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God is to have the scraps of a man's life - Charles Spurgeon

6/8/2015

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David said, "O Lord, truly I am Your servant." Psalm 116:16

If you become the servant of God--then become the servant of God truly. God is not mocked. 

It is the curse of our churches, that we have so many merely nominal Christians in them. It isthe plague of this age, that so many profess Christ--and yet never intend to live for Him. Oh, if you serve God, mean it! 

If a man serves the devil--then let him serve the devil! 
But if he serves God--then let him serve God! 

Is there not much of this hypocrisy abroad? God is to have the scraps of a man's life--and he flings these down as if they were all that God was worth. But as for the world, that is to have the vigor of his life and the cream of his being. 

God does not want nominal servants! "O Lord, truly I am Your servant!" He who does not mean to be truly God's servant, let him not pretend to be one at all.

Every man in the presence of the cross-bearing Jesus, should feel that to take up his cross and follow Christ is the most natural thing that can be; and he should resolve in God's strength that he will do it, and continue to obey the Lord, though all the world should ridicule. He must put on the badge of Christ, and say, "I am His servant and His follower from this day to life's end, and will shoulder the cross! I am free from all the maxims and customs of the world!"

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15
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Be content with what you have - Arthur Pink

6/8/2015

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"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you!" Hebrews 13:5

God takes note of the discontent of our hearts--as well as the murmuring of our lips.

Not only is discontent a grievous sin against God, but it unfits the Christian for the discharge of holy duties, preventing the exercise of those graces which are necessary in order thereunto. 
It silences the lips of supplication, for how can a murmurer pray? 
It destroys the spirit of submission, for complaining is a fretting against the Lord. 
It quenches faith, hope and love. 
Discontent is the very essence of ingratitude, and therefore it stifles the voice of thanksgiving. 
There cannot be any rest of soul, until we quietly resign our persons and portions to God's good pleasure. 
Discontent corrodes the strings of the heart, and therefore it arrests all growth in grace.

Discontent is usually over temporal matters, and this is a sad intimation that material things are sought after more eagerly than are spiritual things. It argues a lack of confidence in the care of our heavenly Father to provide for us the things which are needed.

"How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against Me!" Numbers 14:27

 "Do all things without grumbling and complaining!" Philippians 2:14

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5 


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Grace levels all distinctions - Arthur Pink

6/8/2015

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"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10 

The very expression the grace of God implies and denotes that the sinner's condition is desperate to the last degree, and that God may justly leave him to perish; yes, it is a wonder of wonders that he is not already in Hell! 

God is sovereign in the exercise of His grace. This of necessity, for grace is favor shown to the undeserving, yes, to the Hell-deserving. 

Grace is the antithesis of justice. 
Justice demands the impartial enforcement of law. 
Justice requires that each shall receive his legitimate due, neither more nor less. 
Justice bestows no favors and is no respecter of persons. 
Justice, as such, shows no pity and knows no mercy. 
But after justice has been fully satisfied, sovereign grace flows forth. 

Grace has been defined as the unmerited favor of God. 
If unmerited, then none can claim it as their inalienable right. 
If grace is unearned and undeserved, then none are entitled to it. 
If grace is a gift, then none can demand it. 
Therefore, as salvation is by grace, the free gift of God--then He bestows it on whom He pleases. 
Because salvation is by grace, the very chief of sinners is not beyond the reach of Divine mercy. 
Because salvation is by grace, boasting is excluded, and God gets all the glory. 

Grace is a divine provision for those who are . . .
  so depraved, that they cannot change their own nature; 
  so averse from God, that they will not turn to Him; 
  so blind, that they can neither see their malady nor the remedy; 
  so dead spiritually, that God must grant spiritual life. 

Grace is the sinner's last and only hope; if he is not saved by grace, he will never be saved at all. 

Grace levels all distinctions
, and regards . . .
  the most zealous religionist--on the same plane as the most heinous criminal; 
  the chaste virgin--on the same plane as the foul prostitute. 
Therefore God is perfectly free to save the chief of sinners, and bestow His mercy on the vilest of the vile!
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Who am I that God should be mindful of me? - Frank Hall

6/8/2015

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"What is man that You are mindful of him?" Psalm 8:4

What is man that God should even look in his direction? Who am I that the infinite, glorious, triune God should glance my way--much less be mindful of me?

Beloved in Christ, understand that your God is without a doubt ever-mindful of you. He has . . .
  numbered every hair on your precious head,
  appointed the bounds of your habitation, and
  determined the very second of your death. 

He . . .
  bottles your every tear,
  knows your every sorrow, 
  records your every work, and 
  remembers every cup of cold water given in His name. He is deeply concerned for your immortal soul, has purposed to do you good, and has staked His glory on your everlasting salvation. Your God is more mindful of you, your soul, your life, and your welfare than you will ever understand in this life. 

In the light of such staggering knowledge--who God is, and what you are--do you not ask yourself in utter astonishment, "Who am I that God should be so mindful of me?" 

As mere creatures such a thought is beyond profound--but as guilty sinners the thought surpasses the unthinkable! 

"Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated!" Romans 9:13 

God loved Jacob, and hated Esau. Who am I that I should be identified with the former, and not the latter? Christ died for His elect and put away their sins forever by the sacrifice of Himself--and the rest of humanity He leaves to themselves. 

Who am I that my name should be written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world? The Sovereign dispenser of all grace and all blessedness--has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens. Who am I that I should be a vessel of honorprepared for glory--and not a vessel of wrath fitted for destruction? 

Who are we, brothers and sisters, that we should . . .
  partake of the boundless provision of grace in Christ,
  be redeemed, justified, and forgiven,
  should live forever with Him in glory? 

Who are we that the incomprehensibly glorious God would be so mindful of us, that He not only took on our nature, but . . .
 lived a perfect life for us, that we could never live, 
 died a sin-atoning death for us, that we could never die, and 
 satisfied a Law for us, that we could never satisfy? 

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10 

The only difference between a saved sinner and a lost sinner--is the difference that God makes by His distinguishing grace! It is not our decisions, lives, prayers, or works that make the difference, but God and God alone.

Though all who read these lines deserve to be in Hell for their sin--God has been pleased to save some freely by His grace. Though all are equally sinful, equally guilty, and equally deserving of everlasting torment--God has been pleased to save some for no other reason than His own glory.


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Glorify God in the Fire - George Whitefield

6/8/2015

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"Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit!" John 15:2

"I have refined you in the furnace of suffering!" Isaiah 48:10Fire not only burns and purges, but it separates one thing from another.

God Almighty knows that we are often purged more in one hour by a good sound trial--than by a thousand manifestations of His love. It is a fine thing to come purified, to come pardoned out of the furnace of affliction. The furnace is intended to purge us to separate the precious from the vile, the chaff from the wheat. And God, in order to do this, is pleased to put us into onefire after another.

There are some roads which are finely paved and smooth--but the King's road to Heaven is strewed with crosses and afflictions!

My brethren, we need to be purged! How apt are we to want to go to Heaven upon a featherbed. But many go lying upon beds of pain and languishing, which is the King's highwaythere.

God will not put us into the fire--if there was not something to be purged away. The grand thing, is to learn to glorify God in the fire.

We glorify God in the fire, when we quietly endure it as a chastisement, and when we bear it patiently. It is a dreadful thing when we are saying with Cain, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!" But the language of a soul that glorifies God in the fire is this, "Shall I, Lord, shall I a sinful man, complain for the punishment of my sins?"

We glorify God in the fire, when, though we feel pain and anguish, we at the same time say, "Lord, we deserve this and ten thousands times more!" 

We glorify God in the fire also, when we are really and fully persuaded that God will put us in the furnace only for our good, and His own glory. 

We glorify God in the fire when we say, "Lord don't let the fire go out until it has purged awayall my dross!" 

We glorify God in the fire when the soul can say, "Here I am, my God, do with me as seems good in Your sight! I know that I shall not have one unnecessary stroke!"

We glorify God in the fire when we are not grumbling, but humbly submitting to His will. When that awful message was brought to Eli, what does he say? "It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him." Let my children be killed, whatever is done, it is the Lord's doing! 

We glorify God in the fire when we rejoice in Him--when we can thank God for striking us--when we can thank Him for whipping us!

Happy are you who have got into Christ's fire!


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A Just Rebuke by a Gay Atheist - Article written by Dr. Michael Brown

6/4/2015

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You know the hour is late when God uses a gay atheist to bring a sobering wake-up call to the Church, but that's exactly what happened after Ireland, traditionally a bastion of Catholicism, voted to redefine the marriage.

The gay atheist was Matthew Parrish, and on May 27th, the Spectator posted his article entitled, "As a gay atheist, I want to see the church oppose same-sex marriage."


Parrish was grieved over the Catholic Church's response to Ireland's vote, feeling that it was weak and almost apologetic, like someone arriving late to a major cultural revolution and saying, "Oh my. I guess times have changed. We'll have to do better with social media in the future."

He also stated his opinion that, for some years now, the Catholic Church has not offered a robust moral argument against redefining marriage, also making reference to the "rantings" of evangelicals.

He wrote, "Even as a (gay) atheist, I wince to see the philosophical mess that religious conservatives are making of their case. Is there nobody of any intellectual stature left in our English church, or the Roman church, to frame the argument against Christianity's slide into just going with the flow of social and cultural change?"

With brilliant sarcasm, Parrish rewrites Exodus 32, when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai to find his people worshiping idols and engaging in immorality, prompting him to smash the tablets in anger and shaming the people with their sin.

In the new Parrish version, the events go like this:

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the Irish referendum's huge majority for gay marriage, and the dancing: and Moses' alarm was palpable…

'And he took a copy of the Pink Paper and, flourishing it, said, "We have to stop and have a reality check, not move into denial of the realities.

'"I appreciate how these naked revellers feel on this day. That they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live. I think it is a social revolution.

'"We need to find a new language to connect with a whole generation of young people," the prophet concluded; then, casting off his garments, Moses said, "Hey, lead me to the coolest gay bar in the camp."'

Parrish has hit the bull's-eye, demonstrating more prophetic perception than many Church leaders in the West, both in Europe and America.

Since when does a popular vote determine morality?

Since when does the majority determine the will of God?

Since when do the shifting tides of culture determine what the Bible actually says?

And since when have spiritual leaders been called to follow the crowd? I thought we were called to lead the crowd.

Parrish states "the conservative Catholic's only proper response to news such as that from Dublin . . . is that 62 per cent in a referendum does not cause a sin in the eyes of God to cease to be a sin."

Yes, a gay atheist is calling Christians to have moral backbone, and he is doing it with a clarity sorely lacking among many ministers and leaders today. And what do human opinions have to do with the truth of God anyway?

How utterly perverse that some pastors make their decisions based on what is trending on Twitter or on what teens are doing on Instagram rather than basing everything on what God has clearly spoken in His Word, with sensitivity, compassion, and cultural wisdom.

Parrish asks, "Can't these Christians see that the moral basis of their faith cannot be sought in the pollsters' arithmetic?" And, "can a preponderance of public opinion reverse the polarity between virtue and vice? Would it have occurred for a moment to Moses (let alone God) that he'd better defer to Moloch-worship because that's what most of the Israelites wanted to do?"

I would love for these sentences to be circulated to every church in America, and then after everyone has said their hearty "Amen!" to tell them it was a gay atheist to penned these piercing words.

And Parrish is right to point out that Christians, of all people, should recognize that the majority is often wrong, stating that believers "need only consider the fate of their Messiah, and the persecution of adherents to the Early Church," and reminding us that, "Popular revulsion [today, in Ireland] cannot make them wrong."

Enough with our gospel of cultural accommodation.

Enough with our man-pleasing, spineless, non-confrontational message.

Enough with trying to save our lives rather than losing our lives for Jesus and His cause.

Enough with catering to the crowds instead of swimming against the tide and proclaiming the cross boldly and without compromise.

It is a shameful day when a gay atheist (for whom I pray) has more spiritual insight and moral backbone than many Church leaders in the West.

(Copied from Christianpost.com) - Article is originally entitled "Gay Atheist Speaks a Timely Word to the Church - by Dr. Michael BrownRead more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/gay-atheist-speaks-a-timely-word-to-the-church-139788/#kym7VjJfRgsfTJgJ.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/gay-atheist-speaks-a-timely-word-to-the-church-139788/#TzEQ5itKOot3QBT2.99


Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/gay-atheist-speaks-a-timely-word-to-the-church-139788/#tZ80fJd3o1V66xck.99
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    Pastor Ken Fennell

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