upon the one dead in trespasses and sins, for the Scripture is explicitly clear that none will ever seek after God without divine initiative, and such an initiative does not fail, being extended to the elect according to the good pleasure of God the Father in accordance to His will and choice, so that none may boast, but let him who boasts boast in the Lord, for salvation is of the Lord.
But you may protest, “Yes; however, this passage is in reference to Christian's specifically and the exercise of their free will with regard to their thought life, whether they will serve the Spirit or the flesh. Be careful at your conclusion, let me now ask you a question: do you not recognize the Scriptural inconsistencies with your premise? Certainly you are in agreement with the Psalmist that the sinful mind prior to conversion is hostile toward God? If so, thus far you believe the Scripture. Yet you you now demonstrate unbelief in the same inspired Word in what follows, for it does not line up with your faulty system of what is supposedly called the natural mans “free will” to come to the Savior in the flesh apart from the agency of the Spirit. For what does the Scripture say with regard to the sinful natural mind?, “It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.” And how do all men come into the world?, do they not arrive as unregenerate sinners at enmity towards God, by nature children of wrath and darkness, disinclined to come into the light because their deeds are evil? Is this not what king David confessed while under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5).
Nowhere in holy writ is the unregenerate will of the natural man described as “free.” Your thesis is faulty in this regard, you have assumed that a moral imperative implies moral ability. And is not the moral imperative belief in the Gospel and repentance? Yes, certainly it is! Was not Israel under a moral imperative to believe and obey the Mosaic Law? Most certainly! Were they able to do so perfectly as the Law required? Absolutely not, and the resultant daily sacrificial system underscored that reality. So we see that a moral imperative was given while the moral ability to perform it was withheld. What was needed and what God promised and supplied was a better covenant, a new covenant, whereby the Lord would inscribe His Law upon human hearts, instilling within them a new nature, one inclined to seek after God and obey Him in faith, “Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer. 31:31-33). Cast aside, beloved, the element of pride and conceit, those things which exalt the fallen nature in exchange for the dethronement of God in bringing man sons and daughters to glory. Irrespective of human reasoning and perspective He performs the secret council of His will perfectly and righteously, for as He stated to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" (Rom. 9:15), and who are you, beloved, to contend with the Almighty?
Having put aside the foolishness of what is called by some “free will” let us continue in assessing the power of God in the salvation of sinners. Once again, far from being free the will of fallen sinners is painfully characterized in Scripture as being in bondage to sin, and at enmity towards God, and this from the earliest passages of Scripture, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6:5-6). Does this mean the natural unregenerate mans choices are not real, but rather determined? No, for while Judas was raised up according to the predetermined plan and purposes of God to betray the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver, he was morally responsible for his actions.
What it does mean is that fallen men freely makes choices with real consequences, but their choices are necessarily always in accordance to their fallen evil nature. A bird flies because it is its nature to do so. A whale swims because it is its nature to do so. A man considers his own mortality because it is his nature to do so. Sinners sin because it is their nature to do so. Men are not sinners because they sin; rather, they sin because it is their nature to do so. The Lord does not block sinful men from coming to the Savior; rather they reject Him out of their own resources of wickedness because the sinful mind does not desire Him, it is their nature to reject Him. Whereas vessels of honor destined for life respond positively to the gospel—not in their own resources—but as a result of grace, that being the effect of the Holy Spirit regenerating them to spiritual life, circumcising their hearts of stone with a heart of flesh, cutting away the former nature, establishing within them a new nature, one inclined toward the Gospel, Jesus Christ. The Apostle rightly gives thanks to God for the Church recognizing that her individual members are in Christ as a result of His initiative and not their own, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you....” (1 Thess. 1:2-4), for had their faith originated within themselves apart from the divine initiative this statement would be nonsensical and it would be instead fitting to extend thanks and commend the church for its wise choice of believing the Gospel and coming to the Savior, independent of God. But the Apostle makes no hint of such a blasphemous assertion; rather, he rightly boasts in the power of the Lord in bringing them to faith and keeping them in the faith, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ....” (1 Thess. 5:9) and “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:29).
What, then, can be said regarding this gracious power of God toward His elect? Is it not the theme of the Gospel repeated from Genesis through Revelation? Absolutely! Did not the Lord Jesus speak of this power mercifully directed toward the elect?, for He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). Once dead in trespasses and sins the initiating power of God brings newness of life to sinners, “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power” (1 Cor. 6:14), for the elect are the passive recipients of two resurrections according to His gracious choice, the first being spiritual so that they might walk in newness of life, the second being physical unto glory at the coming of the Lord, “For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Cor. 13:4), and the same power that generates faith keeps the elect in a state of grace, “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:5).
Even the Apostle Peter who denied the Lord on the night of His arrest confessed that the same power which called him, later restored and kept him unto glory, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3). Peter describes the genuine faith given by God as a result of the Spirits regenerating power toward the elect, against a counterfeit faith that can be expressed for a season by the reprobate—these being tares amidst the field of Gods wheat, “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). And he is not merely speaking of the content of their faith, but he attributes their faith to God as His gift to them, its origin being His power working in them. This, beloved, is what the Apostle Paul is expounding in this passage when he joyfully exhorts the church, “...for our gospel did not come to you in word only,but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Soli De Gloria!
Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
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