John MacArthur – Grace to You
“To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”
– 1 Peter 1:4
We can rejoice after enduring a trial because our hope in Heaven will be renewed.
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John MacArthur – Grace to You – Bible Q & A
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11–12)
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.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled “Why Am I Thus?,” delivered March 14, 1872.
John MacArthur – Grace to You
(9min Audio)
The issue of who is truly a Christian is at the very center of the church’s life and ministry. This has to be protected. There isn’t any fellowship between light and darkness, is there, 2 Corinthians 6? There isn’t any concord between Christ and Satan. Two can’t walk together unless they be…what?…agreed. You have to come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing.
And here is the church absorbing all of this. And now it’s so confusing that the church itself doesn’t even know who’s a Christian and frankly I don’t think they particularly care as long as you say you believe in Jesus. A friend, Iain Murray who is a gifted theologian and a great biographer, wrote the massive two-volume biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones has also written on Jonathan Edwards and many others, he is a very esteemed Englishman and has been here many times, we’ve spent many hours together, has written a new book called Evangelicalism Divided in which I read it, just devoured it over the last few weeks while I was in Italy in the plain, in the back of the bus, in the room, everywhere because it just consumed me. Murray is tracking the twentieth century decline of evangelicalism and it’s a book of history that is very, very revealing. And Murray says, and I think he’s absolutely right, he says, the inability of the evangelical church to distinguish between a Christian and a non-Christian is quote: “The greatest failure of professing Christianity in the English-speaking world in the twentieth century,” end quote.
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.
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
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John MacArthur – Grace to YouIt’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.
“These destroyers of our churches appear to be as content with their work as monkeys with their mischief. The case is mournful. Certain ministers are making infidels. …. A little plain-speaking would do a world of good just now.
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.
John MacArthur – Grace to You
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.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled “Testimony and Experience,” delivered June 2, 1872.
The most important question concerning any man living is this, is he a saved soul or no? It is of comparatively little consequence whether he be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, compared with this. Is he among the living before God or is he dead in sins? Is he pardoned or unpardoned? Is he a child of God or an heir of wrath? Is he walking in the darkness or has he passed into the light? Hence of all the days of a man’s history the most important is the day in which he is born again.
If the man be indeed saved, and a new man in Christ Jesus, he will look back upon the day of his regeneration as his chief birthday. His new birth is second in order of time, but he will always put it first in importance. His birth gave him his being, but his new birth secured his well being. Being born first we might have descended into hell; but, being born a second time we are secured for heaven.
Source : http://www.thedailyspurgeon.com
In certain instances I feel it is warranted that attention be given to events which could have a “worse than usual” negative impact on the Christian. The recent book by Rob Bell is one of those instances. Another recent posting on this blog, in which John MacArthur addresses this issue, ties in with this short but thought-provokingly powerful piece by Ray Comfort.
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.”
For the Love of His Truth 