Subject to Change?

"Men imagine that the Most High is moved by sentiment, rather than actuated by principle. They suppose that His omnipotency is such an idle fiction that Satan is thwarting His designs on every side. They think that if He has formed any plan or purpose at all, then it must be like theirs, constantly subject to change. They openly declare that whatever power He possesses must be restricted, lest He invade the citadel of man’s “free will” and reduce him to a “machine.”

They lower the all-efficacious Atonement, which has actually redeemed everyone for whom it was made, to a mere “remedy,” which sin-sick souls may use if they feel disposed to; and then enervate the invincible work of the Holy Spirit to an “offer” of the Gospel which sinners may accept or reject as they please." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Beggar in the Dust

"God’s way of salvation is too humbling to suit the carnal mind, for it removes all ground for boasting. It is therefore unacceptable to the proud heart of the unregenerate.

Man wants to have a hand in his salvation. To be told that God will receive nought from him, that salvation is solely a matter of Divine mercy, that eternal life is only for those who come empty-handed to receive it solely as a matter of charity, is offensive to the self-righteous religionist. But not so to the one who is poor in spirit and who mourns over his vile and wretched state. The very word mercy is music to his ears. Eternal life as God’s free gift suits his poverty-stricken condition. Grace—the sovereign favor of God to the hell-deserving—is just what he feels he must have! Such a one no longer has any thought of justifying himself in his own eyes; all his haughty objections against God’s benevolence are now silenced. He is glad to own himself a beggar and bow in the dust before God." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

The Chief Trouble

"The chief trouble is that so much that passes for faith today is really only maudlin sentimentality. The faith of Christendom in this twentieth century is mere credulity, and the “god” of many of our churches is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but a mere figment of the imagination. Modern theology has invented a “god” which the finite mind can understand, whose ways are pleasing to the natural man, a “god” who is altogether “such a one as” (Psalm 50:21) those who profess to worship him, a “god” concerning whom there is little or no mystery. But how different the God which the Holy Scriptures reveal! Of Him it is said, His ways are “past finding out” (Romans 11:33)." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Running After Shadows

"The ungodly are ever seeking after joy, but they do not find it: they busy and weary themselves in the pursuit of it, yet all in vain. Their hearts being turned from the Lord, they look downward for joy, where it is not; rejecting the substance, they diligently run after the shadow, only to be mocked by it. It is the sovereign decree of heaven that nothing can make sinners truly happy but God in Christ; but this they will not believe, and therefore they go from creature to creature, from one broken cistern to another, inquiring where the best joy is to be found. Each worldly thing which attracts them says, It is found in me; but soon it disappoints.

Nevertheless, they go on seeking it afresh today in the very thing which deceived them yesterday. If after many trials they discover the emptiness of one creature comfort, then they turn to another, only to verify our Lord’s word, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again” ( John 4:13)." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Buzzing of the Lips

"When thou prayest let thy words be few, but thy thoughts and affections many, and above all let them be profound. The less thou speakest the better thou prayest.... External and bodily prayer is that buzzing of the lips, that outside babble that is gone through without any attention, and which strikes the ears of men; but prayer in spirit and in truth is the inward desire, the motions, the sighs, which issue from the depths of the heart. The former is the prayer of hypocrites and of all who trust in themselves: the latter is the prayer of the children of God, who walk in His fear." —Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Faithfully Press

"O that the modern evangelist would faithfully press upon his unsaved hearers their utter powerlessness to turn unto God of themselves, and their inability to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior until a miracle of Divine grace has been wrought in them. The Lord Jesus (our Exemplar) did not hesitate to plainly say to a promiscuous crowd,

“No man can come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him” (John 6:44).

The Father draws to Christ by the operation of the Spirit. It is written,

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Believing is necessary, indispensably necessary, before any sinner receives Divine forgiveness. But Scripture is very emphatic in declaring that no sinner can savingly believe apart from the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit. A miracle of grace has to be wrought in his heart before he is capacitated to lay hold of Christ. This must be so, for the human heart is fast closed against Him and will not come to Him that it might have life (John 5:40). The eyes of our understanding are blind, so that we see in Christ no beauty that we should desire Him. It is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness (Romans 10:10), and the heart must first be wooed and won by Christ (through the Spirit’s operations) before it will turn to Him." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Love to God

"Love to God, however sincere and transcendent, is not all there is in the Christian’s heart: there are also powerful impulses which lust after ungodly things, and compete for his affections. Hence his urgent need of crying, “Unite my heart to fear thy name” (Psalm 86:11). Yet the very fact that the Christian is constrained to so cry, that he is acutely conscious of the feebleness of his love, is a sure evidence of his regeneration, for the natural man is a total stranger to any such pangs of soul. It is the same with the Christian’s love as it is with his faith. Not until a divinely begotten faith is born within are we in the least conscious of the presence and workings of unbelief. Only as we become aware of the latter do we “with tears” say, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). So too the love of God has to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit before we can realize how disloyal to Him our affections really are. And as faith is dependent upon its Author for its continuance and growth, so love is dependent upon its Giver for its health and activities." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote of the Day

"Without a clear understanding of sola fide and the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, you do not have the gospel or gospel unity (1 Cor. 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:21)." —R. C. Sproul

Imagine That?

"Do you imagine that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to worldlings and telling them that they “may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their personal Savior” while they are wedded to their idols and their hearts are still in love with sin? If I do so, I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel, insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Cheap-Jack Evangelists

"It is generally recognized that spirituality is at a low ebb in Christendom and not a few perceive that sound doctrine is rapidly on the wane, yet many of the Lord’s people take comfort from supposing that the Gospel is still being widely preached and that large numbers are being saved thereby.

Alas, their optimistic supposition is ill-founded and sandy grounded. If the “message” now being delivered in Mission Halls be examined, if the “tracts” which are scattered among the unchurched masses be scrutinized, if the “open-air” speakers be carefully listened to, if the “sermons” or “addresses” of a “Soul-winning campaign” be analyzed; in short, if modern “Evangelism” be weighed in the balances of Holy Writ, it will be found wanting—lacking that which is vital to a genuine conversion, lacking what is essential if sinners are to be shown their need of a Savior, lacking that which will produce the transfigured lives of new creatures in Christ Jesus.

It is in no captious spirit that we write, seeking to make men offenders for a word. It is not that we are looking for perfection, and complain because we cannot find it; nor that we criticize others because they are not doing things as we think they should be done. No; no, it is a matter far more serious than that. The “evangelism” of the day is not only superficial to the last degree, but it is radically defective. It is utterly lacking a foundation on which to base an appeal for sinners to come to Christ. There is not only a lamentable lack of proportion (the mercy of God being made far more prominent than His holiness, His love than His wrath), but there is a fatal omission of that which God has given for the purpose of imparting a knowledge of sin. There is not only a reprehensible introducing of “bright singing,” humorous witticisms and entertaining anecdotes, but there is a studied omission of the dark background upon which alone the Gospel can effectually shine forth.

But serious indeed as is the above indictment, it is only half of it—the negative side, that which is lacking. Worse still is that which is being retailed by the cheap-jack evangelists of the day. The positive content of their message is nothing but a throwing of dust in the eyes of the sinner." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Lost Hymns

GOD OF GRACE GOD OF LOVE



Show pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive,
Let a repenting rebel live:
Are not Thy mercies large and free?
May not a sinner trust in Thee?

My crimes are great, but don't surpass
The power and glory of Thy grace:
Great God, Thy nature hath no bound,
So let Thy pardoning love be found.

God of grace! God of love!
O have mercy on a wand’ring heart like mine
Son of Man! Son of God!
Keep me turning to Thy finished work divine

Should sudden vengeance seize my breath,
I must pronounce Thee just in death;
And if my soul were sent to hell,
Thy righteous law approves it well.

My lips with shame my sins confess
Against Thy law, against Thy grace:
Lord, should Thy judgment grow severe,
I am condemned, but Thou art clear.

O depth of mercy!
Can it be that mercy’s still reserved for me?
Ah, can my God His wrath forbear
And me the chief of sinners spare?

Written and Arranged by Thomas G. Clay © 2009 GraceAnne Music

The Unknown God

“The design of every false scheme and system of religion is to depict the character of God in such a way that it is agreeable to the tastes of the carnal heart, acceptable to depraved human nature. And that can only be done by a species of misrepresentation: the ignoring of those of His prerogatives and perfections which are objectionable, and the disproportionate emphasizing of those of His attributes which appeal to their selfishness—such as His love, mercy, and long-sufferance. But let the character of God be faithfully presented as it is actually portrayed in the Scriptures—in the Old Testament as well as the New—and nine out of every ten of church-goers will frankly state that they find it impossible to love Him.” The plain fact is, dear reader, that to the present generation the Most High of Holy Writ is “the unknown God.” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

The Path of Error

"A new age this, when falsehood and truth can kiss each other! New times these when fire and water can become friendly! Glorious times these when there is an alliance between hell and heaven, though God knows, we are of vastly different families. Ah! now, who cares for truth except a few narrow-minded bigots as they are called. Election—horrible! Predestination—awful! Final perseverance—desperate! Yet, turn to the pages of the Puritans, and you will see that these truths were preached every day. Turn to the Fathers; read Augustine, and you will see that these were the truths for which he would have bled and died. Read the Scriptures, and if every page is not full of them I have not read them aright, or any child of God either. Ay, laxity of doctrine is the great fault now; we solemnly protest against it. You may fancy that I am raising an outcry about nothing at all. Ah! no; my anxious spirit sees the next generation—what will that be. This generation—Arminianism. What next? Pelagianism. And what next? Popery. And what next? I leave you to guess. The path of error is always downward." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpts taken from a sermon title "A Solemn Warning for All Churches" delivered February 24, 1856, by C. H. Spurgeon

Satan's Chloroform

"There are multitudes in Christendom to-day deluded with the idea that a mere historical faith in the Gospel ensures their reaching Heaven: who verily suppose they have “received Christ as their personal Savior” simply because they believe that He died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of all those who repudiate their own righteousness and trust in Him. They imagine that if under the influence of religious emotion and the pressing appeals of an evangelist, and assured that “John 3:16 means what it says”, they were persuaded to “become Christians”, that therefore all is now well with them: that having obtained a ticket for Glory they may, like passengers on a train, relax and go to sleep, confident that in due time they shall arrive at their desired destination. By such deceptions Satan chloroforms myriads into Hell. So widespread is this deadly delusion that one who undertakes to expose its sophistry is certain to be regarded by many as a heretic." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Quote of the Day

"The new gospel is all about what we need to do for God in order for us to be happy, not what he has done for us so that we can be holy." —Dr. David Harrell

The Devil's Drug

"It is now almost universally supposed that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the human will, which any man is capable of performing: all that is needed is to bring before a sinner a few verses of Scripture which describe his lost condition, one or two which contain the word “believe,” and then a little persuasion, for him to “accept Christ,” and the thing is done. And the awful thing is that so very, very few see anything wrong with this—blind to the fact that such a process is only the Devil’s drug to lull thousands into a false peace." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

The Ground of Grace

Salvation is God’s sovereign work. “God does not save a man because he is a sinner, for if so He must save all men, for all are sinners. Nor because he comes to Christ, for ‘no man can come except the Father draw him;’ nor because he repents, for ‘God gives repentance unto life;’ nor because he believes,’ for no one can believe ‘except it were given him from above;’ nor yet because he holds out faithful to the end, for ‘we are kept by the power of God.’ It is not because of baptism, for many are saved without it, and many are lost with it. It is not because of regeneration, for that would make the new birth a practical duty. It is not because of morality, for the moralist is the hardeth to reach, and many of the most immoral are saved — the ground of distinguishing grace is the Sovereignty of God: ‘Even so Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight’” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952) quoting (J. B. Moody).

Real Men Love Pink

"Many... are willing for Christ to save them from hell, but are not willing for Him to save them from self. They want to be delivered from the wrath to come, but they wish to retain their self-will and self-pleasing. But He will not be dictated unto: you must be saved on His terms, or not at all. When Christ saves, He saves from sin—from its power and pollution, and therefore from its guilt. And the very essence of sin is the determination to have my own way ( Isaiah 53:6). Where Christ saves, He subdues this spirit of self-will, and implants a genuine, a powerful, a lasting, desire and determination to please Him.

Again, many are never saved because they wish to divide Christ; they want to take Him as Saviour, but are unwilling to subject themselves unto Him as their Lord. Or if they are prepared to own Him as Lord, it is not as an absolute Lord. But this cannot be: Christ will either be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all. But the vast majority of professing Christians would have Christ’s sovereignty limited at certain points; it must not encroach too far upon the liberty which some worldly lust or carnal interest demands.

His peace they covet, but His “yoke” is unwelcome. Of all such Christ will yet say, “But these Mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me” ( Luke 19:27).

Again, there are multitudes who are quite ready for Christ to justify them, but not to sanctify. Some kind, some degree, of sanctification they will tolerate, but to be sanctified wholly, their “whole spirit and soul and body” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23), they have no relish for. For their hearts to be sanctified, for pride and covetousness to be subdued, would be too much like the plucking out of a right eye. For the constant mortification of all their members they have no taste. For Christ to come to them as Refiner, to burn up their lusts, consume their dross, to dissolve utterly their old frame of nature, to melt their souls, so as to make them run in a new mould, they like not. To deny self utterly, and take up their cross daily, is a task from which they shrink with abhorrence.

Again, many are willing for Christ to officiate as their Priest, but not for Him to legislate as their King. Ask them, in a general way, if they are ready to do whatsoever Christ requires of them, and they will answer in the affirmative, emphatically and with confidence. But come to particulars: apply to each one of them those specific commandments and precepts of the Lord which they are ignoring, and they will at once cry out “Legalism”! or “We cannot be perfect in everything.” Name nine duties and perhaps they are performing them, but mention a tenth and it at once makes them angry, for you have come too close home to their case. After much persuasion, Naaman was induced to bathe in the Jordan, but he was unwilling to abandon the house of Rimmon ( 2 Kings 5:18). Herod heard John gladly and did “many things” ( Mark 6:20), but when John referred to Herodias it touched him to the quick. Many are willing to give up their theatre-going, and card-parties, who refuse to go forth unto Christ outside the camp. Others are willing to go outside the camp, yet refuse to deny their fleshly and worldly lusts. Reader, if there is a reserve in your obedience, you are on the way to hell." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

God Causes The Rebirth

Quote of the Day

"The things which are now done in so many church-houses — the ice cream suppers, the bazaars, the moving picture shows and other forms of entertainment — what are these but idolatrous commercialization of these “houses of prayer.” No wonder that such places are devoid of spirituality and strangers to the power of God. The Lord will not tolerate an unholy mixture of worldly things with spiritual." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

What a Farce

"The vast majority of the churches are in a sorry state. Those that are out-and-out worldly are at their wits' end to invent new devices for drawing a crowd. Others which still preserve an outward form of godliness provide nothing substantial for the soul; there is little ministering of Christ to the heart and little preaching of 'sound doctrine', without which souls cannot be built up and established in the faith. The great majority of the 'pastors' summon to their aid some professional 'evangelist', who, for two to four weeks, puts on a high-pressure campaign and secures sufficient new 'converts' to take the place of those who have 'lapsed' since he was last with them. What a farce it all is!" —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from "The Life of Arthur W. Pink" by Iain Murry published 1981 The Banner Of Truth Trust.

The Leaven of Popery

"The bitterest enemies against the doctrine of election are the Papists. This is exactly what might be expected, for the truth of election can never be made to square with the dogma of human merits—the one is diametrically opposed to the other. Every man who loves himself and seeks salvation by his own works, will loathe sovereign grace, and seek to load it with contempt. On the other hand, those who have been effectually humbled by the Holy Spirit and brought to realize that they are utterly dependent upon the discriminating mercy of God will have no hankerings after, nor patience with a system which sets the crown of honour upon the creature. History bears ample testimony that Rome detests the very name of Calvinism. “From all sects there may be some hope of obtaining converts to Rome except Calvinism,” said the late “Cardinal” Manning. And he was right, as our own degenerate age bears full witness, for while no regenerated Calvinist will ever be fatally deceived by the wiles of the Mother of Harlots, yet thousands of “Protestant” (?) Arminians are annually rushing to her arms.

It is an irrefutable fact that as Calvinism has met with less and less favour in the leading Protestant bodies, as the sovereignty of God and His electing love have been more and more crowded out of their pulpits, that Rome has made increasing progress, until today she must have both in England and in the U.S.A. a greater number of followers than any single evangelical denomination. But saddest of all is that the vast majority of those now occupying so-called Protestant pulpits are preaching the very things which further Rome’s interests. Their insistence upon the freedom of fallen man’s will to do good must fill the papist leaders with delight—in the Council of Trent she condemned all who affirmed the contrary. To what extent the leaven of Popery has spread may be seen in that “Evangelical Protestants” (?) who oppose the doctrine of election are now employing the self same objections..." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from a article titled "The Doctrine of Election" published October, 1939 in "Studies in the Scriptures" by A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Lost Hymns

The Voice of Free Grace Cries

The voice of free grace cries, “Escape to the mountain;
For Adam’s lost race Christ hath opened a fountain:
For sin and uncleanness, and every transgression,
His blood flows most freely, in streams of salvation,
His blood flows most freely, in streams of salvation.”

Refrain

Hallelujah to the Lamb, who has purchased our pardon!
We will praise Him again when we pass over Jordan,
We will praise Him again when we pass over Jordan.

Now glory to God in the highest is given;
Now glory to God is re-echoed in Heaven;
Around the whole earth let us tell the glad story,
And sing of His love, His salvation and glory,
And sing of His love, His salvation and glory.

Refrain

O Jesus, ride on—Thy kingdom is glorious;
O’er sin, death and hell, Thou wilt make us victorious:
Thy Name shall be praised in the great congregation,
And saints shall ascribe unto Thee their salvation,
And saints shall ascribe unto Thee their salvation.

Refrain

When on Zion we stand, having gained the blest shore,
With our harps in our hands, we will praise evermore;
We’ll range the blest fields on the banks of the river,
And sing of redemption forever and ever,
And sing of redemption forever and ever.

Refrain

Words: Ri­chard Burd­sall (1735-1824)

Gospel Thunder

I would like to introduce you to Brother Randall Easter who is the pastor at First Baptist Church of Briar, TX and I am honored to have met him and his lovely wife Bev and even more grateful for being able to sit under him as he thundered the Gospel. Brother Randall just finished preaching our Fall Outreach Revival 2009 here at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church and my heart is just about to burst with joy, so I must share these messages for MP3 download via smbconline.com. I also want to thank the fine folks at First Baptist Church of Briar, TX for letting us love on Brother Randall as he ministered to us this week!

The Suffering Servant
Encouragement For The Church
Our Identity In Christ
Jonah
You Must Be Born From Above

That's Not Salvation

"Some people, when they use the word "salvation," understand nothing more by it than deliverance from hell and admittance into heaven. Now, that is not salvation: those two things are the effects of salvation. We are redeemed from hell because we are saved, and we enter heaven because we have been saved beforehand. Our everlasting state is the effect of salvation in this life... What a great word that word "salvation" is! It includes the cleansing of our conscience from all past guilt, the delivery of our soul from all those propensities to evil which now so strongly predominate in us; it takes in, in fact, the undoing of all that Adam did. Salvation is the total restoration of man from his fallen estate; and yet it is something more than that, for God's salvation fixes our standing more secure than it was before we fell. It finds us broken in pieces by the sin of our first parent, defiled, stained, accursed: it first heals our wounds, it removes our diseases, it takes away our curse, it puts our feet upon the rock Christ Jesus, and having thus done, at last it lifts our heads far above all principalities. and powers, to be crowned for ever with Jesus Christ, the King of heaven." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpts taken from a sermon title "The Way of Salvation" delivered August 15, 1858, by C. H. Spurgeon

The Greatest Menace

"The greatest menace to the Christian Church today comes not from the enemies outside, but from the enemies within; it comes from the presence within the Church of a type of faith and practice that is anti-Christian to the core." —J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

Quote of the Day

"Once a man makes the conversion of sinners his prime design and all-consuming end, he is exceedingly apt to adopt a wrong course. Instead of striving to preach the Truth in all its purity, he will tone it down so as to make it more palatable to the unregenerate." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Good Gospel Preaching

Scripture

"To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in." Jeremiah 6:10-11a ESV

Quote of the Day

"Just so long as the sinner believes—because of his erroneous notion of the freedom of his will—that he has the power to repent and believe at any moment, he will defer faith and repentance; he will not so much as beg God to work these graces in him." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Taken from "Gleanings from the Scriptures" by A. W. Pink (1886–1952), Copyright 1969, Moody Press; p219.

Throw Rocks!

"Avoiding conflict is not always the right thing. Sometimes it is downright sinful. Particularly in times like these, when almost no error is deemed too serious to be excluded from the evangelical conversation, and while the Lord’s flock is being infiltrated by wolves dressed like prophets, declaring visions of peace when there is no peace (cf. Ezekiel 13:16). Even the kindest, gentlest shepherd sometimes needs to throw rocks at the wolves who come in sheep’s clothing." —John MacArthur

(HT) Apprising Ministries

Excerpt taken from "The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ", 17-19

Bad Theology Quotes

I actually heard this one this past Saturday.

"Boy, if they would just had an alter call they would of been surprised how many people would have got saved."

Worth Nothing!

"If we add to our Churches by becoming worldly, by taking in persons who have never been born again; if we add to our Churches by accommodating the life of the Christian to the life of the worldling, our increase is worth nothing at all; it is a loss rather than a gain! If we add to our Churches by excitement, by making appeals to the passions rather than by explaining the truth of God to the understanding. If we add to our Churches otherwise than by the power of the Spirit of God making men new creatures in Christ Jesus, the increase is of no worth whatever!" —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled "Harvest Joy" preached July 6th, 1890 by C. H. Spurgeon

One Grand Misconception

"Worldy people seem to be well aware that it is only in this life that they will be able to get vent to their worldliness. They quite count upon death putting an end to it all; and this is one of the main reasons for their dread of death, and their dislike even of the thoughts of it.

The character as well as the life of these men is undecided and feeble. They are not decided in their worldliness, and they are not decided in their religion. If they were compelled to choose between their two masters, the probability is that they would prefer the world; for their heart is not in their religion, and religion is not in their heart. Religion is irksome to them; it is a yoke, not a pleasant service. Their consciences would not allow them to throw it off; but it occupies a very small part of their thoughts and affections. They are, in fact, worldly men varnished over with religion; that is all. They are made up of two parts, a dead and a living; the living part is the world, the dead is religion.

These are the ambiguous disciples of our age, who belong to Christ but in name. These are the stony-ground or thorny-ground hearers; men who have a place at our communion tables, who figure at religious committees, who make speeches on religious platforms, yet are, after all, “wells without water,” “trees without root,” stars without either heat or light.

The religion of such is but a half-and-half religion; without depth, or decision, or vigour, or self-sacrifice. It is but a picture or a statue, not a living man.

The conversion of such has been but a half-and-half conversion; it has not gone down to the lowest depths of the man’s nature. I do not say it is a pretence or a hypocrisy; but still, I say it is an unreality. It has been a movement, a shaking, a change, but it has not been a being “begotten of God,” a being “born from above.”

Such a man’s whole religious life is one grand misconception; and every step he takes in it is a blunder, and a stumble, and a snare. Let such a man know that, in his present half-worldly, half-religious condition, he has no real religion at all. It is a fiction, a delusion. It will stand no test of law or gospel, of conscience or of discipline, of time or of eternity. It will go to pieces with the first touch. It is all hollow, and must be begun again, from the very first stone of the foundation.

O worldly formalist, thou wouldst make sure thy hope, and obtain a discipleship that will stand all tests, begin this day at the beginning. Count all the past but loss. Fling away thy vain hopes and self-righteous confidences. Give up thy fond idea of securing both earth and heaven. Go straight to Calvary; there be thou crucified to the world, and the world to thee, by the cross of Christ. Go at once to Him who died and rose again, and drink into his love. One draught, nay, one drop of that love will for ever quench your love of sin, and be the death of that worldliness which threatens to be your eternal ruin." —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

(HT) Horatius Bonar

Edited from the sermon, Christ and the World, Family Sermons, 1863.

Quote of the Day

"In damnation God acts in response to human choice. In salvation man acts in response to divine choice." —John MacArthur

Christians Who Murder Christianity

"Sadly true is it that the Lord Jesus Christ is still of so little account in this world. His name, ah, I am sick of the way in which they use His name today! Shame on some that are called Christian ministers! They believe in Christ, but it is a Christ without His crown, His atonement, His judgment seat, or even His Godhead. They mock us with orthodox phrases, from which the essential truth is gone. They pretend that they believe in the atonement, and when we listen to their atonement we find that it does not effectually atone for anyone. It is a mere fiction, and not a fact. It saves nobody, but is a mere sham. They have eviscerated the gospel, and then they hold up the empty carcass, and claim that they are Christians still. Christians who have murdered Christianity! Believers who doubt whether there is anything to be believed! Yet we are entreated in our charity to hug such traitors to our bosom. We shall do nothing of the kind. We would sooner believe in infidels outright than in those who pretend to be Christians and are infidels at heart. “Modern thought” is a more evil thing than downright atheism; even as a wolf in a sheep’s skin is worse than a wolf in his natural form. There are pretty things said of our Lord Jesus by those who deny the faith which are sickening to me. I loathe to hear our true Lord praised by false lips. They deny the doctrines which He taught, and yet prate about believing Him. It is a shallow trick, but yet it deceives shallow souls. Poor, weak minds say, “The man speaks so beautifully of Jesus, surely he cannot be in error.” I tell you it is the old Judas trick--the Son of man is betrayed with a kiss. How nauseating their praises must be to Him whom they are betraying. Think not that they are honest; their designs are far other than appear upon the surface. They laud Him as man that they may dishonor Him as God: they cry up His life, and His example, that they may cast His atoning sacrifice into the ditch. They lift up one part of the divine revelation with no other intention than that they may dash down the other: they crouch at His feet that they may stab at His heart." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled "Recruits for King Jesus" preached February 17th, 1884 by C. H. Spurgeon

Quote of the Day

"That cherished sin, 'twill cost thee dear." —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Adorn The Doctrine Of God

"It is ignorance of the Truth which causes so many to fall easy victims to Satan’s lies. Such doctrines as the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures, the Holy Trinity, the Sovereignty of God, the Fall of man, the Everlasting Covenant, the Person and Office of the Mediator, the design and nature of the Atonement, the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, the Justification and Sanctification of the believer must be systematically taught if the minister would discharge his duty. Yet he must not confine himself to doctrine: they who feed on rich food and then take little or no exercise become sickly and useless—true alike naturally and spiritually. Faith must produce works if it be worth anything. Well-nurtured branches of the vine are for fruitfulness and not ornamentation. Christians are to “adorn the doctrine of God” (Titus 2:10) by a daily walk which glorifies Him and is a blessing to their fellows." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from "A Honest Heart" by A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Purpose Driven Jihad

Rick Warren should never be called a preacher of the gospel again! As the father of a child who is lost in the cult of Islam this truly disgust me to no end.

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" II Cor. 6:14-15

Related Post:
Absolutely Exclusive
Give Me a Break
Purpose Driven Articles
Fantasy Gospel

When Christians Hate You

"What "world" hated Christ and hounded Him to death? The religious world, those who pretended to be most zealous for God's glory. So it is now. Let the Christian turn his back upon a Christ—dishonouring Christendom, and his fiercest foes and most relentless and unscrupulous enemies will be those who claim to be Christians themselves! But "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you ... for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad" (Matt. 5:11,12). Ah, my brother, it is a healthy sign, a sure mark that you are profiting from the Word, when the religious world hates you. But if, on the other hand, you still have a "good standing" in the "churches" or "assemblies" there is grave reason to fear that you love the praise of men more than that of God!" —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from "Profiting From The Word" by A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Lost Hymns

None But Christ

O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so long,
The bliss till now unknown.

I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not Thee;
But, while I passed my Savior by,
His love laid hold on me.

I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,
But, ah, the waters failed;
Even as I stooped to drink they fled,
And mocked me as I wailed.

The pleasures lost I sadly mourned,
But never wept for Thee,
Till grace the sightless eyes received,
Thy loveliness to see.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other Name for me!
There’s love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee.

Quote of the Day

"Hard preaching makes soft people. On the other hand, soft preaching makes hard people". —John MacArthur

10 Things That Make a Lay Person Want to Spit!

After seeing the Hoodlum Pastors short list of things that make a pastor want to cuss, I thought I would make a list of my own that truly makes me want to spit!

10 Things that make a lay person want to spit!

01. Preachers who insist on exalting themselves instead of magnifying Christ, they draw men's attention to them or their church instead of pointing to Christ and His cross.

02. Preachers who fail to rightly divide the Word of Truth and attempt to pass off some self-esteem psycho-babble as biblical preaching.

03. Preachers who talk about being a biblical man but have very little warmth in their speech or actions! They are not sensitive nor tender to the flock of God and are callous in their dealings with growing saints and say hateful things on their blog or facebook for the shock effect.

04. Preachers who think they actually need to promote sex within the church.

05. Preachers who are preoccupied with their image and physical appearance and make a point to boast about their Harley Davidson, you know; the cool dude.

06. Preachers who have a disdain for the word "DOCTRINE".

07. Preachers who start every sentence with "I believe", vs "thus saith the Lord" and always makes a point to use the buzz words. (un-churched, Christ-follower you know the words that don't offend lost sinners)

08. Preachers who proudly flaunt how different their church is from what has gone before and treat Christians from the past (and their hymns) with scorn.

09. Preachers who's hero is Rick Warren or Joel Osteen.

10. Preachers who are always promoting some new thing or novelty that will change my life forever.

Puhleeeezzzzeeee!!!

I guess I got one more in me! Oh feel free to add your own list in the comments.

11. Preachers who want to cuss because of weak and shallow Christians who sit under weak and shallow preaching, now that really makes me want to spit!!!

The Divine Lie?

"This is why much of the seeker friendly stuff is an abomination. Christianity has One drawing card: It is Christ. Social events or promising some sort of fellowship or friendship or this or that or any other thing is not Christianity. The fellowship and the friendliness and everything else must come forth out of Christ. It is Christ that brings you into that fellowship, not the fellowship that brings you into Christ so much. When you start your churches, when you plant your churches, when you preach your Gospel, put Christ before men and let them deal with Him. If they reject Christ, allow them to reject your fellowship. Don’t bring them in gradually. Put Christ before them completely, and at first, and along with the demands. Do it lovingly, do it patiently, do it thoroughly.

When I was a young Christian, I heard that many cults practice what’s called the ‘divine lie’, that they will tell you certain lies if necessary in order to gradually bring you in, so that you will accept the greater [teachings], so the end justifies the means. In many ways, that is what church-growth does, the end justifies the means- ’Well we finally got them there to Christ’. No! Remember this, if you use carnal means to bring carnal men into your church, you’ll have a carnal church and you’ll have to constantly use carnal means to keep them. Start off with Christ from the very beginning. The radical claims of Christ and the radical demands of Christ." —Paul Washer

HT Puritan Fellowship

Direct Variance

"Be ye not unequally yoked together." This applies first to our religious or ecclesiastical connections. How many Christians are members of so-called "churches," where much is going on which they know is at direct variance with the Word of God—either the teaching from the pulpit, the worldly attractions used to draw the ungodly, and the worldly methods employed to finance it or the constant receiving into its membership of those who give no evidence of having been born again. Believers in Christ who remain in such "churches" are dishonoring their Lord. Should they answer: "Practically all the churches are the same, and were we to resign, what could we do? We must go somewhere on Sundays," such language would show they are putting their own interests before the glory of Christ. Better to stay at home and read God's Word, than fellowship that which His Word condemns." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Excerpt taken from an article titled "A Call to Separation" by A. W. Pink

The Apostles of Satan

"The apostles of Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers, but are for the most part ordained ministers. Thousands of those who occupy our modern pulpits are no longer engaged in presenting the fundamentals of the Christian Faith, but have turned aside from the Truth and have given heed unto fables. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, they minimize it by declaring that sin is merely ignorance or the absence of good. Instead of warning their hearers to "flee from the wrath to come" they make God a liar by declaring that He is too loving and merciful to send any of His own creatures to eternal torment. Instead of declaring that "without shedding of blood is no remission," they merely hold up Christ as the great Exemplar and exhort their hearers to "follow in His steps." Of them it must be said, "For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom_10:3). Their message may sound very plausible and their aim appear very praiseworthy, yet we read of them—"for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves (imitating) into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing [not to be wondered at] if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works" (2Co_11:13-15).

In addition to the fact that today hundreds of churches are without a leader who faithfully declares the whole counsel of God and presents His way of salvation, we also have to face the additional fact that the majority of people in these churches are very unlikely to learn the Truth themselves." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Taken from "Another Gospel" by A. W. Pink

Lost Hymns

Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord

Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be or rough,
It will be still the best;
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot;
I would not, if I might;
Choose Thou for me, my God,
So I shall walk aright.

Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem;
Choose Thou my good and ill.

Choose Thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health;
Choose Thou my cares for me
My poverty or wealth.

The kingdom that I seek
Is Thine: so let the way
That leads to it be Thine,
Else I must surely stray.

Not mine, not mine the choice
In things or great or small;
Be Thou my Guide, my Strength
My Wisdom, and my All.

Words by: Horatius Bonar, Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1857.

The People Wanted Change

Bad change is still change!
Gay Pride Month from the official White House Website.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-LGBT-Pride-Month/

The Narrow Gate

Judge Not?

Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

"It is not judgement but a lack of discernment and judgement that has the church so weak and so compromised that she has no witness to a rotting and dying world." —Jonathan Sims

Excerpt taken from the sermon titled "The Most Misunderstood Verse, Part 1"

Slaves for Christ

(HT) Recover The Gospel

The Glorious Spectacle

"Man, in his natural spirit of self-justifying legalism, has tried to get away from the cross of Christ and its perfection, or to erect another cross instead, or to setup a screen of ornaments between himself and it, or to alter its true meaning into something more congenial to his tastes, or to transfer the virtue of it to some act or performance or feeling of its own. Thus the simplicity of the cross is nullified, and its saving power is denied. For the cross saves completely, or not at all. Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between itself and the cross. It is the acknowledgment that the cross alone saves, and that it saves alone. Faith adds nothing to the cross, nor to its healing virtue. It owns the fulness, and sufficiency, and suitableness of the work done there, and bids the toiling spirit cease from its labours and enter into rest. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see the glorious spectacle of all things done, and to accept this completion without a misgiving as to its efficacy. It listens to the “It is finished!” of the Sin-bearer, and says, “Amen.” —Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Excerpt taken from "The Everlasting Righteousness" by Horatius Bonar first published 1874, Banner of Truth 1993

The Devil's Delusion

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death."

“This “way” which ends in “death” is the Devil’s Delusion—the gospel of Satan—a way of salvation by human attainment. It is a way which “seemeth right,” that is to say, it is presented in such a plausible way that it appeals to the natural man: it is set forth in such a subtle and attractive manner, that it commends itself to the intelligence of its hearers. By virtue of the fact that it appropriates to itself religious terminology, sometimes appeals to the Bible for its support (whenever this suits its purpose), holds up before men lofty ideals, and is proclaimed by those who have graduated from our theological institutions, countless multitudes are decoyed and deceived by it.

The success of an illegitimate coiner depends largely upon how closely the counterfeit resembles the genuine article. Heresy is not so much the total denial of the truth as a perversion of it. That is why half a lie is always more dangerous than a complete repudiation. Hence when the Father of Lies enters the pulpit it is not his custom to flatly deny the fundamental truths of Christianity, rather does he tacitly acknowledge them, and then proceed to give an erroneous interpretation and a false application. For example: he would not be so foolish as to boldly announce his disbelief in a personal God; he takes His existence for granted and then gives a false description of His character. He announces that God is the spiritual Father of all men, when the Scriptures plainly tell us that we are “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26), and that “as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12).

Further, he declares that God is far too merciful to ever send any member of the human race to Hell, when God Himself has said, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire” (Revelation 20:15).

Again; Satan would not be so foolish as to ignore the central figure of human history—the Lord Jesus Christ; on the contrary, his gospel acknowledges Him to be the best man that ever lived. Attention is drawn to His deeds of compassion and works of mercy, the beauty of His character and the sublimity of His teaching. His life is eulogized, but His vicarious Death is ignored, the all-important atoning work of the cross is never mentioned, whilst His triumphant and bodily resurrection from the grave is regarded as one of the credulities of a superstitious age. It is a bloodless gospel, and presents a crossless Christ, who is received not as God manifest in the flesh, but merely as the Ideal Man. —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)

Abandoned by God

Words of Thankfulness

My brother, friend, and co-worker Tom Lamb has recently been diagnosed with cancer and he is blogging his way through this trial in his life and I would encourage you to pray for him and his family and visit his blog (The Lamb's) and be inspired by his gracious words of thankfulness and not to mention his great play list of Christian music.

All is Ascribed to Grace

"THIS QUICKENING WORK IS WHOLLY SUPERNATURAL; it is the sole and proper work of the Spirit of God. So Christ himself expressly asserts it: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit: the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John, 3:6-8. Believers are the birth or offspring of the Spirit, who produceth the new creature in them in a manner unintelligible even to themselves. So far is it above their own ability to produce, that it is above their capacity to understand the way of its production: as if you should ask, Do you know from whence the wind comes? No. Do you know whither it goes? No. But you hear and feel it when it blows? Yes. So is every one that is born of the Spirit; he feels the efficacy and discerns the effects of the Spirit on his own soul, but cannot understand or describe the manner of their production. This is not only above the carnal, but above the renewed mind to comprehend. We really contribute nothing to the production of this principle of life. We may indeed be said to concur with the Spirit in it; there is found in us a capacity, aptness, or receptiveness of it; our nature is endowed with such faculties and powers as are meet subjects to receive and instruments to act it; but God only quickens the rational nature with spiritual life. "Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" 1 Cor. 4 7. The Scriptures not only assert that without him we can do nothing, and that our sufficiency is of God, John, 15:5; Mat. 12:34; 2 Cor. 3:5; but they declare that the carnal mind "is enmity against God ;" and that we were "enemies in our minds by wicked works." Rom. 8:7; Col. 1:21. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, a perishing thing; but this principle of spiritual life is not subject to dissolution, it is the water that springs up into everlasting life, John, 4:14; the seed of God, which remaineth in the regenerate soul. 1 John 3:9. And all this, because it is born not of corruptible, but of incorruptible seed. 1 Peter, 1:23. Our new birth is represented to us in the Scriptures as a resurrection from the dead, a new creation; Eph. 5:14; 4:24; and thus all is ascribed to grace." —John Flavel (1627 - 1691)

Excerpt taken from "The Method of Grace" by John Flavel (1627 - 1691)

Green This!

Well with all the liberals rejoicing in their celebration of Earth Day in which some Christian leaders have eagerly jumped on board the greening of evangelicism, I would just like to leave all those on this green bandwagon with a sermon by John MacArthur in hopes to de-green this false social gospel which has now been wrapped up in the worship of creation, not that this is something new (Romans 1:25). The End of the Universe, Part 2

"I've told environmentalists that if they think humanity is wrecking the planet, wait until they see what Jesus does to it." —John MacArthur

Shack Attack

Just a short resource list of links to articles and audio exposing just some of the heretical errors found in the book "The Shack" by Paul Young. No, I didn't read it, but I do respect the people that these resources come from and have listen to or read each and I am convinced this is a book that Christians need to avoid and warn others about.

Uncovering The Shack - Sermon by Dr. Michael Youssef
Re-imagining God in the Shack - by Mary Kassian
The Sham - Book Review by Greg McGuigan
Challies Review - Book Review by Tim Challies
A Look at “The Shack” - Radio Program by Dr. R. Albert Mohler
The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment - by Dr. R. Albert Mohler
What’s Wrong with “The Shack”? - Sermon by Paul Edwards
The Shack - Impressions - by Tim Keller

Videos

Stay Out of The Shack

Don't Read The Shack

The Shack in light of the Bible

Lost Hymns

Accepted in the Beloved

“In the Beloved” accepted am I,
Risen, ascended, and seated on high;
Saved from all sin thro’ His infinite grace,
With the redeemed ones accorded a place.

“In the Beloved,” God’s marvelous grace
Calls me to dwell in this wonderful place;
God sees my Savior, and then He sees me,
“In the Beloved,” accepted and free.

“In the Beloved”— how safe my retreat,
In the Beloved accounted complete;
“Who can condemn me?” In Him I am free,
Savior and Keeper forever is He.

“In the Beloved” I went to the tree,
There, in His Person, by faith I may see
Infinite wrath rolling over His head,
Infinite grace, for He died in my stead.

Mac Rap

(HT) Cal.vini.st

e-Sword Rocks!

OK so I know that I am a bit behind on this one but I never liked the old version of e-sword and I didn't realize that the newest version was this good! All the free extras that you can download are an invaluable resource for any serious student of the Bible. Free commentaries by Calvin, Henry, Pink, Poole and more right at your fingertips, also free books, maps, dictionaries and did I mention that this is all FREE. Download e-Sword and then get all the Free Extras. Enjoy!

All We Need To Know

"Remember that, to the faithful reader of this blessed Word, it reveals all that we need to know about the Father, all that we need to know about the Lord Jesus Christ, all about the power of the Spirit, all about the world that lieth in the wicked one, all about the road to heaven, and the blessedness of the world to come. In this blessed book we have the whole Gospel, and all rules necessary for our Christian life and warfare. Let us see then that we study it with our whole heart and with prayer, meditation, faith and obedience." —George Mueller (1805–1898)

Experiencing Flaws?

Just a few links that I think maybe helpful in understanding some of the flaws of Henery Blackaby’s subjectivism both from his "Experiencing God" book and "Hearing God's Voice" and also his latest one chapter addition in the new book "How Then Should We Choose?" in which Dan Phillips of TeamPyro calls "the single most appalling trainwreck I've read in recent memory". Have also added a recent article on some recent events.

Unbiblical Teachings on Prayer and Experiencing God, by Bob DeWaay
Experiencing God - Part 1, by Gary Gilley
Experiencing God - Part 2 , by Gary Gilley
Experiencing God - Part 3, by Gary Gilley
Hearing God’s Voice, by Gary Gilley
A Critique of Experiencing God.PDF, by Gil Rugh
The Blackaby view of God's will - Part 1, by Dan Phillips
The Blackaby view of God's will - Part 2, by Dan Phillips
Can't Hear God Speak? Repent Says Blackaby, by Sola Sisters

"There is a series of books, and I mean, they've got everything from bumper stickers and every imaginable kind of curriculum has come out of this series by Henry Blackaby... It's called experiencing God. There's much in it that's good. There really is. There's much in it that's very good. It gives honor to Christ. It gives honor to scripture. It gives honor to the Holy Spirit, but there's an insidious flaw in the middle of it. The material is designed to teach a person how to listen for the voice of God and to some how be able to hear the voice of God. Now, this is very dangerous. If you want to hear the voice of God, read the Bible." —John MacArthur

Silly Preachers

With all the silliness that seems to be gearing up for the up coming Easter week I thought I would post a few scripture text from Jeremiah to warn so-called pastors of the dangers of not preaching the Word. Now I know that these are out of context as to the meaning to be applied directly to Israel but the same principle's still apply to us today.

Jeremiah 23
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.

11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.

12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

We Have a Huge Problem!

The Greatest Abasement

"It is against the stream and current of our corrupt nature to come to Christ. Consider from what the soul departs when it comes to Christ. In that day it leaves all its lusts and ways of sin, how pleasant, sweet and profitable soever they have been : "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord." Isa. 55 : 7. His way and thoughts, that is, both the practice of and delight he had in sin must be forsaken, and the outward and inward man must be cleansed from it. Now there are in the bosoms of unregenerate men such darling lusts, which have given them so much pleasure, brought them so much profit, and been born and bred up with them, and which, on all these accounts, are so endeared to their souls, that it is easier for them to die than to forsake them; yea, nothing is more common among such men than to venture eternal damnation rather than suffer a separation from their sins.

And what is yet more difficult in coming to Christ, the soul forsakes not only its sinful self, but its righteous self; not only its worst sins, but its best performances, accomplishments and excellencies. This is one of the greatest straits that nature can be put to. Righteousness by works was the first liquor that ever was put into the vessel, and it still retains the tang and savor of it, and will to the end of the world. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Rom. 10 : 3. To come naked and empty to Christ, and receive all from him as a free gift, is, to proud corrupt nature, the greatest abasement and submission in the world." —John Flavel (1627 - 1691)

Excerpt taken from "The Method of Grace" by John Flavel (1627 - 1691)

Knowledge of Terror

I don't like to post two quotes by the same person back to back but I have been out of town for a few days and I have not posted anything in over a week so here is some more Spurgeon for you to chew on.

"No one knows the true God in the real sense of knowledge except through Jesus Christ, for no man comes unto the Father but by the Son. But even if he could know God, in a measure, apart from the revelation of Him in Christ Jesus, it would be a knowledge of terror that would make him flee away and avoid God! It would not be life to our souls to know God apart from His Son, Jesus Christ! We must know the Christ whom He has sent or our knowledge does not bring eternal life to us." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled "Eternal Life!" by C. H. Spurgeon published 1895, Sermon #2396

Pining After Perfection

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." —Matthew 5:8

"The Spirit of God finds us with foul hearts, and he comes and throws a divine light into us so that we see that they are foul. Then he shows us that, being sinners, we deserve to endure God's wrath, and we realize that we do. Then he says to us, "But that wrath was borne by Jesus Christ for you." He opens our eyes, and we see that "Christ died for us,"—in our room, and place, and stead. We look to him, we believe that he died as our Substitute, and we trust ourselves with him. Then we know that our sins are forgiven us for his name's sake, and the joy of pardoned sin goes through us with such a thrill as we never felt before; and the next moment the forgiven sinner cries, "Now that I am saved, now that I am pardoned, my Lord Jesus Christ, I will be thy servant for ever. I will put to death the sins that put thee to death; and if thou wilt give me the strength to do so, I will serve thee as long as I live!" The current of the man's soul ran before towards evil; but the moment that he finds that Jesus Christ died for him, and that his sins are forgiven him for Christ's sake, the whole stream of his soul rushes in the other direction towards that which is right; and though he still has a struggle against his old nature, yet from that day forth the man is pure in heart; that is to say, his heart loves purity, his, heart seeks after holiness, his heart pines after perfection." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

He is Lord!

Nothing but Christ

"Look more at justification than sanctification. In the highest commands consider Christ, not as an exacter to require, but as a debtor, and undertaker, to work in you and for you. If you have looked at your resolutions, endeavors, workings, duties, qualifications, etc., more than at the merits of Christ, it will cost you dear. No wonder you go mourning; graces may be evidences, the merits of Christ alone without them, must be the foundation of your hope. Christ only can be the hope of glory.

When we come to God, we must bring nothing but Christ with us. Any ingredients, or any previous qualifications of our own, poison and corrupt faith. He that builds upon duties, graces, etc., knows not the merits of Christ. This makes believing so hard, so far above nature; Hence we see that the great difficulty of believing, lies in the strength of self-righteousness. Ther real difficulty is just the deep unwillingness of the soul to be counted wholly a sinner, and to let Christ be wholly a Saviour. If you believe, you must every day renounce as dung and dross, your privileges, your obedience, your baptism, your sanctification, your duties, your graces, your tears, your meltings, your humbling; and nothing but Christ must be held up. Every day your workings, your self-sufficiency, must be destroyed.

You must receive all at Gods' hand. Christ is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. Pardon is a free gift. Ah, how nature storms, frets, rages at this; that all is GIFT, and it can purchase nothing with its works, and tears, and duties; that all workings are excluded, and of no value in the justification of the soul." —Thomas Wilcox (1621-1687)

Good News!

Badness of Heart

"Often I have had very affecting views of my own sinfulness and vileness; very frequently to such a degree as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping, sometimes for a considerable time together, so that I have often been forced to shut myself up. I have had a vastly greater sense of my own wickedness, and the badness of my heart, than ever I had before my conversion. My wickedness, as I am in myself, has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable, swallowing up all thought and imagination. I know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be than by heaping infinite by infinite. When I look into my heart and take a view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell. And yet it seems to me that my conviction of sin is exceedingly small and faint: it is enough to amaze me that I have no more sense of my sin. I have greatly longed of late for a broken heart, and to lie low before God." —Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Lost Hymns

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers,
And sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of
This dark unrest,
And set my spirit free!

Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy power alone O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work, save Thine,
No other blood will do,
No strength save that,
Which is divine,
Can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart,
I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt,
I bury in His tomb
My unbelief,
And all my fear,
Each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace,
I trust His truth and might
He calls me His, I call Him mine,
My God, my joy, my light
’Tis He Who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives
I love because
He loveth me,
I live because He lives!

by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Quote of the Day

"Man lost himself at first by self-exaltation, and he must recover himself by self-denial." —Thomas Watson (1620-1686)

Full Assurance

"Your easy church-goers and chapel-goers; your ladies and gentlemen who think that religion consists in buying a Prayer Book, who imagine that to have a book of Psalms and Hymns, constitutes godliness; your fine folks to whom religion is as much a matter of fashion as some new color, or some new form of dress;—these people, having no vitality in their godliness, never having a religion which could either make them cry or sing, never having godliness enough either to make them miserable, or make them blessed—these think there is nothing more in godliness than they get themselves. They say, “I never knew my sins were forgiven,” and judging all others by themselves, they think that no one else can know it. And I am sorry to say, grieved at heart to say it, not seldom I have known professed ministers of the gospel, who have even rebuked those who have reached to the high attainment of assurance...

I would have each of you put aside those carnal quibbles which are raised by Romanists and Romanizers, against the idea that we can know that we are saved, for not only can we know it, but we ought never to be satisfied till we do know it. And this, mark you, is not my statement; it is the manifest testimony of the Book of God, and was plainly held by all the fathers of the Church, Augustine, Chrysostom, and the like; it is the testimony of all the Reformers—of all the giant divines of the Puritanic times, it is the testimony of all truly evangelical Christians, that every Christian has a right to have a full assurance of his salvation, and should never be content until he attains thereunto." —C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Doctrines Deliver

TCC '09

I am still in the WOW mode after two full days at last week's True Church Conference where my pastor Jonathan Sims was one of the guest speakers along with Jeff Noblit, Voddie Baucham, Paul Washer and David Miller. To steal a quote from my pastor it was like "drinking from a fire hydrant". This year's theme was "The Wonderful Grace of Repentance" be sure to download the few sermons that have been release for free at SermonAudio.com to get a taste of what took place. The instance unity of Christian love shared from everyone that I met surely was due to the presence of the Holy Spirit and a like mindedness of biblical truth. The bookstore was full of classic gems that you would never find in your local Christian bookstore plus lots of freebies from HeartCry Missionary Society. The deep biblical truth to all the songs that we sang were a joy to shout out and the fellowship was second to none that I have ever experienced at such an event. Can't wait to go again next year!

"There is not a just man that does good and sinneth not in that good he does. There is not only an imperfection, but an impurity in the best righteousness of the saints of their own working out and [are] therefore called "filthy rags" (Isa 64:6)... —John Gill (1697-1771)

Pink Assurance

"God the Father predestinated His people “to be conformed to the image of His Son ” ( Romans 8:29), which conformity is not fully wrought in any of them in this life, but awaits the day of Christ’s appearing ( 1 John 3:2). Now is the Father’s eternal purpose placed in jeopardy by the human will? is its fulfillment contingent upon human conduct? or, having ordained the end will He not also make infallibly effectual all means to that end? That predestination is founded upon His love: “I have loved thee (says the Father to each of His elect) with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” ( Jeremiah 31:3).

Nor is there any variation in His love, for God is not fickle like us: “I am the Lord, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” ( Malachi 3:6).

Were it possible for one of God’s elect to totally apostatize and finally perish it would mean the Father had purposed something which He failed to effect and that His love was thwarted.

Consider God the Son in His mediatorial character. The elect were committed unto Him as a trust by the Father: said He “Thine they were and Thou gayest them Me ” ( John 17:6). In the covenant of redemption Christ offered to act as their Surety and to serve as their Shepherd. This involved the most stupendous task which the history of the universe records: the Son’s becoming incarnate, magnifying the Divine Law by rendering to it perfect obedience, pouring out His soul unto death as a sacrifice to Divine justice, overcoming death and the grave, and ultimately presenting “faultless ” before God (Jude 24) the whole of His redeemed. As the good Shepherd He died for His sheep, and as the great Shepherd it is His office to preserve them from this present evil world. If He failed in this task, if any of His sheep were lost, where would be His faithfulness to His engagement? where would be the efficacy of His atonement? how could He triumphantly exclaim at the end “Behold land the children which God hath given Me” ( Hebrews 2:13)?

The person of the Holy Spirit is equally concerned in this vital matter. It is not sufficiently realized by the saints that they are as definitely indebted to the third Person of the Godhead as truly as they are to the first and second Persons. The Father ordained their salvation, the Son in His mediatorial character purchased it, and the Spirit “applies” and effectuates it. It is the blessed Spirit’s work to make good the Father’s purpose and the Son’s atonement: “He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” ( Titus 3:5).

Said Christ to His disciples “I will not leave you orphans (though I leave this world): I will come to you” ( John 14:18).

That promise given on the eve of His death was made good in the gift of the Spirit “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, the same shall teach you all things” ( John 14:26).

Christ’s redeemed were thus entrusted to the love and care of the Spirit, and should any of them be lost where would be the Spirit’s sufficiency? where His power? where His faithfulness?

This, then, is no trivial doctrine we are now concerned with, for the most momentous considerations are inseparably connected with it. We are satisfied it is because of their failure to realize this that so many professing Christians perceive not the seriousness of their assenting to the opposing dogma of the total apostasy of saints. If they understood more clearly what was involved in affirming that some who were truly born again fell from grace, continued in a course of sin, died impenitent and were eternally lost, they would be slower to set their seal unto that which carried such horrible implications. Nor may we regard it as a matter of indifference where such grave consequences are concerned. For any of the elect to perish would necessarily entail a defeated Father, who was balked of the realization of His purpose: a disappointed Son, who would never see the full travail of His soul and be satisfied; and a disgraced Spirit, who had failed to preserve those entrusted to His care. From such awful errors may we be delivered.

The importance of this truth further appears from the prominent place which is accorded it in the Holy Scriptures. Whether we turn to the O.T. or the New it makes no difference; whether we consult the Psalms or the Prophets, the Gospels or the Epistles, we find it occupies a conspicuous position. If we cited every reference we should have to transcribe literally hundreds of verses. Instead, we will quote only a few of the lesser known ones. Here is one from the Pentateuch: “He loved the people, all His saints are in Thy hand” ( Deuteronomy 33:3).

One from the Historical books: “He will keep the feet of His saints” ( 1 Samuel 2:8).

One from Job: “When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold” ( 23:10).

One from the Psalms: “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me” ( <19d808> Psalm 138:8).

One from the Proverbs: “The root of the righteous shall not be moved” (12:3 contrast Matthew 13:2 1).

One from the Prophets: “I will put My fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from Me” ( Jeremiah 32:40).

These are fair samples of the Divine promises throughout the O.T.

Observe the place given to this truth in the teaching of Christ. “Upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” ( Matthew 16:18). “False Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if possible, even the elect” ( Mark 14:22) —it is not possible for Satan to fatally deceive any of the elect. “Whosoever cometh to Me and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built a house and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the flood arose, the storm beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock” ( Luke 6:47-48). “This is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing” ( John 6:39).

The writings of the apostles are full of it. “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” ( Romans 5:10). “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him” ( James 2:5). “Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation” ( 1 Peter 1:5). “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for of they had been of us, they would have continued with us” ( 1 John 2:19). “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling” ( Jude 1:24).

The tremendous importance of this doctrine is further evidenced by the fact that it involves the very integrity of the Scriptures. There is no mistaking their teaching on this subject: the passages quoted above make it unmistakably plain that every section of them affirms the security of the saints. He then who declares the saints are insecure so long as they remain in this evil world, who insists that they may be eternally lost, yea that some of them—like king Saul and Judas—have perished, repudiates the reliability of Holy Writ and signifies that the Divine promises are worthless." —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)