Seeking a Closeness to God

John MacArthur – Grace to You

“Draw near to God.”
James 4:8

The sincerely humble will want a closer relationship with God.
The expression “draw near” was originally associated with the priesthood in Israel. Under the regulations of the Old Covenant, the priests represented the people before God. Prior to coming near God’s presence, the priest had to be washed physically and be ceremonially clean. That meant he had to bathe, wear the proper garments, and offer sacrifices that made his own heart right with God. Then he could draw near to God on the people’s behalf.

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Standing Against the Devil

John MacArthur – Grace to You

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7b

Anyone who possesses scriptural humility will take an uncompromising stand against Satan.
The successful diplomat or politician is quite adept at the art of compromise and finding the middle ground on various issues. But such skill is a hindrance when it comes to determining your position before God. If you humbly, by faith and repentance, submit yourself to God’s authority, you will immediately find yourself the enemy of Satan. You are either in God’s kingdom and under His lordship, or you are in Satan’s kingdom and under his lordship. It is impossible to have one foot in each kingdom and to be serving both kingdoms’ rulers.

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Free Will Doctrine VS Election Doctrine and more Q & A

Grace to You Bible Questions and Answers Part 19
John MacArthur – Grace to You.

GARY: Hi John, my name is Gary. I wanted your opinion on a specific doctrine that you hear both teachings, you hear quote as humans we kind of like to put things in categories, so the free will doctrine versus the election doctrine, as far as salvation is concerned. And I wanted your thoughts on that.

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Social Media and Digital Discernment


Social Media and Digital Discernment a must read for all. From Grace to You blog.

Twenty-five years ago Neil Postman observed that television had become an American “necessity” and lamented its effects on society. He correctly described the culture of the 1980s as one that was amusing itself to death. If he were alive today, Postman would be astonished at how quickly Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media have gripped our society. His earlier criticisms raise an interesting question about these current trends: If TV put our culture in the casket, has social media nailed the coffin shut?

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Cultivating the Fruit of Righteousness

John MacArthur – Grace to You

“Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:11).

After facing life-threatening situations, people often say, “I saw my entire life flash before my eyes.” That’s the picture we get in Philippians 1:11.

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The Pretribulation Rapture

This article has been removed by Admin.

CHARLIE COULSON, THE CHRISTIAN DRUMMER BOY

Thank You to my dear friend Joanne for sharing  this wonderful story and for providing  the link.

TOUCHING INCIDENTS AND REMARKABLE ANSWERS TO PRAYER,

A Book By S. B. SHAW. 1893

As Related by Dr. M.L.R.

Two or three times in my life God in His mercy touched my heart, and twice before my conversion I was under deep conviction.

During the American war, I was surgeon in the United States army, and after the battle of Gettysburg there were many hundred wounded soldiers in my hospital, amongst whom were twenty-eight who had been wounded so severely that they required my service at once. Some whose legs had to be amputated, some their arms, and others both their arm and leg. One of the latter was a boy who had been but three months in the service, and being too young for a soldier. He enlisted as a drummer. When my assistant surgeon and one of my stewards wished to administer chloroform, previous to the amputation, he turned his head aside and positively refused to receive it. When the steward told him that it was the doctor’s orders, he said: “Send the doctor to me.” Continue reading

Defining Discernment

John MacArthur, Grace to You

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, 1 John 4:1, 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 1:4

In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.

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The Distinguishing Mark of Christianity

John MacArthur from Grace to You

Freedom or slavery—what’s the distinguishing mark of Christianity? In a generation fixated on freedom, fulfillment, and autonomy, the vote has been cast early and often for freedom. But the Bible is abundantly clear—slavery is the heart of what it means to be a true Christian. It’s time to reassert this unpopular notion: true Christians are slaves of Christ.

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The Once-born and the Twice-born


A W Tozer

CLASSIFICATION IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT of all tasks. Even in the realm of religion there are enough lights and shades to make it injudicious to draw too fine a line between men and men. If the religious world were composed of squares of solid black and solid white classification would be easy; but unfortunately it is not.

It is a grave error for us evangelicals to assume that the children of God are all in our communion and that all who are not associated with us are ipso facto enemies of the Lord. The Pharisees made that mistake and crucified Christ as a consequence.

With all this in mind, and leaning over backwards to be fair and charitable, there is yet one distinction which we dare make, which indeed we must make if we are to think the thoughts of God after Him and bring our beliefs into harmony with the Holy Scriptures. That distinction is the one which exists between two classes of human beings, the once-born and the twice-born. Continue reading

How to Lose Your Joy

John MacArthur

Grace to You

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11).

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What Is Grammatical-Historical Interpretation & Why Is It Important?

By Dr Paul M. Elliott

You can’t know how to apply the Bible to life, unless you understand what the Bible really says.

In our postmodern society, many people — even many pastors and theologians — have adopted the mistaken idea that careful interpretation of the Bible doesn’t really matter. Some would even say it is impossible. What really matters, they say, is that you apply the Bible to your life. The problem with this line of thinking is that you can’t know how to apply the Bible to your life, unless you understand what the Bible really says.

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Does God love the elect and hate the non-elect?

John MacArthur – Grace to You Q & A

Question:
There are some who teach that God loves only His elect and hates the non-elect. Please comment.

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The Saint Must Walk Alone

A W TOZER

MOST OF THE WORLD’S GREAT SOULS have been lonely. Loneliness seems to be one price the saint must pay for his saintliness.

In the morning of the world (or should we say, in that strange darkness that came soon after the dawn of man’s creation) that pious soul, Enoch, walked with God and was not, for God took him; and while it is not stated in so many words, a fair inference is that Enoch walked a path quite apart from his contemporaries.

Another lonely man was Noah who, of all the antediluvians, found grace in the sight of God; and every shred of evidence points to the aloneness of his life even while surrounded by his people.

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He does as He pleases!

He does as He pleases!

(Arthur Pink, “The Sovereignty of God“)

“For the Lord Almighty has purposed—and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out—and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27

To say that God is sovereign, is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth—so that none can . . .
defeat His counsels,
thwart His purpose,
or resist His will.

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