Wednesday, December 31, 2014
What It Means To Preach The Gospel
I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach
justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the
sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the
electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah;
nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the
special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which
Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which
lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children
of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed
in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.
"If ever it should come to pass,
That sheep of Christ might fall away,
My fickle, feeble soul, alas!
Would fall a thousand times a day."
If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me for ever. (Charles Spurgeon)
"If ever it should come to pass,
That sheep of Christ might fall away,
My fickle, feeble soul, alas!
Would fall a thousand times a day."
If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me for ever. (Charles Spurgeon)
Monday, December 29, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Good News "It Is Finished!"
“If
today you feel that sin is hateful to you, believe in Him who has said,
‘It is finished.’ Let me link your hand in mine. Let us come
together, both of us, and say, ‘Here are two poor naked souls, good
Lord; we cannot clothe ourselves,’ and He will give us a robe, for ‘it
is finished.’ . . . ‘But must we not add tears to it?’ ‘No,’ says He,
‘no, it is finished, there is enough.’
Child of God, will you have Christ’s finished righteousness this morning, and will you rejoice in it more than you ever have before?”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament
Child of God, will you have Christ’s finished righteousness this morning, and will you rejoice in it more than you ever have before?”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
No Reason But Grace Alone
I would have to agree with Spurgeon when he said, "I cannot
understand the reason why I am saved, except upon the ground that God
would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any
kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine grace. If I
am not at this moment without Christ, it is only because Christ Jesus
would have his will with me, and that will was that I should be with him
where he is, and should share his glory. I can put the crown nowhere but upon the head of him whose mighty grace has saved me from going down into the pit." Charles Spurgeon
All I can say is amen I cannot give any reason why God should have
saved me except the words of the Apostle Paul, Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" Nothing in my
hands I bring simply to thy cross I cling, oh lamb of God I come.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Lions Coach Jim Caldwell Quotes Theologian Charles Hodge
Lions coach Jim Caldwell in today's interview quotes theologian Charles
Hodge principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878
"There's a guy named Charles Hodge who is actually a great theologian,
but he made this statement- ‘You have to be able to exalt men without
inflating them' and the other part of it is, ‘and humble men without
debasing them.' So, that's kind of a balancing act for us. We have to
make certain that we make them feel good about what they're
doing, but not to the point where they feel overconfident. We have to
make certain, obviously, that we tell them the truth about things
they've done wrong, but we don't have to dog-cuss them and tear them
down. So, it's a delicate balancing act trying to kind of keep a team on
even keel all across the board, never too high never too low."
How nice to have a well read Lions coach who even knows who Charles Hodge is. I'm sure most of the reporters didn't have a clue.
How nice to have a well read Lions coach who even knows who Charles Hodge is. I'm sure most of the reporters didn't have a clue.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
How Does the Holy Spirit Actually Produce Change in Us?
"Dwelling in the elect, the Spirit does not slumber, nor does He keep
an eternal Sabbath, in idleness shutting Himself up in their hearts;
but as divine Worker He seeks from within to fill their individual
persons, pouring the stream of His divine brightness through every
space.
But we should not imagine that every believer is instantly filled and permeated. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit finds him filled with all manner of evil and treachery. . . . His method of procedure is not with divine power to force a man as though he were a stock or block, but by the power of love and compassion so to influence and energize the impulses of the feeble will that it feels the effect, is inclined, and finally consents to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. . . .
But we should not imagine that every believer is instantly filled and permeated. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit finds him filled with all manner of evil and treachery. . . . His method of procedure is not with divine power to force a man as though he were a stock or block, but by the power of love and compassion so to influence and energize the impulses of the feeble will that it feels the effect, is inclined, and finally consents to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. . . .
This operation is different in each person. In one it proceeds with
marvelous rapidity; in another, progress is exceedingly slow, being
checked by serious reaction which in some rare cases is overcome only
with the last breath. There are scarcely two men in whom this gracious
operation is completely the same.
It may not be denied that the Holy Spirit often meets serious opposition on the part of the saint. . . . And the Holy Spirit bears all this resistance with infinite pity, and overcomes it and casts it out with eternal mercy.
Who that is not a stranger to his own heart does not remember how many years it took before he would yield a certain point of resistance; how he always avoided facing it; restlessly opposed it, at last thought to end the matter by arranging for a sort of modus vivendi between himself and the Holy Spirit? But the Holy Spirit did not cease, gave him no rest; again and again that familiar knock was heard, the calling in his heart of that familiar voice. And after years of resistance he could not but yield in the end."
--Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (trans. Henri De Vries; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 529–30
It may not be denied that the Holy Spirit often meets serious opposition on the part of the saint. . . . And the Holy Spirit bears all this resistance with infinite pity, and overcomes it and casts it out with eternal mercy.
Who that is not a stranger to his own heart does not remember how many years it took before he would yield a certain point of resistance; how he always avoided facing it; restlessly opposed it, at last thought to end the matter by arranging for a sort of modus vivendi between himself and the Holy Spirit? But the Holy Spirit did not cease, gave him no rest; again and again that familiar knock was heard, the calling in his heart of that familiar voice. And after years of resistance he could not but yield in the end."
--Abraham Kuyper, The Work of the Holy Spirit (trans. Henri De Vries; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 529–30
Monday, December 8, 2014
The Knowledge Of God
How can we describe God’s knowledge? Arthur Pink in his book
“Gleanings in the Godhead” wrote, “God is omniscient, he knows
everything; everything possible, everything actual; all events all
creatures, of the past, the present and the future. He is perfectly
acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, in
earth, and in hell . . . nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be
hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. . . He never errs, never
changes, never overlooks anything”
(pg.19). A.W. Tozer in his book The Knowledge of the Holy expands this
description by adding negatives: “God has never learned from anyone. God
cannot learn. Could God at any time or in any manner receive into his
mind knowledge that he did not possess and had not processed from
eternity, He would be imperfect and less than himself. To think of a God
who must sit at the feet of a teacher, even though that teacher be an
archangel or a seraph, is to think of someone other than the most high
God, maker of heaven and earth. . .
These are awesome thoughts that will help you stand in awe of God.
These are awesome thoughts that will help you stand in awe of God.
Friday, December 5, 2014
The Power Of Transforming Grace
"The unrelenting power of transforming grace is greater than the
unyielding idolatry of your wandering heart."
I completely believe this, it is gospel truth. If I didn't believe that the power of transforming grace was greater than the idolatry of my wandering heart I would have no hope of salvation and I would never experience the security of my salvation. This is the reason so many Christians struggle with assurance they have more confidence in their wandering heart than they do in God's transforming grace. When are you going to give up on yourself? When are you going to realize that your salvation does not and can not depend on you. Salvation depends on Christ alone, by grace alone period, end of story.
I completely believe this, it is gospel truth. If I didn't believe that the power of transforming grace was greater than the idolatry of my wandering heart I would have no hope of salvation and I would never experience the security of my salvation. This is the reason so many Christians struggle with assurance they have more confidence in their wandering heart than they do in God's transforming grace. When are you going to give up on yourself? When are you going to realize that your salvation does not and can not depend on you. Salvation depends on Christ alone, by grace alone period, end of story.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Where I would Be Without God's Grace
"Apart from God's grace I would be in the center of my world, I would
make up my own laws, worship the creation, and live for my comfort"
Do you realize the absolute truth of this statement? The only thing restraining you from doing all these things is God's grace. Grace teaches you that you are not the center of the world Christ is. Grace teaches you to obey God's word to worship the creator and to live for him. Wow I need grace!
Do you realize the absolute truth of this statement? The only thing restraining you from doing all these things is God's grace. Grace teaches you that you are not the center of the world Christ is. Grace teaches you to obey God's word to worship the creator and to live for him. Wow I need grace!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Man Or Rabbit?
"Christianity will do you good--a great deal more good than you ever
wanted or expected. And the first bit of good it will do you is to
hammer into your head (you won't enjoy that!) the fact that what you
have hitherto called 'good'--all that about 'leading a decent life' and
'being kind'--isn't quite the magnificent and all-important affair you
supposed. It will teach you that in fact you can't be 'good' (not for 24
hours) on your own moral efforts. And then it will teach you
that even if you were, you still wouldn't have achieved the purpose for
which you were created. Mere morality is not the end of your life. You
were made for something quite different than that. . . . Confucius
simply didn't know what life is about. The people who keep on asking if
they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is
about. . . .
"Morality is
indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which
calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be
swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to
disappear--the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the
cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls
of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all
a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son
of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy."
--C. S. Lewis, "Man or Rabbit?" in God in the Dock pg. 112
You need to let this sink in. Lewis said Christianity "will teach you that in fact you can't be 'good' (not for 24 hours) on your own moral efforts." I love the phrase "All the rabbit in us will disappear" God is doing something far greater than having us lead a decent life he is changing us to be children of God made like his son.
--C. S. Lewis, "Man or Rabbit?" in God in the Dock pg. 112
You need to let this sink in. Lewis said Christianity "will teach you that in fact you can't be 'good' (not for 24 hours) on your own moral efforts." I love the phrase "All the rabbit in us will disappear" God is doing something far greater than having us lead a decent life he is changing us to be children of God made like his son.