City On A Hill
Sovereign Grace Baptist Chapel
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
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City On A HillSovereign Grace Baptist Chapel“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
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11-23-08 Romans 8:18-30 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 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. 9-18-08 Ephesians 1:11-12 "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." Make no mistake, storms, wars, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, train crashes, etc... are all the work of Him who works all things after the counsel of His will. He sets up kings and kingdoms and tears them down. He shows great restraint in not destroying this whole world yet and He has left a plethora of evidence that the world ignores to its own demise. Everyday you hear of "innocent" people being killed whether it was 9-11-01 or what has happened this week around the world. On 9-11 the terrible things that happened were executed on defenseless people, but none of us are innocent. Romans 3:9-20 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "the poison of asps is under their lips"; "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Salvation comes only by grace through faith to those God has chosen to redeem according to His good pleasure. Not one human has ever sought Him on their own. Ephesians 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 2:1-3:21 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Soon Jesus Christ will take His elect bride to heaven while He brings the time of Jacob's Trouble upon the world, especially upon the physical descendants of Abraham. Notice that the Jesus does NOT come as a thief in the night to His own. He has fulfilled all of the spring Jewish feasts on their actual day of the Jewish Calendar. The fall feasts are next to be fulfilled by Him. The Feasts of the Lord – God’s Prophetic Calendar And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you
shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.’"
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. http://web.mac.com/weaman/iWeb/Watchmen/Rapture-Rosh%20Hashanah.html 7-19-2008 1 John 2:18-22 "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son." Watch TV these days and you will see many of these antichrists taking the Lord's name in vain. Men like Todd Bentley, Benny Hinn, and the other TBN types. Read the gospels, did Jesus ever say "Bam" and heal people? Jesus and the apostles went around healing, they were never in one location where they could manipulate people. They healed local people in the place where they were, they didn't use vain repetitions, and make a mockery of God and His power. Jesus came to preach the good news and do the will of the Father. Healing was one of the signs of His Deity and the apostles authority. Read the scriptures and don't waste the time God has given you following these men and allowing others to interpret it for you. Of course there are a myriad of other false teachers that will lead people astray, the pope, and most of the other media teachers, people follow them, quote them, buy their books, send them tons of money, etc. The New Testament tells us that before Jesus' return to sit on the throne of David there will be a great falling away, in which many professors show that the Lord indeed never knew them.
1 John 2:26-27 "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him."
6-1-08 There is one answer to all of the problems that plague this world: repentance & faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Creator and Sustainer of this world, He is the only one to show us what God the Father is like and the entire ministry of God the Holy Spirit is to magnify Him. The only reason the is world still endures is because of His longsuffering toward His elect.
2 Peter 3:1-9 "Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. " But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. " One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. World society since the garden of Eden has sought to shift personal blame to others, but God commands all men everywhere to repent. Every man, woman and child from every tongue, tribe and nation will give account to Him one day for their own sinful behavior and will be no one else to blame but themselves if they continue to reject Him. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit says "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:19-20
Here is God's solution to the problem of our guilt: Romans 3:21-31 "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law." 5-30-08
Micah 7:8-10 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness. Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" My eyes will see her; now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets.
4-26-08
Sunday, May 11th 2008 we will begin meeting at our home. All ages will be worshipping together, but there will be teaching and interaction appropriate for all ages. We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper weekly and baptisms will be conducted at Watts Bar Lake.
3/13/2008
“Why sit we here until we die?”
— 2 Kings 7:3
Dear reader, this little book was mainly intended for
the edification of believers, but if you are yet unsaved, our heart yearns
over you: and we would fain say a word which may be blessed to you. Open
your Bible, and read the story of the lepers, and mark their position,
which was much the same as yours. If you remain where you are you must
perish; if you go to Jesus you can but die. “Nothing venture, nothing
win,” is the old proverb, and in your case the venture is no great one. If
you sit still in sullen despair, no one can pity you when your ruin comes;
but if you die with mercy sought, if such a thing were possible, you would
be the object of universal sympathy. None escape who refuse to look to
Jesus; but you know that, at any rate, some are saved who believe in him,
for certain of your own acquaintances have received mercy: then why not
you? The Ninevites said, “Who can tell?” Act upon the same hope, and try
the Lord’s mercy. To perish is so awful, that if there were but a straw to
catch at, the instinct of self-preservation should lead you to stretch out
your hand. We have thus been talking to you on your own unbelieving
ground, we would now assure you, as from the Lord, that if you seek him he
will be found of you. Jesus casts out none who come unto him. You shall
not perish if you trust him; on the contrary, you shall find treasure far
richer than the poor lepers gathered in Syria’s deserted camp. May the
Holy Spirit embolden you to go at once, and you shall not believe in vain.
When you are saved yourself, publish the good news to others. Hold not
your peace; tell the King’s household first, and unite with them in
fellowship; let the porter of the city, the minister, be informed of your
discovery, and then proclaim the good news in every place. The Lord save
thee ere the sun goes down this day.
Charles Spurgeon
3/12/2008
Guardian of the Fatherless
Hosea 14:3 Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy."
THIS
is an excellent reason for casting away all other confidences and relying
upon the Lord alone. When a child is left without its natural protector,
our God steps in and becomes his guardian: so also when a man has lost
every object of dependence, he may cast himself upon the living God and
find in Him all that he needs. Orphans are cast upon the fatherhood of
God, and He provides for them. The writer of these pages knows what it is
to hang on the bare arm of God, and he bears his willing witness that no
trust is so well warranted by facts, or so sure to be rewarded by results,
as trust in the invisible but ever living God.
Some
children who have fathers are not much the better off because of them, but
the fatherless with God are rich. Better have God and no other friend than
all the patrons on the earth and no God. To be bereaved of the creature is
painful, but so long as the Lord remains the fountain of mercy to us, we
are not truly orphaned. Let fatherless children plead the gracious word
for this morning, and let all who have been bereaved of visible support do
the same. Lord, let me find mercy in thee! The more needy and helpless I
am, the more confidently do I appeal to thy loving heart.
Charles Spurgeon
2/22/2008 1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
2/8/2008
“Thou shalt call his name
Jesus.”
— Matthew 1:21
When a person is dear,
everything connected with him becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious
is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers,
that everything about him they consider to be inestimable beyond all
price. “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,” said
David, as if the very vestments of the Saviour were so sweetened by his
person that he could not but love them. Certain it is, that there is not a
spot where that hallowed foot hath trodden—there is not a word which those
blessed lips have uttered—nor a thought which his loving Word has
revealed—which is not to us precious beyond all price. And this is true of
the names of
Christ—they are all sweet in the believer’s ear. Whether he be called the
Husband of the Church, her Bridegroom, her Friend; whether he be styled
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world—the King, the Prophet, or
the Priest—every title of our Master—Shiloh, Emmanuel, Wonderful, the
Mighty Counselor—every name is like the honeycomb dropping with honey, and
luscious are the drops that distil from it. But if there be one name
sweeter than another in the believer’s ear, it is the name of
Jesus. Jesus! it is the
name which moves the harps of heaven to melody. Jesus! the life of all our
joys. If there be one name more charming, more precious than another, it
is this name. It is woven into the very warp and woof of our psalmody.
Many of our hymns begin with it, and scarcely any, that are good for
anything, end without it. It is the sum total of all delights. It is the
music with which the bells of heaven ring; a song in a word; an ocean for
comprehension, although a drop for brevity; a matchless oratorio in two
syllables; a gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters.
“Jesus,
I love thy charming name,
’Tis
music to mine ear.”
Charles Spurgeon
1/21/2008
“Then opened he their understanding, that they might
understand the Scriptures.”
— Luke 24:45
He whom we viewed last evening as opening Scripture, we
here perceive opening the understanding. In the first work he has many
fellow-labourers, but in the second he stands alone; many can bring the
Scriptures to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive
the Scriptures. Our Lord Jesus differs from all other teachers; they reach
the ear, but he instructs the heart; they deal with the outward letter,
but he imparts an inward taste for the truth, by which we perceive its
savour and spirit. The most unlearned of men become ripe scholars in the
school of grace when the Lord Jesus by his Holy Spirit unfolds the
mysteries of the kingdom to them, and grants the divine anointing by which
they are enabled to behold the invisible. Happy are we if we have had our
understandings cleared and strengthened by the Master! How many men of
profound learning are ignorant of eternal things! They know the killing
letter of revelation, but its killing spirit they cannot discern; they
have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot
penetrate. Such was our case a little time ago; we who now see were once
utterly blind; truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed
and neglected. Had it not been for the love of Jesus we should have
remained to this moment in utter ignorance, for without his gracious
opening of our understanding, we could no more have attained to spiritual
knowledge than an infant can climb the Pyramids, or an ostrich fly up to
the stars. Jesus’ College is the only one in which God’s truth can be
really learned; other schools may teach us what is to be believed, but
Christ’s alone can show us how to believe it. Let us sit at the feet of
Jesus, and by earnest prayer call in his blessed aid that our dull wits
may grow brighter, and our feeble understandings may receive heavenly
things.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“And so all Israel shall be
saved.”
— Romans 11:26
Then Moses sang at the Red
Sea, it was his joy to know that all Israel were safe. Not a drop of
spray fell from that solid wall until the last of God’s Israel had
safely planted his foot on the other side the flood. That done,
immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place again, but not
till then. Part of that song was, “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the
people which thou hast redeemed.” In the last time, when the elect shall
sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb, it shall be
the boast of Jesus, “Of all whom thou hast given me, I have lost none.”
In heaven there shall not be a vacant throne.
“For
all the chosen race
Shall
meet around the throne,
Shall
bless the conduct of his grace,
And
make his glories known.”
As many as God hath chosen, as
many as Christ hath redeemed, as many as the Spirit hath called, as many
as believe in Jesus, shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not all
safely landed yet:
“Part
of the host have crossed the flood,
And
part are crossing now.”
The vanguard of the army has
already reached the shore. We are marching through the depths; we are at
this day following hard after our Leader into the heart of the sea. Let
us be of good cheer: the rear-guard shall soon be where the vanguard
already is; the last of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea,
and then shall be heard the song of triumph, when all are secure. But
oh! if one were absent—oh! if one of his chosen family should be cast
away—it would make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed,
and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that music could never
be extorted from them.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
1/16/2008
Even
the Faintest Call
“And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered.”—Joel
2:32
WHY do I
not call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that, when God is
so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down, and devise
schemes, and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon
the Lord? Straight-forward is the best runner—why do I not run at once to
the living God? In vain shall I look for deliverance anywhere else; but
with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal shall to make it sure.
I need
not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word “whosoever” is a
very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody
and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of
the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a
promise.
My case
is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no
business of mine. He who makes the promise will find out ways and means of
keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His
counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He
will deliver me.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
1/9/2008
Omnipotence may build a thousand worlds and fill them with bounties.
Omnipotence may powder mountains into dust and burn the sea and consume
the sky, but Omnipotence cannot do an unloving thing toward a believer.
Oh, rest quite sure, Christian, a hard thing, an unloving thing, from God
toward one of His own people is quite impossible. He is as kind to you
when He casts you into prison as when He takes you into a palace; He is as
good when He sends famine into your house as when He fills your barns with
plenty. The only question is, Are you His child? If so, He has rebuked you
in affection, and there is love in His chastisement.
Charles Spurgeon
12/27/2007
His Kindness and Covenant
“For the mountains shall
depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord
that hath mercy on thee.”—Isaiah
54:10
ONE of the most delightful
qualities of divine love is its abiding character. The pillars of the
earth may be moved out of their places, but the kindness and the covenant
of our merciful Jehovah never depart from His people. How happy my soul
feels in a firm belief of this inspired declaration! The year is almost
over, and the years of my life are growing few, but time does not change
my Lord. New lamps are taking the place of the old; perpetual change is on
all things, but our Lord is the same. Force overturns the hills, but no
conceivable power can affect the eternal God. Nothing in the past, the
present, or the future can cause Jehovah to be unkind to me.
My soul, rest in
the eternal kindness
of the Lord, who treats
thee as one near of kin. Remember also
the everlasting covenant.
God is ever mindful
of it: see that thou art mindful of it too. In Christ Jesus the glorious
God has pledged Himself to thee to be thy God, and to hold thee as one of
His people. Kindness and covenant—dwell on these words as sure and lasting
things which eternity itself shall not take from thee.
C.H.Spurgeon
12/18/2007 When Jesus' Gracious Hand John Berridge
Isaiah 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious."
Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "
1) When Jesus’ gracious hand has touched our eyes and
ears,
1pine intransitive verb pined; pin•ing [Middle English, from Old English pinian to suffer, from (assumed) Old English pin punishment, from Latin poena — more at pain] (14th century) 1 : to lose vigor, health, or flesh (as through grief) : languish 2 : to yearn intensely and persistently especially for something unattainable 〈they still pined for their lost wealth〉
12/16/2007
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SANCTIFICATION
Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
John 15:16-17 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”
Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
What I am saying. The Lord saved me when I was a small child. Hearing the law proclaimed and knowing that I had already violated it and was deserving of a home in hell I cried out to the One who has overcome death & hell by virtue of His life, death & resurrection. I would have never have done so except for the fact that He had always loved me and ordained that I would come and bear fruit and that it would remain. The God who elects, regenerates & glorifies also sanctifies His people. We see this work in the life of Manasseh, Rahab, David, Peter, Isaiah, in fact everyone that is called by God. They grow in grace and the knowledge of God. They stumble, God picks them up, they sin, God disciplines & they repent. Scripture alone must guide our thoughts on this topic as all others. What I write now I trust will serve as the beginning of a discussion on this topic, not the end of it.
Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:11-12 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”
Psalm 110:3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.
Isaiah 46:8-11 “Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Psalm 37:23-24 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
What I am not saying. I am not saying that we are perfect or that we are to be passive. God’s elect are shown to be so not by their perfection, but by their growth and the evidence of God’s work & perseverance in & with them. God set us apart for a purpose, to show the world seen & unseen His mercy & grace in Jesus Christ. We are to admonish each other, rebuke when necessary, pray for one another, encourage one another… do we always do this, no we do not, but the God who is faithful will spur us on to return to Him. Too many times we look to ourselves and point people to look to themselves rather than to look to Jesus as we are told to again and again. Jesus is the Author & Finisher of our faith, if God leaves anything up to me I know I would be in deep, deep trouble. I am thankful that He does not. Please consider the scriptures below as my conclusion for now. John 10:11-16 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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12/6/2007
12/4/2007
11/27/2007
Success is certain when the Lord has promised it. Although you may have pleaded month after month without evidence of answer, it is not possible that the Lord should be deaf when His people are earnest in a matter which concerns His glory. Delayed answers often set the heart searching itself and so lead to contrition and spiritual reformation. Reader, do not fall into the sin of unbelief, but continue in prayer and watching. Plead the precious blood with unceasing importunity, and it will be with you according to your desire.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
11/12/2007
Behold, I have erred exceedingly. – 1 Sam. 26:21
In this chapter we have an account of an heroic act of David's faith in the Lord, his invincible courage, and his tenderness towards Saul, his enraged enemy, by which he melted his heart and overcame his cruel wrath. Let us view his conduct, and pray for grace to get good from it.
View his faith. Here was Saul, with three thousand chosen men, in pursuit of David, thirsting for his blood; they were at a very small distance from him. Behold, David proposes to go to Saul's camp in the dead of the night, and asks," Who will go down with me?" Does not this seem to the eye of natural reason to be a most rash and dangerous attempt? Though it were at midnight, though they might be fallen into a dead sleep, yet, out of such a number of men, one or more might awake and seize on David. Surely, it was going into the very jaws of death; but David's faith surmounted his fears; his trust in his God prevailed. O precious gift of precious faith! Lord, increase it in our souls. Abishai consents to go with him; they pass the king's life-guards; enter Saul's camp: for behold, they were all like dead men. David and Abishai converse together: not a man hears or stirs. Why was this? How can we account for it? Why? Because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them." O, my soul, learn courage from hence. When Giant Despair attempted to pursue the pilgrims he was seized with his fits. All thy enemies are under thy Lord's power; he can cast all into a deep sleep, or into the long sleep of death; and he will, sooner than thou shalt perish by them. Up faith–down sense–away with all carnal reasonings:
"March on, nor fear to win the day,
"Though death and hell obstruct the way."
Now see how David's faith wrought by his works. When they got safe into the camp Saul lay sleeping, and his spear stuck into the ground at his head. Now for a strong temptation. Abishai said to David, "God hath delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day; let me smite him, I pray thee, with this spear to the earth at once, I will not smite him a second time." See this specious reasoning. He begins with God, who had delivered Saul into David's hands. Here was a fair opportunity to revenge himself of his cruel enemy and put an end to his troubles. And he promises to do it effectually, at a stroke. Now, who but a man after God's own heart could have withstood this? But David had a better way to kill his rage and save his life. Here see an heroic act of faith working by love and producing an unshaken obedience to God: he durst not stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. See how conspicuous the grace of God shines in the Old Testament saint O blush, ye who regard David's faith as nothing compared to the faith of a christian!
See the effects of David's conduct: he carried away Saul's spear and cruse from under his head, and upbraids the captain of his host for not watching over his royal master. Saul hears of the affair and cries out, "Is this thy voice, my son David?" Struck with David's fine reasoning; melted down at his noble, generous conduct; and doubtless recollecting that his life had been once before in David's hands, when he cut off the skirts of his robe in a cave, 1 Sam. 24:4, Saul replies, "Behold I have played the fool, and erred exceedingly." Thus faith works by love and patience: this will overcome, when wrath and resentment only add fuel to an enemy's rage.
11/10/2007
I get up for work between 3:30 & 4:30 EST 5-6 days a week and I often wake up earlier than that. We have a large window next to my side of the bed from which I look out and see Spring City across the lake and up to the sky the same stars that we along with Abraham are told to ponder. I have seen shooting stars, the full moon shining across the lake, but far better than what I see with my eyes are the scriptures that God brings to my mind at times like these and on my 1/2 hour drive to work. He reminds me that His lovingkindness is better than life, that He grants sleep to those He loves, and I sleep well. When I feel weak & overwhelmed He reminds me that His mercies are new every morning and that His strength is made perfect in weakness. He reminds me to keep on praying and not give up because Elijah was a man just like us, & this morning "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:11.
Before His first advent, His elect were drawn to look for Him and some were even given special insight, through His word, that His coming was near. This morning when I awoke an hour before my alarm was to go off the last statement from Daniel came to my mind so I got up & read the last chapter. Notes I have added are in Blue.
Daniel 12
"At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?"
Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?"
And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
"But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.
Before the first coming of Jesus, many were looking for it. It had been revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen His first advent.
Luke 2:25-38 "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."
Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all tho