—Ralph Erskine
By faith I unseen Being see,
Forth lower beings call,
And say to nothing, Let it be;
And nothing hatches all.
Holy Spirit
Taming a Wild Church
Grace Unlimited – Alan Lester
It is not uncommon for whole churches to lose focus of the real thing. But at the same time, while they search, the real thing evades them.
Painfully absent is a clear presentation of the Gospel, and a deep appreciation of that Gospel. Without this, churches must drop into one of the various ditches that line the road. Either legalism or liberalism. Either joyless slavery or emotional burnout. Both are exhausting because they pursue a non-existent paradise.
Love of The Truth Brings Hatred
John MacArthur – Grace to You
All these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”
– John 15:21
The world, in its general hatred of the truth and ignorance of God, will also hate believers.
Opposition to The World Brings Hatred
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
– John 15:18-19
Because they are not part of the world’s system, Christians should expect it to hate and oppose them.
Deliverance: From Error to the Truth, Part 1
Well, as I said last week, I have taken a bit of a diversion from our study of the gospel of Luke. I warned you a few weeks in advance that I was prompted to write a book on the subject of deliverance because the theology of deliverance which is so intensely biblical is so completely neglected today. And when I was away for a couple of weeks in Italy, it really began to weigh heavy on my mind that I needed to address this subject. And so it became like Jeremiah, fire in my bones and I can’t go back to the gospel of Luke until I have delivered my soul on the subject of deliverance.
As I said last week, and I would just encourage you, if you weren’t here last week to get the tape and listen because what I said last week is essential and foundational to this discussion. It’s not one of those messages that’s sort of optional, it’s a mandatory theme to be understood by all of us. So if you didn’t hear the message, you certainly can pick up the tape out at the tape center today.
Pray Without Ceasing . . . Really?
John MacArthur – Grace to you – Bible Q & A
Pray without ceasing; (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Joyful believers will also be prayerful believers. Those who live their Christian lives in joyful dependency on God will continually recognize their own insufficiency and therefore constantly be in an attitude of prayer. Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing is thus a divine mandate to all believers. Pray is from proseuchomai, the most common New Testament word for prayer (e.g., Matt. 6:5–6; Mark 11:24; Luke 5:16; 11:1–2; Acts 10:9; Rom. 8:26; 1 Cor. 14:13–15; Eph. 6:18; Col. 1:9; 2 Thess. 3:1; James 5:13–14, 16). It encompasses all the aspects of prayer: submission, confession, petition, intercession, praise, and thanksgiving. Without ceasing means “constant” and defines prayer not as some perpetual activity of kneeling and interceding but as a way of life marked by a continual attitude of prayer.
By Faith Not Feeling
C H Spurgeon – Devotional
The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)
I shall not die, I can, I do, believe in the Lord my God, and this faith will keep me alive. I would be numbered among those who in their lives are just; but even if I were perfect I would not try to live by my righteousness; I would cling to the work of the Lord Jesus and still live by faith in Him and by nothing else. If I were able to give my body to be burned for my Lord Jesus, yet I would not trust in my own courage and constancy, but still would live by faith.
Were I a martyr at the stake
I’d plead my Saviour’s name;
Intreat a pardon for His sake,
And urge no other claim.
To live by faith is a far surer and happier thing than to live by feelings or by works, The branch, by living in the vine, lives a better life than it would live by itself, even if it were possible for it to live at all apart from the stem. To live by clinging to Jesus, by deriving all from Him, is a sweet and sacred thing. If even the most just must live in this fashion, how much more must I who am a poor sinner! Lord, I believe. I must trust Thee wholly. What else can I do? Trusting Thee is my life….
Source : http://www.spurgeongems.org/fcb4.htm
Shoe-Leather Faith
John MacArthur – Grace to You
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
It’s always a highlight of worship to turn to the Word of our God because His Word is His response to us, the Spirit applies it to our hearts. His Word is also the revelation of Himself so that we know His way and His will and His purpose and thus can worship Him more perfectly.
As you know, for many, many months we’ve been studying 1 Thessalonians and we have been interrupted a bit in the summer, but we go back to it this morning. Open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 9 through 12…1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 9 through 12.
The Significance of the Ascension
Luke 24:50-53
December 21, 2008
Well, this is a special Lord’s day in the sense of our text of Luke because we have finally come to the final paragraph in Luke’s gospel, and we close out this great history with many wonderful memories of what we have learned in these ten years in Luke, many wonderful benefits spiritually to these great truths, this great account of Christ. Let’s look together at the final paragraph, verses 50 to 53.
Before I read them to you, just simply to make a comment. This is the brief account of the ascension of Christ into heaven, having completed His earthly journey and His earthly work. It is a significant event, maybe, in some ways, far more significant than most people give it credit for. In our culture we have a tradition of honoring the birth of people. We celebrate birthdays. When there is someone important, we make note of their birthday. Sometimes we even make national holidays out of the birthday of famous people, Presidents, and so forth. We do that not because their birth was significant, because none of their births were really significant. And when they were born, they had accomplished absolutely nothing. So at the risk of seeming a little bit odd, may I suggest another approach? That we begin to celebrate the death day of significant people which marks the culmination of their achievement.
How to Treat False Teachers, Part 2
1 Timothy 1:7-11
Let’s open our Bibles this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 1. We’re looking again at verses 3 through 11. The opening charge that is given from the Apostle Paul to Timothy to carry out a work in the church and the region around the church in Ephesus.
Now as I mentioned last time, the primary objective that Paul has in mind with Timothy in the writing of this epistle is to encourage Timothy to bring the church to a place of sound doctrine and godly living. He is concerned about the impact of false teachers, not only what they say but what they model by way of a life style. And he is greatly concerned that Timothy reverse the impact of these false teachers. In so writing to Timothy he has left us a letter which all of us in the church of Jesus Christ today, or in any era, can benefit from because we all face the same potential encroachment of false teaching and unholy living.
How to Treat False Teachers, Part 1
John MacArthur – Grace to You
1 Timothy 1:3-6
Turn in your Bible to the first chapter of 1 Timothy. We have recently begun a study of 1 Timothy. We’ve had a couple of messages getting started, looking at the introduction, and now we come in this next section to verses 3 through 11. This section has to do with dealing with false teachers. I want us to take verses 3 through 11 as a unit, but we’re going to divide it between two weeks, this Lord’s day and next.
Let me introduce our study today by reminding you of something I’m sure you’re very much aware of. In John’s gospel chapter 8 and verse 44, it reminds us that Satan is not only a murderer but Satan is also a liar. One of the manifestations of the lying intent of Satan is the proliferation of false teachers that besiege the gospel and the church through all the history of the church’s life. False prophets and false teachers are a part and parcel of the battle the church has to fight in every age.
The Fate of the Filthy (Revelation 22)
John MacArthur – Grace to You – Bible Q & A
Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy. (Revelation 22:11)
The angel’s statement seems strangely out of place in this context: “Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” Some may think its connection with the command that preceded it is not immediately apparent. But the truth it dramatically conveys is that people’s response to the proclamation of the truth will fix their eternal destinies. Those who hear the truth but continue to do wrong and be filthy will by that hardened response fix their eternal destiny in hell. On the other hand, the one who continues to practice righteousness and keep himself holy gives evidence of genuine saving faith. The adverb eti (still) may have the sense of “yet more.” In that case, the meaning is that those who do wrong and are filthy in this life will be even more so in eternal hell, where there will be absolutely no good influences to mitigate their evil. In contrast, those who are righteous and holy in this life will be perfectly holy in their glorified bodies in heaven.
The Doctrines of Grace (Part 10 of 10)
The Doctrine of God’s Effectual Call
We have a wonderful subject to talk about tonight and I took up a little more time than I ought to have, in one sense, but wanted to share with you what I did, so we’re going to try to squeeze it in the time we have. I want you to open your Bible to Romans 8…Romans chapter 8 and let’s begin in Romans 8 with some very familiar revelation from God.
Verse 28 which is familiar to all of us is a good starting point. Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren, and whom He predestined these He also called and whom He called these He also justified and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
The Doctrines of Grace (Part 9 of 10)
The Doctrine of Actual Atonement, Part 2
Those of you who have been with us know we are tackling some of the more challenging and profound and difficult doctrines in the Scripture. And I trust we’re having a wonderful time digging deeply into God’s precious truth.
Last Sunday night we began to look at the subject, “For whom did Christ die?” Or, “The Nature of the Atonement.” Or as I chose to call it, “The Doctrine of Actual Atonement.” And I want to go back to that. If you weren’t here last week, it really would be helpful for you to get the tape or the CD, whatever is best for you, and to listen to what I said and pair it up with what we’re going to say tonight because you’re going to get just a very abbreviated review of that important foundation.
The Doctrines of Grace (Part 8 of 10)
The Doctrine of Actual Atonement, Part 1
Well, how many of you have always wanted to go to seminary? You’re about to go tonight. I’m going to challenge your thinking a little bit as we talk about this issue of the question, “For whom did Christ die?” We have been looking over the last number of weeks at some very important doctrines, the doctrine of perseverance, or the preservation of the saints; the doctrine of sovereign election in salvation. We have looked at the doctrine of total or absolute inability, that is the depravity of the sinner which renders it impossible for him to respond to the gospel. And tonight I want to talk to you about what I’ve chosen to call, trying to give it a more accurate name, the doctrine of actual atonement…the doctrine of actual atonement.
For the Love of His Truth 