John MacArtur – Grace to You
Although women have traditionally fulfilled supportive roles in serving the church and gained their greatest joy and sense of accomplishment from being wives and mothers, the feminist movement has successfully influenced many women to abandon these divinely ordained roles.
This article has been removed by Admin.
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.
Continue reading
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.
This article originally appeared here at Grace to You.
Meet Larry, a thirty-six year old Science teacher. Larry married Cathy 12 years ago. They love each other and enjoy raising their two sons. Larry’s life wouldn’t hold out much interest to the average citizen. His Facebook account doesn’t draw many friends and nobody ever leaves a comment on his blog. In fact, most people would summarize Larry’s life with one word—boring. But not Larry. Teaching osmosis to junior high students, playing Uno with his kids, and working in the yard with Cathy is paradise to him. But the real love of his life is Jesus. Larry’s a Christian. He’s been walking with the Lord for more than 20 years.
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.
John Gill (23 November 1697 – 14 October 1771) was an English Baptist pastor, biblical scholar, and theologian who wrote the following that expresses what every true Christian believes:
“Thou art the same,
and Thy years will not come to an end.”
– Psalm 102:27
God never changes, so He can be trusted to do what He says.
God alone is unchanging (or as the theologians say, immutable). The psalmist says, “Even [the heavens and earth] will perish, but Thou dost endure. . . . Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end” (Ps. 102:26-27). Though Israel deserved destruction for its sin, God was faithful to His covenant with Abraham, saying, “I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). James calls God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (1:17).
What about those verses that say God changed His mind (e.g., Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:10)? Let’s look at an example. Jonah warned the wicked city of Nineveh of impending judgment. The city immediately repented, and “when God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it” (3:10). Who changed? The people of Nineveh! God’s nature to punish evil and reward good remained the same, but the object changed.
John MacArthur
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. –Ps. 86:5
I know a young man (we’ll call him Jim) who believes he was mistreated by afellow Christian several yearsago. There was a dispute about who was wrong in the incident. Jim brought the matter to the elders of his church for resolution. The elders attempted to investigate the matter but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to determine who was at fault. It was one person’s word against the other’s, with no other witnesses. The elders finally advised both Jim and the other party to forgive one another and put the dispute behind them.
Selected Scriptures
To acknowledge that the church often needs to fight for truth is not to suggest that the gospel–our one message to a lost world–is somehow a declaration of war. It most certainly is not; it is a manifesto of peace and a plea for reconciliation with God (2 Corinthains 5:18-20). Conversely, those who are not reconciled to God are at war with Him all the time, and the gospel is a message about the only way to end that war. So ironically, the war to uphold the truth is the only hope of peace for the enemies of God.
John MacArthur
We are going to begin this morning a study of a brand new book in the New Testament, the book of Philemon. And I want you to turn to it, it’s just very brief, one chapter, 25 verses, a lesson on forgiveness. The little book of Philemon, for those of you who are wandering around in the index of your Bible, is tucked between Titus and Hebrews.
Of all of the human qualities that make men in any sense like God, none is more divine than forgiveness. God is a God of forgiveness. In fact, in Exodus chapter 34 God identifies Himself in that way. Verse 6 says, “Then the Lord passed by in front of Him and proclaimed,” this is the Lord speaking of Himself, “The Lord, the Lord God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” He says I am the God of forgiveness. That is who I am.
Solomon said, “It is a man’s glory to overlook a transgression,” Proverbs 19:11. Man is never more like God than when he forgives
Psalm 65:13
The meadows are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy and sing together.
65:1 Praise is due to you, [1] O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
Mark 10:35-45
The most profound reality for every believer is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, our teacher, and our friend. But the Bible teaches that at the most basic level Jesus is our Lord, our Master, which means we are His slaves.
Peruse most Bible translations and it’s easy to miss that crucial reality. That’s because many find the notion of slavery to be a cruel and embarrassing concept. John MacArthur’s new book, Slave, uncovers the conspiracy, bringing the doctrine of our slavery to Christ to its proper place in our thinking.
Embrace for yourself what the Bible really teaches about slavery—your relationship with Jesus Christ will never be the same.
http://www.gty.org/Shop/Books/451170_Slave-The-Hidden-Truth-About-Your-Identity-in-Christ-Hardcover
For the Love of His Truth 