Charles Spurgeon Sermon
Exodus 17:9 (King James Version)
9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. Continue reading
Beloved
Christ’s Resurrection and Our Newness of Life
C. H. SPURGEON
Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, March 29th, 1891,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that 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.”—Romans 6:4.
I HAVE AFORETIME preached upon the whole verse,* so that this morning I shall take the liberty to dwell chiefly upon the latter part of it—”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.”
The idea that the grace of God should lead us to licentiousness is utterly loathsome to every Christian man. We cannot endure it. The notion that the doctrines of grace give license to sin, comes from the devil, and we scout it with a detestation more deep than words can express. “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
On our first entrance upon a Christian profession, we are met by the ordinance of baptism, which teaches the necessity of purification. Baptism is, in its very form, a washing, and its teaching requires cleansing of the most thorough kind. It is a burial, in which the man is viewed as dead with Christ to sin, and is regarded as rising again as a new man. Baptism sets forth, as in a picture, the union of the believer with the Lord Jesus in his baptism of suffering, and in his death, burial, and resurrection. By submitting to that sacred ordinance, we declare that we believe ourselves to be dead with him, because of his endurance of the death penalty, and dead to the world and to the dominion of sin by his Spirit; at the same time, we also profess our faith in our Lord’s resurrection, and that we ourselves are raised up in union with him, and have come forth through faith into newness of life. It is a very impressive and vivid symbol, but it is without meaning unless we rise to purity of life.
The Spirit of Love the Opposite of a Censorious Spirit
Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
“Charity . . . thinks no evil.” — 1 Corinthians 13:5
Having remarked how charity, or Christian love, is opposed not only to pride and selfishness, but to the ordinary fruits of these evil dispositions, viz. an angry spirit and a censorious spirit, and having already spoken as to the former, I come now to the latter. And in respect to this, the apostle declares, that charity “thinketh no evil.” The doctrine set forth in these words is clearly this:
THAT THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY, OR CHRISTIAN LOVE, IS THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT
or, in other words, it is contrary to a disposition to think or judge uncharitably of others.
Charity, in one of the common uses of the expression, signifies a disposition to think the best of others that the case will allow. This, however, as I have shown before, is not the scriptural meaning of the word charity, but only one way of its exercise, or one of its many and rich fruits. Charity is of vastly larger extent than this. It signifies, as we have already seen, the same as Christian or divine love, and so is the same as the Christian spirit. And, in accordance with this view, we here find the spirit of charitable judging mentioned among many other good fruits of charity, and here expressed, as the other fruits of charity are in the context, negatively, or by denying the contrary fruit, viz. censoriousness, or a disposition uncharitably to judge or censure others. And in speaking to this point, I would, first, show the nature of censoriousness, or wherein it consists; and then mention some things wherein it appears to be contrary to a Christian spirit. I would show, Continue reading
Biblically-Anemic Preaching: The Devastating Consequences of a Watered-Down Message
John MacArthur
Those who are familiar with my ministry know that I am committed to expository preaching. It is my unshakable conviction that the proclamation of God’s Word should always be the heart and the focus of the church’s ministry (2 Tim. 4:2). And proper biblical preaching should be systematic, expositional, theological, and God-centered.
Such preaching is in short supply these days. There are plenty of gifted communicators in the modern evangelical movement, but today’s sermons tend to be short, shallow, topical homilies that massage people’s egos and focus on fairly insipid subjects like human relationships, “successful” living, emotional issues, and other practical but worldly—and not definitively biblical—themes. These messages are lightweight and without substance, cheap and synthetic, leaving little more than an ephemeral impression on the minds of the hearers. Continue reading
If You Love Jesus Christ, You Defend His Doctrine Regardless
Updated 28/03/2012
Also a Transcript done for our reader who requested so, this was my first attempt to do a transcript and I hope it meets the readers approval.
If You Love Jesus Christ, You Defend His Doctrine Regardless
So if you want to get an idea of how sincere and genuine your love for Jesus Christ really is, then set aside for the moment the Christian cd’s and the walks in nature and the “what would Jesus do” bracelets, the fish symbols on your car and just ask yourself how much do I love the Scriptures , which bears Christ’s image upon them. Surely you can see that your answer testifies that either in favour a strong love for Christ or a heart that runs cold towards Christ. It either speaks of hypocrisy and merely the outward empty shallow of hypocritical religion, or it speaks of the fact that you have a true and genuine spiritually alive relationship with God.
The Unbroken Line of True Nobles
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 17, 1875,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“Instead of your fathers shall be your children,
whom you may make princes in all the earth.”
Psalm 45:16.
WERE you ever perplexed by being drawn with almost equal force in two directions? I have been so. There is a bond which reaches from the cemetery which holds me very fast and, therefore, I desired again, this morning, to have made use of the solemn visitation which so suddenly removed one of our friends from us. But this is the beginning of the week set apart for prayer for the young, and I have felt duty bound to take a part in the celebration and to assist to stir up Sunday school teachers and the members of the Church in general to pray for the blessing of God upon the rising generation.
Now these mourning friends expect a consoling word from me—and these children demand that I plead for them, also! I realized the scene in my study. What was I to do? Between two subjects I might arrive at none and that was not a desirable conclusion. I watched, looked and prayed, and at last I resolved to yield myself to both influences, and I have as nearly as possible done so by selecting this text—“Instead of your fathers shall be your children, whom you may make princes in all the earth.” Continue reading
A Faithful Friend
A sermon (No.120) delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 8, 1857, by C. H. Spurgeon at The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
“There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”—Proverbs 18:24.Cicero has well said, “Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.” Friendship seems as necessary an element of a comfortable existence in this world as fire or water, or even air itself. A man may drag along a miserable existence in proud solitary dignity, but his life is scarce life, it is nothing but an existence, the tree of life being stripped of the leaves of hope and the fruits of joy. He who would be happy here must have friends; and he who would be happy hereafter must, above all things, find a friend in the world to come in the person of God, the Father of his people. Continue reading
Repentance : Legal vs True
by James C. Heard
Repentance is an old-fashioned word, not much used by the modernists and liberals of our day. True repentance and true belief are inseparable. True repentance and true faith are the products of a quickened heart – a work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual life must precede spiritual acts.
Legal repentance is that regret and reluctance that arises in a person after having done something that they should not have done. This repentance arises from a fear of punishment denounced against sin, but it is not accompanied with the hatred of sin and self. This person may be sorry for that which has been committed, but will not be grieved that they have offended a HOLY GOD. Legal repentance fears Hell and dreads punishment, for criminals are always sorry that they face punishment (however, sorrow itself is not true repentance).
The Doctrines of Grace Do Not Lead To Sin
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT EXETER HALL.
DELIVERED ON LORD’S DAY MORNING, AUGUST 19, 1883,
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under
the Law, but under Grace. What then? Shall we sin, because
we are not under the Law, but under Grace? God forbid.”
Romans 6:14, 15.
Last Sabbath morning I tried to show that the substance and essence of the true gospel is the doctrine of God’s grace—that, in fact, if you take away the grace of God from the gospel you have extracted from it its very life-blood, and there is nothing left worth preaching, worth believing, or worth contending for. Grace is the soul of the gospel: without it the gospel is dead. Grace is the music of the gospel: without it the gospel is silent as to all comfort. I endeavoured also to set forth the doctrine of grace in brief terms, teaching that God deals with sinful men upon the footing of pure mercy: finding them guilty and condemned, he gives free pardons, altogether irrespective of past character, or of any good works which may be foreseen. Moved only by pity he devises a plan for their rescue from sin and its consequences—a plan in which grace is the leading feature. Out of free favour he has provided, in the death of his dear Son, an atonement by means of which his mercy can be justly bestowed. He accepts all those who place their trust in this atonement, selecting faith as the way of salvation, that it may be all of grace. In this he acts, from a motive found within himself, and not because of any reason found in the sinner’s conduct, past, present, or future. I tried to show that this grace of God flows towards the sinner from of old, and begins its operations upon him when there is nothing good in him: it works in him that which is good and acceptable, and continues so to work in him till the deed of grace is complete, and the believer is received up into the glory for which he is made meet. Grace commences to save, and it perseveres till all is done. From first to last, from the “A” to the “Z” of the heavenly alphabet, everything in salvation is of grace, and grace alone; all is of free favour, nothing of merit. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”
The Thrill of the Bungee Jump
This is an absolutely excellent post done From Ray Comforts blog
It hit a real nerve with me !!! I do hope it does for our dear readers here too – God bless.
Comfort Food
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 25-26, Psalm 31, Matthew 16
I watched a video clip of a bungee jumper recently, whose cord looped around his neck. He was more than likely already dead when his friends were calling for him to take the noose off his neck and to lift his knees. This came hard on the heels of a shallow-thinking woman who jumped off a bridge in South Africa. Continue reading
A “Call to Discernment” (registration now open) – Justin Peters
July, 7th 2012
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
This is a 1 day seminar titled “a call to discernment” presented by Justin Peters of Justin Peters Ministries (sadly his hyperlink is blocked by Facebook so we recommend that you just google Justin Peters Ministries for his website).
The seminar presents the dangerous and false doctrines of the “word of faith” movement and “prosperity gospel” sweeping through the modern church. Justin is a genuine brother in Christ and presents a solid Biblical and Gospel-centered presentation on the origins, implications and the non-Biblical nature of this very popular false teaching.
Other speakers include:
Christ Exalted
Christ Exalted
Or
JESUS CHRIST GLORIOUSLY EXALTED ABOVE ALL EVIL IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION
Dated August 1738. Lecture.
1 Corinthians 15:25, 26
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed, is death.
Subject: Our Lord Jesus Christ in the work of redemption gloriously appears above all evil.
THE apostle in this chapter particularly opposes some among the Christian Corinthians who denied the resurrection of the dead and infested the church with their doctrine. There were two sorts of persons in that age who were especially great opposers of the doctrine of the resurrection. One among the Jews were the Sadducees, of whom we read, Acts 23:8. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, either angel or spirit. And we have the same account in other places. Among the heathen that were the chief opposers of this doctrine were their philosophers. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was not consistent with their philosophy, by the principles of which, it was impossible that one who was deprived of the habit of life, would ever receive it again. And therefore they ridiculed the doctrine when the apostle preached it among them at Athens. (Acts 17) Probably the church at Corinth received this corruption from the philosophers, and not the Sadducees. For Corinth was near to Athens, and the place of the chief resort of the philosophers of Greece.
The apostle, in opposing this error, first insists on Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and next on the resurrection of all the saints at the end of the world. And in the verses next before the text, shows how both are connected, or that one arises or follows from the other. And then adds, “then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Observe,
John Calvin’s , Christmas Observance
Many people who profess to be Calvinists are surprised to learn that while John Calvin was opposed to the bad things that have sometimes come to be associated with Christmas, he wasn’t against keeping the holiday as a celebration of the birth of Christ and saw it as a matter of liberty for the churches and the individual.
We can gain insight into Calvin’s views by reading two letters, one written on January 2, 1551; the other in March of 1555. The relevant portions are below, followed by the full contents of both letters. One may observe that Calvin’s understanding of the Regulative Principle of Worship is not so much focused on the kind of uniform, narrowly limited kind of worship that came to be the legacy of Puritanism, but on protecting the liberty of local congregations and individuals. One must never forget that liberty of conscience, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking in the Scripture, is a fundamental of fundamentals for John Calvin.
What the Bible Says about The DOCTRINES OF GRACE
Taken by Avalon - Vernelle Imaging
Romans 9:20-24
(20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” (21) Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (22) What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (23) in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory– (24) even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Nathan Pitchford
“Ever since the Serpent first tempted Eve in the garden by casting doubt on God’s word and his character as he had revealed himself to her, mankind has always been engaged in the idolatrous pursuit of fashioning a god after his own imagination…There is no cure for this, but to cast off all our prior ideas of who we think God should be, or what we think he should mean when he speaks of his love, his grace, his justice, and his salvation, and to go to His Word for all our answers.” (from the Introduction)
DOCTRINES OF GRACE – CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST
God has recently given us the opportunity to discuss some theological issues with other Christians who believe differently than we do on a number of points, most notably the doctrines of grace. In such a circumstance, given the overwhelming supply of scriptural evidence that comes to bear on the topic, it seemed to me that the best approach would be a simple categorized scripture list: the fact that the entire paper would be scriptures, with the exception of a few brief explanatory notes, would underscore the truth that this is God’s own word and teaching; and the fact that it would be categorized would facilitate the ready comparison of scripture with scripture so as to lead one to a full-orbed understanding of the biblical teaching. Although I found a few good scripture lists of that nature available online, none of them was laid out in quite the progression that I was looking for, and so I developed my own. I’m posting it
Urgency and Necessity of The Truth War
Contend Earnestly for the Faith!
Why We Must Contend Earnestly For The Faith – Pastor Bob DeWaay
By Elmarie Swart
I am currently reading John MacArthur’s book, The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception , I was going to do another post on the pages 66-65 (I will still write about this) of John MacArthur’s book when I found this very good and relevant piece written about Chapter 3 . I have found it very relevant and necessary to share this with all. Out in the Cyber world between Christians I do detect alot of important disagreements. Most of the time it would be because those who are into a false teaching or church have no real knowledge of the Word. Why ? Because true Biblical expository teachings are fading away. We are told to test every thing we are told by teachers and hold fast to that which is good, and also to test because many false teachers will lead many on the wide road to destruction. 1Th 5:21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1Jn 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
I am in full agreement with this good piece of writing as to why we must fight the truth war in all earnest while still here on earth and we need to contend earnestly for the faith now even more than before. Daily more and more sheep are led astray to the slaughter house by the false winds and doctrines bellowing across the the world now more than ever. As we come to know the Word of God ,we will find that nothing of the false teachings today are really new, they were there while Jesus and the Apostle’s walked the earth. We are given the commandment by Jesus to spread the Gospel and surely the warnings against false teachings forms part to earnestly contend for the faith!! Jesus also said he came not to bring peace but a sword. Mat 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Paul also said for Jesus’s namesake we will suffer, Php 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
For the Love of His Truth 