Tag Archives: theology

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Joyce Meyer – Our Greatest Privilege

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Prayer is so simple that even the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. —Andrew Murray

I believe prayer is the greatest privilege of our lives. It’s not something we have to do; it’s something we get to do. It’s an important and intimate aspect of our love relationship with God because it’s the way we communicate with Him.

Prayer is also the way we partner with God to see His plans and purposes come to pass in our lives and in the lives of those we love. It’s the means by which we human beings on earth can actually enter into God’s awesome presence. It allows us to share our hearts with Him, listen for His voice, and know how to discover and enjoy all the great things He has for us.

Communicating with God is indeed the greatest privilege I can imagine, but this high and holy work is also the simplest privilege I know.

I do not think prayer was ever meant to be complicated and that, from the very beginning, God intended it to be an easy, natural way of life by which we stay connected with Him all day, every day.

Madame Jeanne Guyon wrote in Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ that “…God demands nothing extraordinary. On the contrary, He is very pleased by a simple childlike conduct. I would even put it this way: The highest spiritual attainments are really the ones that are the most easily reached. The things that are most important are the things that are the least difficult!”

When you pray today, realize what a privilege it is and use the opportunity to tell God how much you love Him.

Love God Today: Make a priority of exercising the greatest privilege of your life: prayer.

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Gave His Son

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“Since He did not spare even His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also surely give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32).

George was very faithful in his Christian walk. In fact, he had a little black book in which he recorded all of his activities for each day. These included daily devotions, note-taking, verses to be memorized, appointments to be kept and every activity of his life. Outwardly he seemed so perfect that I, as a young Christian, wanted to be like him. Then one day he had a nervous breakdown. As he told me later, the last thing he did before he went to the hospital was to throw away his little black book and tell his wife he never wanted to see it again. Without realizing it, he had become very legalistic in his relationship with God rather than accepting, by faith, what God had already done for him. while in the hospital he began to recall some of the thousands of verses which he had memorized through the years. It was then that he relaxed enough to allow the Holy Spirit to illumine his mind to comprehend the importance of living by faith.

As Paul writes to the Galatians in the third chapter: “What magician has hypnotized you and cast an evil spell upon you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had waved a placard before you with a picture on it of Christ dying on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the Jewish laws? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you heard about Christ and trusted Him to save you. Then, have you gone completely crazy? For if trying to obey the Jewish laws never gave you spiritual life in the first place, why do you think that trying to obey them now will make you stronger Christians?”

I ask you again: Does God give you the power of the Holy Spirit as a result of your trying to obey His laws? No, of course not. He gives that power when you believe in Christ and fully trust Him. The greatest heresy of the Christian life is legalism; and yet, it inevitably seems to attract dedicated, committed Christians. They are happy to accept salvation as a gift of God by faith. But like the Galatians, they insist on earning their way thereafter.

We must never forget that salvation is a gift of God which we receive by faith. Nothing can be earned. If we believe God, we will want to work to please Him, not to earn His favor.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:33-39

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will invite the Holy Spirit to protect me from becoming legalistic in my walk with Christ. Having received salvation by faith, I shall claim each day’s blessings by faith as I live the supernatural life.

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Charles Stanley – The Discipline of Love

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Hebrews 12:5-11

Loving mother and fathers will discipline their children, yet even when

motives and methods are appropriate, no one enjoys undergoing correction. With a long-term perspective, however, we remember that the benefits of discipline far outweigh its momentary discomforts.

A parent’s ultimate goal for corrective measures should be to train children in righteousness. Specifically, there’s a key principle I believe each child should learn before setting off on his own: Whether at home or away from home, every person is accountable to God for his own life, actions, and attitudes. With this in mind, you can see that applying discipline properly takes perseverance, effort, and wisdom on the part of the parent. But it’s an act of selfless, purposeful love.

God, too, disciplines His children. And the fact that we experience His correction proves His love for us. Though this redirection seems unpleasant at the time, it spares us much difficulty later on and leads us toward joy and a fulfilling life.

Our response will determine whether we learn the necessary lesson: we can react with anger about the difficulty, we can repent of our unholy ways and ask to learn whatever God wants to teach us. In seeking Him through His Word, prayer, and counsel, we should then obey.

Human wisdom may seem right at the time, but it leads to destruction. Thankfully, we’re dearly cared for by our heavenly Father, who redeemed us with Jesus’ blood so He could call us His children. When we’re headed in the wrong direction, He lovingly redirects us so we can know the fullness of living His way.

 

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Charles Stanley – Trust and Obey

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When I was a teenager Proverbs 3:5-6 became my spiritual compass. Whenever I faced a difficult decision, I always turned to it for assurance. God etched its simple but profound truth in my mind and heart. It continues to be a signpost along life’s road, ever pointing me to the bottom line for all decisions: trust and obey God. It is an eternal combination that always makes one a winner.

Why? Because God is trustworthy. He is dependable. He is sovereignly working everything together for his glory and our good.

His wisdom is given to those who look to him, lean on him, rely on him. The more we depend on our Father for instruction, strength, hope, and guidance, the more abundantly he confers on us his divine wisdom.

We cannot receive wisdom from God apart from a relationship with him. God is no interested in teaching his ways to those who have no desire to please him or follow him. He does yearn, however, to teach men and women who are bold enough to believe his promises and carry out his commands.

Trusting in the Lord means that we place our present and future circumstances in his hands, confident in his ability to orchestrate people and events to achieve his will. This whole-hearted trust brings a secure peace of mind and contentment. Putting our full emotional and volitional weight on the faithfulness of God activates his promises.

There is one catch, however. We must first admit our inadequacy: “Lean not on your own understanding.” That was Solomon’s attitude when he confessed, “But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties” (I Kings 3:7).

This is where many Christians falter. We can do many things quite well without an apparent need for God’s wisdom. We can repair items, invent machines, program computers, hike trails, and perform multitudes of other activities with very little sense of God’s participation.

Yet we have been created by God to work in a world he fashioned with his own hands. Our lives, our very breath, is in his hands; our minds and bodies are his gifts. His wisdom is displayed in everything, even when we fail to recognize him.

God has given you talents and skills. However, they are maximized for eternity when you trust him to direct and use them for his plans. The question is, Will you lean on your own understanding or depend on God?

The wise choice is obvious when we understand that God knows the end from the beginning and sustains all things in between. Trusting him is the wisest decision we can make. Depending on our frail discernment limits us to a narrow, finite control. Relying on God’s wisdom adds a supernatural dimension that cannot be matched by anything on earth.

Excerpted from “A Touch of His Wisdom,” by Charles F. Stanley, 1992

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Alistair Begg – The Danger of Unbelief

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I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  John 10:28

The Christian should never think or speak lightly of unbelief. For when a child of God mistrusts His love, His truth, His faithfulness, it is greatly displeasing to Him. How can we ever grieve Him by doubting His upholding grace?

Christian, it is contrary to every promise of God’s precious Word that you would ever be forgotten or left to perish. If it could be so, how could He be true who has said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”1 What would be the value of the promise–“‘The mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you”?2 What truth would there be in Christ’s words–“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand”?3 What value would there be in the doctrines of grace? They would be all disproved if one child of God should perish. What value could be placed in the veracity of God, His honor, His power, His grace, His covenant, His oath, if any of those for whom Christ died, and who have put their trust in Him, should nevertheless be cast away?

Banish then those unbelieving fears, which so dishonor God. Arise, shake yourself from the dust, and put on your beautiful clothes. Remember, it is sinful to doubt His Word in which He has promised you that you will never perish. Let the eternal life within you express itself in confident rejoicing.

The gospel bears my spirit up:

A faithful and unchanging God

Lays the foundation for my hope,

In oaths, and promises, and blood.

1 – Isaiah 49:15

2 – Isaiah 54:10

3 – John 10:28-29

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Charles Spurgeon – Unimpeachable justice

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“Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Psalm 51:4

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Samuel 15:1-31

We have heard of men who have confessed their guilt, and afterwards tried to extenuate their crime, and show some reasons why they were not so guilty as apparently they would seem to be; but when the Christian confesses his guilt, you never hear a word of extenuation or apology from him. He says, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:” and in saying this, he makes God just when he condemns him, and clear when he sentences him for ever. Have you ever made such a confession? Have you ever thus bowed yourselves before God? Or have you tried to palliate your guilt, and call your sins by little names, and speak of your crimes as if they were but light offences? If you have, then you have not felt the sentence of death in yourselves, and you are still waiting till the solemn death-knell shall toll the hour of your doom, and you shall be dragged out, amidst the universal hiss of the execration of the world, to be condemned for ever to flames which shall never know abatement. Again: after the Christian confesses his sin, he offers no promise that he will of himself behave better. Some, when they make confessions to God, say, “Lord, if thou forgive me I will not sin again;” but God’s penitents never say that. When they come before him they say, “Lord, once I promised, once I made resolves, but I dare not make them now, for they would be so soon broken, that they would increase my guilt; and my promises would be so soon violated, that they would sink my soul deeper in hell. I can only say, if thou wilt create in me a clean heart, I will be thankful for it, and will sing to thy praise for ever; but I cannot promise that I will live without sin, or work out a righteousness of my own. I dare not promise, my Father, that I shall never go astray again.”

For meditation: Does your confession of sin to God include the excuses of a King Saul or the acquiescence of a King David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14)?

Sermon no. 86

16 June (Preached 15 June 1856)

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John MacArthur – Taking Spiritual Inventory

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“This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father . . . to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).

Keeping yourself unstained by the world is an important test of your spiritual condition. The apostle John said, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). At first glance that might sound contradictory since God Himself so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for it (John 3:16). But John 3:16 refers to the inhabited earth–the people for whom Christ died. First John 2:15 refers to the evil world system in which we live, which includes the life-styles, philosophies, morality, and ethics of our sinful culture. That world and everything it produces is passing away (1 John 2:16-17).

James 4:4 says, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Those are strong words but compromise is intolerable to God. You can’t be His friend and a friend of the world at the same time!

Separation from the world is the final element of true religion mentioned in James chapter one. Before progressing to chapter two, take a final spiritual inventory based on the checklist provided in verses 26-27: (1) Do you control your tongue? Review the quality of your conversation often. What does it reveal about the condition of your heart? Are there speech habits you need to change? (2) Do you demonstrate love for others? Do you have a sincere desire to help those in need? When you do help, are your motives pure, or are you simply trying to sooth your conscience or make others think more highly of you? (3) Do you remain unstained by the world? What is your attitude toward the world? Do you want to win it for Christ and remain unstained by its evil influences, or do you want to get as much out of it as you possibly can?

Suggestions for Prayer:

If your spiritual inventory reveals any sinful motives or practices, confess them and begin to change today.

For Further Study:

Reread James 1:19-27, reviewing the principles you’ve learned from those verses.

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Forgets Our Sins

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“And then he adds, ‘I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds'” (Hebrews 10:17).

We were seated at the breakfast table, talking about the exciting adventure of the Christian life. Chuck and Mary were just discovering new facets and understanding of the life in Christ.

“Can you tell us in a few words what should be our objective as Christians?” they asked me.

In very brief summary, I replied, “The Christian life is the process of becoming in our experience through the enabling of the Holy Spirit what we already are in God’s sight, in order to bring maximum glory, honor and praise to His name.”

Christ gave Himself to God for our sins – as one sacrifice for one time. Then He sat down at the place of highest honor at God’s right hand. For by that one offering He made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom He is making holy.

I am perfect in God’s sight, because in His sight there is no such thing as time and space. Let me hasten to all: I know that I am not perfect in my experience. That is a process which takes time, knowledge of God and His Word, and growth in faith in order to claim these truths as reality in our lives.

I am perfect in God’s sight because He sees me in Christ, and in Christ, who is perfect and without sin. He sees me without spot or blemish. Someone has referred to this great experience of being crucified, baptized and enthroned with Christ as a different life altogether. As we are reminded in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV), “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Bible Reading: Hebrews 8:8-12

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Because God has forgiven and forgotten all my sins and lawless deeds. I will now, through the enabling of His Holy Spirit, receive His forgiveness and cleansing and never again be burdened with those sins of the past. I will claim my new supernatural life in Christ for the glory of God. Because this is such great good news, I will not keep it to myself. I must tell others.

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Charles Stanley – A God You Can Count On

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Ephesians 2:4-10

On the basis of God’s character, what assurances can we depend upon every single day?

1. God will extend His loving kindness to us. Sending His Son to die in our place proves the Father’s love for us, and His unchanging nature confirms that He will love us forever (Ps. 100:5; (1 John 4:10).

2. The Lord will help us do what He requires of us. He provides not only the spiritual wisdom to carry out our tasks but also the inner strength to complete them. We will receive from Him everything that we need. (Heb. 13:21).

3. God will limit the temptations and pressures He allows in our life. Like a master craftsman, He knows what force can be applied to shape us into Jesus’ image without breaking us (2 Cor. 4:8).

4. God will strengthen and protect us so we do not have to compromise or yield. Though we are weak, He understands how strong we can be when His divine power is working in us. And the Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual strength to say no to temptation (1 Cor. 10:13).

5. Our Father will forgive our sins. He stands ready to receive our confession, forgive us, and bring us back into fellowship with Him—every time (1 John 1:9).

In addition to these blessings for our days on earth, we also have assurances about the future. We can trust that life does not end when our earthly body dies (2 Cor. 5:8), that we will live in heaven forever, and that Jesus Christ will return someday to set all things right.

Life certainly has trials (John 16:33). But when challenges press in, think about all the reasons we can depend upon God.

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Our Daily Bread — Imaginary Friend?

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Romans 1:18-25

Abraham believed God . . . and he was called the friend of God. —James 2:23

Not long ago, I heard about this billboard along the highway: “God is an imaginary friend—choose reality. It will be better for all of us.”

Obviously, the bold statement compares Christians to children whose vivid imaginations invent a make-believe companion. But is that what God is—an imaginary friend?

Actually, the evidence favors His reality. Ponder these ideas: The creation of the world shows there is a Designer behind the universe (Rom. 1:18-20). The conscience indicates a Lawgiver behind each human’s sense of right and wrong (Rom. 2:14-15). The creativity we express in music and art reflect the same attribute that the Creator possesses (Ex. 35:31-32). Christ reveals what God is like in human form (Heb. 1:1-4). And the communion or fellowship of the Spirit in the Christian heart manifests the reality of God (Gal. 5:22-23).

The Bible tells us there will be those who deny the reality of God (2 Peter 3:4-6). But James reminds us of His reality and how an Old Testament believer befriended Him: “‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23). Have you met the redeeming God? He gave His Son to become your real, eternal Friend (John 15:15). —Dennis Fisher

I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend!

He loved me ere I knew Him;

He drew me with the cords of love,

And thus He bound me to Him. —Small

The dearest friend on earth is but a mere shadow compared to Jesus. —Chambers

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Alistair Begg – Delight Yourself in the Lord

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Delight yourself in the Lord.  Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the reminder of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is described as a delight in God, and we are reminded of the great fact that genuine faith overflows with happiness and joy.

Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either because of what they might get or because they are afraid of the consequences of neglect. The thought of delight in religious exercise is so strange to most men that no two words in their language stand further apart than holiness and delight.

But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so wonderfully united that the gates of hell cannot manage to separate them. Those who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. The saints discover in Christ such joy, such overflowing delight, such blessedness that far from serving Him from custom, they would follow Him even though the whole world rejected Him. We do not fear God because of any compulsion; our faith is no shackle, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true faith are as interwoven as root and flower, as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious stones glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

‘Tis when we taste Thy love,

Our joys divinely grow,

Unspeakable like those above,

And heaven begins below.

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Charles Spurgeon – Israel in Egypt

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“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Revelation 15:3

Suggested Further Reading: Exodus 15:1-18

One part of the song of Moses consisted in praising the ease with which God destroyed his enemies. “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters.” If we had gone to work to destroy the hosts of Pharaoh, what a multitude of engines of death should we have required. If the work had been committed to us, to cut off the hosts, what marvellous preparations, what thunder, what noise, what great activity there would have been. But mark the grandeur of the expression. God did not even lift himself from his throne to do it: he saw Pharaoh coming; he seemed to look upon him with a placid smile; he did just blow with his lips, and the sea covered them. You and I will marvel at the last how easy it has been to overthrow the enemies of the Lord. We have been tugging and toiling all our lifetime to be the means of overthrowing systems of error: it will astonish the church when her Master shall come to see how, as the ice dissolveth before the fire, all error and sin shall be utterly destroyed in the coming of the most High. We must have our societies and our machinery, our preachers and our gatherings, and rightly too; but God will not require them at the last. The destruction of his enemies shall be as easy to him as the making of a world. In passive silence unmoved he sat; and he did but break the silence with “Let there be light” and light was. So shall he at the last, when his enemies are raging furiously, blow with his winds, and they shall be scattered.

For meditation: Creation took God a matter of a few days; the destruction of a great power will take him only a fraction of the time (Revelation 18:8,10,17,19).

Sermon no. 136

14 June (1857)

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John MacArthur – Defining True Religion

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“This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27).

In this verse James continues his practical and penetrating assessment of true faith. So far he has said in effect, “Don’t just study the Bible–obey it! Don’t just dabble in external religion–have pure speech!” Now he adds, “Don’t just say you’re religious–demonstrate sacrificial love! Don’t just claim to love God–live a pure life!” Shallow claims to Christianity meant nothing to him. He wanted to see godly attitudes and righteous deeds.

The apostle John used the same approach when he wrote, “The one who says he abides in [Christ] ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. . . . The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:6, 10-11). “Light” in that passage represents truth and righteousness; “darkness” speaks of error and sin. If you are truly saved, you are in the light and show it by your love for others.

In our society, the definition of religion is very broad. Almost any belief system qualifies. But to God, any religion that doesn’t produce holiness and sacrificial love is not true religion. That narrows the field considerably because anyone who isn’t saved through faith in Jesus Christ remains in bondage to sin and has no capacity to live a holy and selfless life.

How about you? Do you flee from sin and reach out to those in need? If so, you have true religion. If not, receive Christ now. He alone is the source of holiness and love.

Suggestions for Prayer:

If you are a believer, God’s love is already shed abroad in your heart through the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Ask God to increase your capacity to love others as Christ loves you.

For Further Study:

Read 1 John 3:10-18, noting John’s comparison of the children of God with the children of the devil.

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Simple, Wonderful Message

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“He brought them out and begged them, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your entire household” (Acts 16:30- 31).

The story is told of a man who was very fond of the famous general, Robert E. Lee. He was eager for his four-year-old son to admire and respect this great, southern, Civil War general as much as he did. So every day, as they strolled through the park near their home, they would stop in front of the statue of General Lee astride his beautiful horse, Traveler, and the father would say to his little David, “Say good morning to General Lee,” The little lad would dutifully wave his hand in obedience to his father’s instructions and say, “Good morning, General Lee.” Months passed and one day, as they again stood in front of the statue of General Lee, the father said, “Say good morning to General Lee,” which the boy did. But as they walked on through the park together, David asked, “Daddy, who is that man riding General Lee?”

One of the biggest problems we have in life is communication. To David’s young mind the horse was more important that the rider. We all have a tendency to filter information through our own experiences. What I say is not necessarily what you hear, and what you say may not be what I hear. This is true even in communicating the gospel.

The most joyful news ever announced is found in Luke 2:10,11:” ‘Don’t be afraid!’ the angel said. ‘I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem!'” Yet that simple message has been diluted and profaned through the centuries.

One evening, I presented this message to a very mature, intelligent layman.

“Does it make sense?” I inquired.

It was as though a light suddenly went on and, for the first time, he understood what the gospel was all about. “Of course it does,” he answered.

“Would you like to receive Christ right now?”

“Of course I would. If what you say is true, I should think everyone would want to know Christ.”

If Spirit-filled, trained communicators properly presented the gospel, the majority of people would want to receive Christ.

Bible Reading: John 1:9-14

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will seek to present the good news of God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ in such a logical, joyful, Spirit-filled way that those who hear will want to know my wonderful Savior. And I will trust God to use me to train other Christians as well to be better communicators of the greatest news the world has ever heard.

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Greg Laurie – Look Up!

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“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” —Luke 21:28

Over the years people have come up with some crazy theories of who they think the Antichrist is. But according to Scripture, the Antichrist cannot emerge until Christians are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

The Bible says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:7–8).

Who is restraining evil today? It is the Holy Spirit, working through the church, working through Christians who stand up for what is right, who speak out against evil, who function as light and salt in our culture. Jesus said that as believers, we are the light of the world, and we are the salt of the earth (see Matthew 5:13–14).

Light, obviously, illuminates. And salt was used in the first century to preserve meat, preventing spoilage in the absence of refrigeration. We are here to tell the world about Jesus and shine our light. We are here to stop the spread of evil.

Regarding the signs of the end of the age, Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

Notice that Jesus said, “When these things begin to happen, look up. . . .” He didn’t say, “When these things are happening, . . .” We should not be looking for the Antichrist; we should be looking for Jesus Christ. That is the emphasis of Scripture.

So look up. Your redemption is drawing near.

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Charles Stanley – Why We Can Trust God

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Hebrews 10:19-23

In our troubled world, injustice, crime, and dishonesty fill the news. The one constant seems to be change.

By contrast, we have a God whose actions are perfect, whose character is flawless, and who is faithful to keep every promise He’s made. He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). We can have complete confidence in Him because He is . . .

• Omniscient. Our Father knows what is happening with every person at every moment (Luke 12:2-3). His knowledge is complete—no circumstance is hidden from Him; there is no motive or thought process that He does not discern.

• Omnipotent. God has total power over all things; nothing is outside His control. He uses His might to bring about His perfect will. No authority in heaven or on earth can thwart His purposes (Job 42:2; Matt. 19:26).

• Omnipresent. No person or place is outside of God’s presence (Ps. 139:7-12). All space and time is within His sight, and He never overlooks anything or anyone.

• Truthful. God cannot lie—He always speaks truth. We can fully trust His Word and His responses to our prayers.

• Loving. We can also have confidence in the Lord’s intentions, because His character is pure love (Rom. 8:28; 1 John 4:8).

God’s nature is not affected by time, place, people, or circumstances. He never makes a mistake in what He says or does, because His knowledge is perfect, His sovereignty is complete, and all is within His sight. Every promise is guaranteed in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). For all our days, He’s the One we can count on. Hallelujah!

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Alistair Begg – Who’s Going Thirsty?

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Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Revelation 22:17

The invitation is to “take . . . without price.” Jesus wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, but if you are willing, you are invited; therefore come! If you have no belief and no repentance, come to Him, and He will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take without money and without price. He gives Himself to the needy.

In nineteenth-century Britain the drinking fountains at the corners of the streets were valuable institutions; it would have been a strange and foolish sight to see someone standing at the fountain declaring, “I cannot drink because I do not have any money.” However poor an individual may be, there is the fountain, and just as he is, he may drink of it without cost. Thirsty passengers, as they go by, whether they are dressed poorly or expensively, do not look for any authorization to drink; the existence of the fountain is sufficient warrant for taking its water freely. The generosity of some good friends has put in place the refreshing supply, and we take it and ask no questions.

Perhaps the only people who go thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain are the fine ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages. They are very thirsty but cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them, they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with parched lips.

How many there are who are rich in their own good works and cannot therefore come to Christ! “I will not be saved,” they say, “in the same way as the prostitute or the blasphemer.” What! Go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep? Is there no pathway to glory but the path that led the dying thief there? I will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without the living water; but “Let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

 

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Charles Spurgeon – The wicked man’s life, funeral, and epitaph

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“And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this also is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 8:10

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 16:19-23

Go into Bunhill Fields, and stand by the memorial of John Bunyan, and you will say, “Ah! There lies the head that contained the brain which thought out that wondrous dream of the Pilgrim’s Progress from the City of Destruction to the Better Land. There lies the finger that wrote those wondrous lines which depict the story of him who came at last to the land Beulah, and waded through the flood, and entered into the celestial city. And there are the eyelids which he once spoke of, when he said, “If I lie in prison until the moss grows on my eyelids, I will never make a promise to withhold from preaching.” And there is that bold eye that penetrated the judge, when he said, “If you will let me out of prison today, I will preach again tomorrow, by the help of God.” And there lies that loving hand that was ever ready to receive into communion all them that loved the Lord Jesus Christ: I love the hand that wrote the book, “Water Baptism no bar to Christian Communion.” I love him for that sake alone, and if he had written nothing else but that, I would say, “John Bunyan, be honoured for ever.” And there lies the foot that carried him up Snow Hill to go and make peace between a father and a son, in that cold day, which cost him his life. Peace to his ashes! Wait, O John Bunyan, till thy Master sends his angel to blow the trumpet; and methinks, when the archangel sounds it, he will almost think of thee, and this shall be a part of his joy, that honest John Bunyan, the greatest of all Englishmen, shall rise from his tomb at the blowing of that great trump. You cannot say so of the wicked.

For meditation: In Heaven the saved are still known by name—Abraham, Lazarus; in hell the lost are at best known only by a description—Dives is just the Latin for “a rich man”. See the contrast in Proverbs 10:7. Are the names and burial-places of John Bunyan’s enemies well known even on earth?

Sermon no. 200

13 June (1858)

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John MacArthur – Speaking from a Pure Heart

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“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

In verse 22 James talked about the delusion of hearing the Word without obeying it. Here he talks about the deception of external religious activity without internal purity of heart.

That’s a common deception. Many people confuse love of religious activity with love for God. They may go through the mechanics of reading the Bible, attending church, praying, giving money, or singing songs, but in reality their hearts are far from God. That kind of deception can be very subtle. That’s why James disregards mere claims to Christianity and confronts our motives and obedience to the Word. Those are the acid tests!

James was selective in the word he used for “religious.” Rather than using the common Greek word that speaks of internal godliness, he chose a word that refers to external religious trappings, ceremonies, and rituals– things that are useless for true spirituality.

He focuses on the tongue as a test of true religion because the tongue is a window to the heart. As Jesus said, “The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Matt. 12:34). Corrupt speech betrays an unregenerate heart; righteous speech demonstrates a transformed heart. It doesn’t matter how evangelical or biblical your theology is, if you can’t control your tongue, your religion is useless!

You can learn much about a person’s character if you listen long enough to what he says. In the same way, others learn much about you as they listen to what you say. Do your words reveal a pure heart? Remember Paul’s admonition to “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29). Make that your goal each day so you can know the blessing and grace of disciplined speech!

Suggestions for Prayer:

Ask the Lord to guard your tongue from speaking anything that might dishonor Him. Be aware of everything you say.

For Further Study:

Read James 3:1-12.

What warning does James give?

What analogies does he use for the tongue?

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Joyce Meyer – Well-Aimed Stones

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And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us. —John 1:14

Jesus is the Word made flesh who came to dwell among men. Scripture also refers to Jesus as “the Rock,” or a stone, as in Luke 20:17, where He is called the chief Cornerstone. If Jesus is the Word made flesh, and if He is the Rock, then each portion of the Word is like a stone.

Instructions were given to the Israelites concerning how to handle their enemy in Deuteronomy 13:10, “And you shall stone him to death with stones, because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God.” Remember that David defeated Goliath with a well-aimed stone.

You too can “stone” your enemy, Satan, in accordance with Deuteronomy 30:14, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your mind and in your heart.” Learn the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to speak it effectively.