Faith versus Fear

by Charles Spurgeon

Taken from Words of Cheer for Daily Life. Edited and condensed.

The believer when he is brought into peace with God does not tremble at the thought of God’s power. He does not ask, “Will He plead against me with His great power?” But he says, “No, that very power, once my terror, and fear, is now my refuge and my hope, for He shall put that very power in me. I rejoice that God is Almighty, for He will lend me His omnipotence—’He will put strength into me.”‘ The very power which would have damned my soul, saves my soul. The very power that would have crushed me, God puts into me that the work of salvation may be accomplished. No, He will not use it to crush me, but He will put that very strength into me. Dost see there the Mighty One upon His throne? Dread Sovereign, I see Thine awful arm. What, wilt Thou crush the sinner? Wilt Thou utterly destroy him with thy strength? “No,” saith He, “come hither, child.” And if you go to His almighty throne, “There,” saith He, “that self-same arm which made thee quake, see there, I give it to thee. Go out and live. I have made thee mighty as I am, to do My works; I will put strength into thee. The same strength which would have broken thee to pieces on the wheel shall now be put into thee, that thou mayest do mighty works.”

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If a man can still pray

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled

“For The Troubled,” delivered January 12, 1873.

 

Now, while a man can pray he is never far from light; he is at the window, though, perhaps, as yet the curtains are not drawn aside. The man who can pray has the clue in his hand by which to escape from the labyrinth of affliction. Like the trees in winter, we may say of the praying man, when his heart is greatly troubled, “his substance is in him, though he has lost his leaves.” Prayer is the soul’s breath, and if it breathes it lives, and, living it will gather strength again. A man must have true and eternal life within him while he can continue still to pray, and while there is such life there is assured hope.

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Was Jesus Polite to False Teachers?

 

 

John MacArthur – Grace to You – Bible Q & A

(Matthew 23)

Many Christians today are greatly concerned about the rising influences of communism, humanism, secularism, and social injustice. Yet those evils, great as they are, do not together pose the threat to Christianity that false shepherds and pastors do. Throughout the history of redemption, the greatest threat to God’s truth and God’s work has been false prophets and teachers, because they propose to speak in His name. That is why the Lord’s most scathing denunciations were reserved for the false teachers of Israel, who claimed to speak and act for God but were liars.

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I am God — and not man!

James Smith, “Rills from the Rock of Ages”, 1860)

“I will not carry out My fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Israel. For I am God — and not man; the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath!” Hosea 11:9

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How Charles Finney’s Theology Ravaged the Evangelical Movement

Sharing my thoughts in short.

I stumbled on this article and more, and found it important to share with those interested and who is following the teachings of Finney. I truly hope and pray this may bring some insight to those who find the Doctrines of Grace difficult. Men like Finney and others have long ago introduced heretical teachings.

Ephesians 2:8 (Amplified Bible)

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

The result thus has been that some believers, believe that they must work for their salvation. This has also been the cause of many heart aching arguments that was unnecessary.

Here is prove and more that those who follow and believe Finney’s teachings are in danger of following a heretical false teacher. It is not my intent to have any discussion on this article, it is purely for information to the reader hereof. Therefore I will close the comments section on this article. We may however be emailed see our Email us page.

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Word Faith Heretic Cindy Trimm receives award from Billy Graham Evangelistic Ass

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher

on Jun 22, 2011

While spiritual darkness continues to creep across apostatizing evangelicalism in The New Downgrade, a major part of my commission as pastor-teacher here Apprising Ministries becomes helping to apprise you of developing trends within the church visible during this time parallel to Amos 8:11-12. As a leading online apologetics and discernment labor in the Lord, for the time I may have left, I’ll continue reminding you about the vital importance of the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura; as in recent pieces like Apprising Ministries Hits Mark On The Wild Goose Festival, Critical To Know Your Bible! and Jay Bakker, Homosexuality, And Gospel Reductionism.

You need to know that there’s a rapidly growing syncretism—combining of beliefs, e.g. Chrislam; and adhering to what the text of the Bible actually says is our safest course now that myriad serpentine deceptions are slithering deeply into the mainstream evangelical camp. Much of this can traced to the perverted practice of critical thinking skills-numbing corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM), such as that taught by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with his spiritual twin and Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard. Again, another bad by-product of evangelicalism’s embrace of the sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church, of which that dubious duo were key mentors.

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The freedom of the will by Jonathan Edwards

I found this  gem and I am sharing with you all. God bless. These are audio files.


A Careful And Strict Inquiry Into The Prevailing Notions Of The Freedom Of Will.

  1. Preface.
  2. Part 1Wherein are explained and stated various Terms and things belonging to the subject of the ensuing Discourse.
    1. Section 1 Concerning the Nature of the Will
    2. Section 2 Concerning the Determination of the Will.
    3. Section 3 Concerning the meaning of the terms, Necessity, Impossibility, Inability, &c. and of Contingence.
    4. Section 4 Of the distinction of natural and moral Necessity, and Inability.
    5. Section 5Concerning the notion of Liberty, and of moral Agency. Continue reading

What is the Hebrew Roots movement?

I found this on gotquestions website and think we should be aware of this another stream of deception in present in the churches today.

Answer: The premise of the Hebrew Roots movement is the belief that the Church has veered far from the true teachings and Hebrew concepts of the Bible. The movement maintains that Christianity has been indoctrinated with the culture and beliefs of Greek and Roman philosophy and that ultimately biblical Christianity, taught in churches today, has been corrupted with a pagan imitation of the New Testament gospels.

Those of the Hebrew Roots belief hold to the teaching that Christ’s death on the cross did not end the Mosaic Covenant, but instead renewed it, expanded its message, and wrote it on the hearts of His true followers. They teach that the understanding of the New Testament can only come from a Hebrew perspective and that the teachings of the Apostle Paul are not understood clearly or taught correctly by Christian pastors today. Many affirm the existence of an original Hebrew-language New Testament and, in some cases, denigrate the existing New Testament text written in Greek. This becomes a subtle attack on the reliability of the text of our Bible. If the Greek text is unreliable and has been corrupted, as is charged by some, the Church no longer has a standard of truth.

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When They Awake In Hell

By Athur W Pink

Source : http://www.gracegems.org/Video.htm

Be On Guard Against False Doctrine

J.C. Ryle

Let us be on our guard against false doctrine. Unsound faith will never be the mother of really sound practice, and in these latter days, departures from the faith abound. See then that your loins be girded about with truth, and be very jealous of receiving anything which cannot be proved by the Bible. Do not think for a moment that false doctrine will meet you face to face, saying, “I am false doctrine, and I want to come into your heart.” Satan does not go to work in that way. He dresses up false doctrine like Jezebel — he paints her face and attires her hair, and tries to make her like truth. Do not think that those who preach error will never preach anything that is true. Error would do little harm if that was the case. No! Error will come before you mingled with much that is sound and scriptural.

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Coming in the Clouds

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Why I Am a Calvinist, Part 5 – 8 of 8

by Phil Johnson – Grace to You

Why I Am a Calvinist, Part 5

. . . and why every Christian is a Calvinist of sorts.

Part V: Why this issue is really a lot simpler than most people think

At the end of the previous post, I described how even in my Arminian days, I affirmed an awful lot of truth about the sovereignty of God: I would have affirmed with no reservation whatsoever that God is God; that He does all His good pleasure; that no one can make Him do otherwise; that He is in control and in charge no matter how much noise evildoers try to make; and not only is He in charge, He is working all things out for my good and His glory. As a matter of fact, my confidence in the promise of Romans 8:28 was what motivated my prayer life.

That’s Calvinism. If you believe those things, you have affirmed the heart of Calvinism, even if you call yourself an Arminian. Those are the basic truths of Calvinism, and if you already believe those things, you are functioning with Calvinist presuppositions.

In fact, the truths of Calvinism so much permeate the heart of the gospel message, that even if you think you are a committed and consistent proponent of Arminianism, if you truly affirm the gospel you have already conceded the principle points of Calvinism anyway.

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Why I Am a Calvinist, Part 1-4 of 8

by Phil Johnson – Grace to You

Why I Am a Calvinist, Part 1

. . and why every Christian is a Calvinist of sorts.  


Part I: Is Arminianism damnable heresy?

I love the doctrines of grace and don’t shy away from the label “Calvinist.” I believe in the sovereignty of God. I’m convinced Scripture teaches that God is completely sovereign not only in salvation (effectually calling and granting faith to those whom He chooses); but also in every detail of the outworking of Providence. “Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). And He makes “all things work together for good to those who love God, [i.e.,] to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Quite simply, He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11).

That’s what people commonly mean when they speak of “Calvinism.” When I accept that label, I am not pledging allegiance to the man John Calvin. I am not affirming everything he taught, and I’m not condoning everything he did. I’m convinced Calvin was a godly man and one of the finest biblical expositors and theological minds ever, but he wasn’t always right. As a matter of fact, my own convictions are baptistic, so I am by no means one of Calvin’s devoted followers. In other words, when I accept the label “Calvinist,” it’s only for convenience’s sake. I’m not saying “I am of Calvin” in the Corinthian sense.

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What Theology is This?

Pastor Steven J. Cole
Flagstaff, Arizona

Dave Hunt’s Misrepresentation of God and Calvinism

As I read Dave Hunt’s latest book, What Love is This? subtitled, “Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God,” I felt both profound sadness and righteous anger. I was sad because many unsuspecting and uneducated Christians will believe that Hunt is accurate and thereby miss out on one of the richest spiritual gold mines available, namely, the life and writings of John Calvin and his heirs in the faith. I was angry because Hunt deliberately misrepresents and slanders both Calvin and Calvinism, and in the process grossly misrepresents God Himself. I know that his misrepresentation is deliberate because many Calvinists, including myself, wrote repeatedly to Hunt as the book was being written, pointing out his errors and asking him to stop misrepresenting what we believe. But sadly, he stubbornly ignored our corrections and went full steam ahead.

The resulting book is a first magnitude theological and spiritual disaster. If you rely on the supermarket tabloids as your reliable source of news, you’ll probably find Hunt satisfying for your theology. It will give you the same sort of sensational slander as the tabloids, only it is presented as if it were biblically and historically based. But if you want to grow in your knowledge of the living God, I advise you to leave this tabloid theology on the shelf.

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Let us not only think of ourselves

J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1,

[Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 257. {Luke 8:16-21}

Let us not only think of ourselves. Let us also think of others. There are millions in the world who have no spiritual light at all. They are without God, without Christ, and without hope. (Eph. 2:12) Can we do nothing for them? There are thousands around us who are unconverted and dead in sins, seeing nothing and knowing nothing right. Can we do nothing for them?

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