September 5, 2009 at 9:53 am (* Favorites, Discipleship, Perseverance, Trials and Suffering)
WOE TO ME, THAT I SOJOURN IN MESHECH, THAT I DWELL AMONG THE TENTS OF KEDAR. – PS. 120:5
As a Christian you have to live in the middle of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry, “Woe to me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for, you need not desire. It is far better to meet the difficulty in the Lord’s strength and by doing so to glorify Him. The enemy is always watching for inconsistency in your conduct; therefore be very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are on you, and that more is expected from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel them to say of you, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”‘ Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, “If I were in a more favorable position I could serve the Lord’s cause, but I cannot do any good where I am.” The worse the people are among whom you live, the more they need your exertions; if they are crooked, all the more need for you to set them straight; and if they are perverse, they need you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should the doctor spend his time if not among the sick? Where is honor to be won by the soldier but in the center of the battle? And when you are weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried on couches to heaven, and you should not expect to travel more easily than they. They had to risk their lives on the battlefield, and you will not be crowned until you also have endured hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong!
- Charles Spurgeon from Morning and Evening, September 5th a.m. entry
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April 17, 2008 at 6:17 pm (Perseverance, Works)
- John Murray: “It is one of the most perilous distortions of the doctrine of Grace and one that has carried with it the saddest records of moral and spiritual disaster to assume that past privileges, however high they may be, guarantee the security of men irrespective of perseverance in the faith and holiness.”
- In other words it doesn’t matter if you have been a pastor for thirty years, it doesn’t matter if you have success, giftedness, and usefulness in your career and your Christian testimony. No matter how high you may gave gone, none of that guarantees your security irrespective of perseverance in faith and in holiness
- John Owen: “A universal respect to all God’s commandments is the only preservation from shame.” Our continuance in a relationship with God does not take place irrespective of our persevering in God’s commands. It is as we heed the warnings and rest upon the promises that the Holy Spirit works in our lives a supernatural principle which cannot be acquired by the fulfilling of our duties, but is preserved by them.
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November 30, 2007 at 7:15 pm (Ministry, Perseverance, Salvation, Secularism, Works)
Tags: Revenge, Truth
- Pluralism: Truth is NOT in one entity
- Synchronism: blending of multiple entities
- In these mindsets there is always room for another God
- The Roman Empire when Paul preached was a pluralistic society
- Then why did they kill Christians?
- Because Christians would not just add Christ to the gods, Christians hold true that Jesus is the only way to salvation
- We live in a pluralistic culture today
- They (society) call us arrogant for saying that there is only one way to be saved
- But it is not arrogant if it is true
- If it is not true then it is just stupidity
- We should not preach Christianity on its pragmatic benefits, we preach on its truthfulness
- Pluralists can only tolerate pluralists and they are unmercifully intolerant to those who are not pluralists
- Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and nobody comes to the Father except through Him.
- John 14:6 (New Living Translation):
- 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
- They (pluralists) cannot handle this.
- Christianity did not come to us, except through a great cost, ie the persecution of Christians throughout the ages. And Christianity will not go forward without a great cost.
Continued from “Good News, Bad News, Part A” – When you suffer unjustly:
- Do not be surprised.
- Do not be mistaken that all will be well if we give our lives to Jesus
- Romans 8:28 (New International Version):
- “28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose.”
- Do not give up
- “Do right because it is right to do right.
- When things go bad we will not whine and despair
- Do not take revenge
- 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. 0n doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- Don’t miss the chance to help others
- Example of the depressed professor who was visited by a friend who told him to think back through the years and make a list of all those who have helped him and pick one and send a thank you letter
- He picked a school teacher who taught him the love of reading and wrote a thank you letter and it moved the teacher’s heart
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November 21, 2007 at 10:15 pm (Perseverance, Trials and Suffering)
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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November 19, 2007 at 9:25 pm (Faith, Perseverance)
- Berkhoff’s definition of the perseverance of the saints: “Perseverance is that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart is continued and brought to completion.”
- Saints refer to those who believe in Jesus
- Perseverance of the Saints is the perseverance of God : perseverance = Preservation
- There is no perseverance without faith and it those who have faith who persevere
- Alistair revisits the question of 11/14/07 – a believer cannot be lost
- Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
- Faith is a gift from God
- To persevere: do not look to yourself, do not look to others, look ONLY to Jesus
- Packer: “You are not strong enough to fall away as long as God is resolved to hold you.”
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