Friend in Jesus

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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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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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Psalm 73

Psalm 73 (King James Version)

1Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

3For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

5They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

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The Crown which is Life

John MacArthur – Grace to You

How to Endure Trials, Part 1

James 1:2-12

s I mentioned to you this morning, I am often asked about coping with the troubles of life. We all have them. They come in waves, it seems, none of us really escapes them. And as you know, in my own life through the years the Lord has done His work of refining by trials. As a young boy I went through an automobile accident in which I was injured and wound up three months in bed. From the physical standpoint, other illnesses that come and go in our lives cause us to be tested as to our trust and confidence in God. I’ve gone through a number of those, even recently when I came very near death with blood clots in my lungs. Our son, Mark, when he was a college student at the Master’s college was discovered had a brain tumor, the Lord took us through that, took him through it as well. And it was six years ago last summer that Patricia they said should have taken her life when she broke her neck. And not long ago my sister died and a week ago my mother died.

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Are You Asleep?

J.C. Ryle

“Awake thou that sleepest.”-Eph. 5:14

I put before you now a simple question. Look through the pages of this paper and you will soon see why I ask it. “Are you asleep about your soul?”

There are many who have the name of Christians, but not the character which should go with the name. God is not King of their hearts. They mind earthly things.

Such persons are often quick and clever about the affairs of this life. They are, many of them, good men of business, good at their daily work, good masters, good servants, good neighbors, good subjects of the Queen: all this I fully allow. But it is the eternal part of them that I speak of; it is their never dying souls. And about that, if a man may judge by the little they do for it, they are careless, thoughtless, reckless, and unconcerned. They are asleep.

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How to Talk to a Heretic

Confronting Error with Condemnation, Not Conversation

John MacArthur – Grace to You.

Luke 20:45-47

And now we come to the Word of God again, and Luke 20 is our text…Luke 20. We have arrived at the end of this chapter and we’ll look at the final three verses…Luke chapter 20 verses 45 through 47. Let me establish them in your mind, follow as I read. Luke chapter 20 beginning at verse 45.

“And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

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God is Truth

John MacArthur – Grace to You

 

“He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.”
– John 3:33

Since God is true in everything He does, we can trust Him and His Word.

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How Will Christ Return?


John MacArthur – Grace to You

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9–11)

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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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Walk in Light

 

C.H. Spurgeon

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. John 12:46)

This world is dark as midnight; Jesus has come that by faith we may have light and may no longer sit in the gloom which covers all the rest of mankind.
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That Narrow Gate

A.W. Tozer

Positive beliefs are not popular these days. A mistaken desire to maintain a spirit of tolerance among all races and religions has produced a breed of Januslike Christians with built-in swivels, remarkable only for their ability to turn in any direction gracefully. The philosophy behind this whole thing is that religious beliefs are matters of personal choice, and that the Lord adapts His saving truth to the individual, varying it according to the cultural background, educational level and social situation of each one. Whatever this is, it is not Christianity.

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Not Easily Offended

By  D.L. Moody

In the 119th Psalm and the 165th verse, we find “Great peace have they who love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” The study of God’s Word will secure peace. You take Christians who are rooted and grounded in the Word of God, and you find they have great peace; but it is these who don’t study their Bible, and don’t know their Bible, who are easily offended when some little trouble comes, or some little persecution, and their peace is all disturbed; just a little breath of opposition, and their peace is all gone.
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The Believer’s Armor: God’s Provision for Your Protection

John MacArthur

Ephesians 6:10-17; Luke 4:2; Luke 22:44

Introduction

The Christian life is a battle. It is warfare on a grand scale.

Jesus’ ministry began with a battle against Satan that lasted forty days (Luke 4:2). As Jesus’ ministry drew to an end, Satan besieged Him again in the Garden of Gethsemane. He hit Him with such force that our Lord sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Those two accounts alone teach us that the battle may not become easier as we grow in obedience to God. If anything, Satan will intensify his efforts against those who continue effectively serving the Lord. But God has not left us defenseless.

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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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