God’s Sovereignty in the Salvation of Men

Jonathan Edwards

ROMANS 9:18.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth.

THE apostle, in the beginning of this chapter, expresses his great concern and sorrow of heart for the nation of the Jews, who were rejected of God. This leads him to observe the difference which God made by election between some of the Jews and others, and between the bulk of that people and the christian Gentiles. In speaking of this he enters into a more minute discussion of the sovereignty of God in electing some to eternal life, and rejecting others, than is found in any other part of the Bible; in the course of which he quotes several passages from the Old Testament, confirming and illustrating this doctrine. In the ninth verse he refers us to what God said to Abraham, showing his election of Isaac before Ishmael – “For this is the word of promise; At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son:” then to what God had said to Rebecca, showing his election of Jacob before Esau; “The elder shall serve the younger:” in the thirteenth verse, to a passage from Malachi,

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Unforgiveness imprisons people in the past

John MacArthur – Grace to You

Ephesians 6:3

The Key to Maintaining Family Unit

Now I said this morning that I was going to continue in our discussion about the fulfilled family and talk about the most important virtue in any relationship, the most important ingredient in holding a marriage together or keeping a family united, something that is absolutely crucial to the success of a marriage and a family.  I know that some of you were guessing this afternoon, some of my family were making suggestions about what they thought the subject was going to be.

What is it most importantly that causes relationships to be sustained over the long haul?  In a word, it is forgiveness…it is forgiveness.  Why do I say that?  Well first of all, no matter who you’re married to, they’re going to fail you, they’re going to offend you, they’re going to misunderstand you, they’re going to misinterpret what you mean by what you do.  You are going to offend them, you are going to sin against them, you are going to disappoint them.  This is true in any kind of relationship because we are sinful creatures, we are fallen creatures.  And what essentially keeps that from destroying relationships is forgiveness…forgiveness.

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Your Best Life: Now or Later?


John MacArthur – Grace to You

1 Peter 1:3-5

Lately I’ve had the occasion to fly a lot around the country, preaching here and there. Even though I’m here on Sundays, it seems like my weeks have been spent in airports, sometimes for a long time, as I’ve had mechanical delays and things like that. And I’ve become very much aware of a book that I knew was out there but I see literally all over all the airports that I’ve been in, in the last month or so, it has been labeled, at least, the best selling religious book of the time. The title of it is Your Best Life Now. I have seen stacks and stacks and stacks of those books everywhere I’ve gone.

Out of curiosity, I want to know what’s in the book and so I found this on page 5, “God wants this to be the best time of your life.” On another page it says, “Happy, successful, fulfilled individuals have learned how to live their best life now. On another page it says, “As you put the principles found in these pages to work today, you will begin living your best life now.” And that is absolutely true if you’re not a Christian. This is it, you better get the book because your next life is going to be infinitely worse than this one.

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The Pretribulation Rapture

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Faith & Reason Conference Gauteng – 12 May 2010

By GV Swart – 22 May 2010

The conference was held at Kerk Sonder Mure in Centurion, which was kindly provided to the organisers free of charge. In itself I believe a charitable gesture and certainly not a cheap one. The venue is state of the art modern church buildings / auditorium with all the expected bells and whistles. Sound systems, lighting, stages, projection systems, CCTV in various areas, large auditorium seating +/-2000, other smaller conference rooms, kitchen areas, gardens, parking lots, guards on duty, foyer with book stalls, etc.

First impressions on arrival were formed by a large GDOP (Global Day of Prayer 2010) banner prominently positioned on the corner outside the building. organisers, participating speakers, presenters and audience members who were gathering within the building, however, presented quite a different picture. Wonderful how God works to enable His Truth to be promoted via all means. The venue certainly had no relevance to the message which issued from it; simply a set of walls enclosing a group of God’s people for a few hours.

Prof William Lane Craig, Pastor Ray Ciervo and Mike Willenborg, three Americans from what constituted the main body of the Faith and Reason team 2010, did presentations. Details of each presentation are far too extensive to mention here. Suffice to say that their impeccable preparations, evident depth of knowledge of the subject and most strikingly, their motivation by means of true faith made for an event which I will certainly not easily forget. Once again it glaringly exposes the dire need for quality impartation of the Word in our country, and the severe lack of guidance with which we currently struggle. Another fact which comes to mind is that these speakers needed no media assistance (TV, music, slideshows, side acts) to bolster their presentations.

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The Dangers of Postmodernism

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What Ever Happened to the New Age?

Peter Jones explains how the New Age movement has evolved into a global spiritual influence.

You know-the Age of Aquarius, chakras and crystals, Shirley MacLaine’s “going within,” and Marianne Williams, guru to the stars. Well, the stars are coming out, but the New Age is old hat. They were the good ol’ days.

I just signed up for an online forum, Beyond Awakening: The Future of Spiritual Practice. You could say Beyond New Age. Hailed as “the most important conversation for the planet today,” this forum had 25,000 members within a few weeks (proof that I run with the in-crowd)! Actually, it is proof of a veritable armada of intelligent “Cultural Creatives,” “Progressives,” “Brights,” and “Integral Spiritualists.” These activists, seeing that our world is in crisis, have organized national and international visionary groups. (There are 50 million Cultural Creatives in the USA and 80-90 million in the European Union.)

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