lost treasures

  • The Day of Pentecost ... the first of a series (Martyn Lloyd-Jones on revival)

      
    "God is appearing for brother Huntington's support. There is evidently a work of grace beginning among his people. His old praying women, who belonged to Whitefield's day, say that so good appearances have not been seen in Boston since 1771. But our church is still dead, and still looking to an arm of flesh. We have not got enough yet. We shall have to receive more scourging before we shall be fit for any work. Of all creatures, some of us seemed the most unlikely to be selected to make such a stand in Boston. Whether the selection was of God or man, time must determine. Pray for us...

    "But the church, with a few exceptions, are still asleep...

    "Our congregation, gathered from all parts, with habits formed until cold preaching, present a cold spectacle, much unlike the congregation of Newark. They must be melted down into one mass by an electric shock from heaven. God send the shock in his own time!"

    ~ Excerpts from Edward Dorr Griffin's letters of Sept., 14, 1811, April 22, 1812, and May 2, 1812.

    As way of introduction to today's post...

    Some of you may know that just over three years ago God laid on my heart a burden to pray for revival. (For more on that, please see the second portion of my post here re: prayer.) For a few years prior to that time, I had became aware there was something lacking in the Church, and along with many, many others, I reacted out of my flesh, and I began to step onto the missional/emergent bandwagon. But then in His grace, God snatched me off and brought me to my senses, so I might be able to make a Biblical response to the current condition of the Church –– which can only occur as we go back to seek the face of God Himself (after all we are His people, His flock, His Church!) through prayer in conjunction with His inspired, infallible Word. As I did so, I began to discover those things which we are so apt to miss – but which are wholly vital to the welfare of God's Church: prayer and the ministry of the Word (e.g. ~ Acts 6:2; Luke 24:49; Isaiah 62 & 64:1-8; Acts 1:8; Acts 2; Joel 2:28-32; II Tim. 3:16-4:5; Eph. 4:9-16). So much of the western church today continues to operate in vain as we walk according to the imagination of our own hearts and disregard Biblical doctrine and Church history. Just like Israel, we keep trying to invent new things, rather than going back to the old paths!

    Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. (KJV)

    Isaiah 30:15  For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,
    “In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
    But you were unwilling, 16  and you said,
    “No! We will flee upon horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
    and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
    17  A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five you shall flee,
    till you are left
    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
    like a signal on a hill.

    In other words, so long as we continue to rely on ourselves, so long as we look to the arm of flesh, rather than confess our insufficiency and admit our neediness and look up to Almighty God and importunately plead with Him to have mercy upon us for His name's sake, and to send to us the supplies He alone can provide through His Holy Spirit –– we will remain hard, dead, cold, and wholly ineffectual, and a reproach to His name.

    Isaiah 8:19  And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20  To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21  They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22  And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
    Zechariah 10:1  Ask rain from the LORD
    in the season of the spring rain,
    from the LORD who makes the storm clouds,
    and he will give them showers of rain,
    to everyone the vegetation in the field.
    2  For the household gods utter nonsense,
    and the diviners see lies;
    they tell false dreams
    and give empty consolation.
    Therefore the people wander like sheep;
    they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

    I realize the word "revival" is a loaded word, and I regret to say that there have been perpetuated some very sketchy and Biblically inaccurate and incorrect views of revival. Therefore, in order to give you more of an idea of what revival is and why I'm praying for revival, I present to you the following excerpt from Chapter 16 (What Happens in Revival) of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book "Revival" (Wheaton: Crossway, 1987), 199-203, boldface mine. (The book was based on a series of sermons ML-J preached on revival in 1959, which was the 100th anniversary of the Welsh Revival.)

    * * *

    And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken:  for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name (Exod. 33.17).

       So far in this particular study we have considered what Moses prayed for, and why he prayed for it, and how he prayed for it. We come now to the point where God heard Moses, and gave him an answer, promising him that he would do the very thing for him and for the Children of Israel, which Moses had requested. So, our subject is, God having pity and mercy upon the Church, and sending his blessing. For, revival, after all, is nothing but God hearing the people and answering them by giving this manifestation of his glory, and his strength, and his power. And it is important, therefore, for us to understand, and to know something of what we should be anticipating and what we should be seeking in our prayers. And, of course, the way to discover that is to go back to the second chapter of Acts.

    It is a truism to say that every revival of religion that the Church has ever known has been, in a sense, a kind of repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost, that it has been a return to that origin, to that beginning, that it has been a reviving. Today there is a great deal of very loose and dangerous talk and writing about what happened on the day of Pentecost. People go accepting uncritically the explanation that what happened on the day of Pentecost was once and for all and never to be repeated.

       Now, it is important that we should examine that because, if that is really true, it is very wrong to pray for revival. But, of course, it is just not true. There is only one sense in which what happened on the day of Pentecost cannot be repeated and that is simply that it did happen to be the first of a series. And, of course, you cannot repeat the first. But the fact that you cannot repeat the first does not mean for a moment that what happened on the first occasion cannot happen again. And every revival of religion, I say, is really a repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost. It is really almost incredible that people should go on saying that what happened at Pentecost was once and for all. Because if you go to Acts 11, and look there at Peter making his defence to the other Apostles for having baptised the Gentile Cornelius and his household, you will see that what he said was,

    12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: 13  And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14  Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. (Acts 11.12-15).

      
       You notice what he says. He says that the Holy Ghost fell on Cornelius, and his household, 'as on us at the beginning'. He said, 'The same thing happened to them, as happened to us on the day of Pentecost.' In other words, the baptism of the Holy Ghost took place on the day of Pentecost, but it also took place later upon Cornelius, and his household. That is exactly Peter's argument: 'Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift' – the same gift, you see – 'as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?' And he repeats the same argument again in Acts 15.

       So, then, I do trust we are clear about this, and see that we really must cease to say that what happened on the day of Pentecost happened once and for all. It did not, it was simply the first of a series. I am ready to admit that you cannot repeat 'the first'. But that is nothing; what matters is the thing that happened. And the thing that happened at Pentecost happened later in exactly the same way, while Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household. The Holy Ghost fell upon them, as he had fallen upon these people in the upper room, there in Jerusalem. And, of course, that is exactly what happens in every revival.

       There is indeed even further evidence which I can adduce for you. You will find in Acts 4 that the same thing happened even a few days after the day of Pentecost, to the apostles and to others. There, after they had been prohibited to preach any longer in the name of Jesus Christ, they went back to the gathered Christians and they all prayed together. Then we are told in verse 31, 'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.' That is exactly the term used in the second chapter. The term baptism is not used in the second chapter, but it means the baptism. Our Lord had said, 'Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem' (Luke 24.49), and had commanded them that 'they should not depart form Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence' (Acts 1.4-5). So what happened on the day of Pentecost was the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is described in Acts 4, they were filled again with the Holy Ghost. It was not anything that they did, it was that which happened to them. All they did was to pray, then God poured out his Spirit upon them again, and filled them until they were overflowing: 'They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness', (Acts 4.31).

       Now, that is precisely what happens in revival. It is God pouring forth his Spirit, filling his people again. It is not that which is talked of in Ephesians 5.18, which is the command to us, 'Go on being filled with the Spirit.' That is something you and I do, but this is something that is done to us. It is the Spirit falling upon us, being poured out upon us. These are the terms: 'I will pour forth my Spirit.' God alone can do that. But it is you and I who are responsible for going on being filled with the Spirit. We must not grieve the Spirit, we must not quench the Spirit, we must give obedience to the Spirit. And as long as we do that, we shall go on being filled with the Spirit. But this is different, this is the Spirit being poured out upon us until we are filled to overflowing, the Spirit being shed forth – these things are the terms. But so much of the modern teaching never uses these scriptural terms at all. You never find them talking or writing about the Spirit being poured forth, or shed forth, these terms are never mentioned. No, and that is because of the theory, that what happened on the day of Pentecost happened once and for all. There is not a word in Scripture to say that. Indeed, as I have shown you, the Scripture shows quite clearly and explicitly the exact opposite: 'The Spirit fell on them even as on us at the beginning.' Let us be careful that we do not quench the Spirit in the interest of some theory or in a fear of certain freak religious bodies.

       Having cleared that point, let us go on to consider what happens when this takes place. 'What is revival?' says somebody. 'Why are you concerned about this? Why do you go on urging us to pray for it?' The answer is this, above everything else, is what is needed today. When will the Christian Church come to realise that? The feast of Pentecost, our Whitsuntide, is in particular the festival of the Church. Oh, is there any tragedy comparable to the failure of the Church to realise that this is her need, and that this is her only hope? But the Church does not realise it. It is tragic to see different branches of the Church getting together in conferences and assemblies to investigate the situation and to discover the problem of the Church. They are investigating the situation, the problem confronting the church. 'Here are the facts,' they say, 'now then, what are we to do?'

       And what do they suggest? Has there been a great call to prayer and fasting and humiliation? A crying out to God to have mercy, and to baptize us afresh with the Holy Ghost? Is that what is done? No, I think what you will find is that they will appoint special commissions. One group has appointed eight special commissions to enquire into the situation: if it were not so tragic it would indeed be almost laughable. Of course, that is what the politicians do, and that is what a businessman does, and in those realms it is absolutely right. it is the obvious commonsense thing to do. But in the name of God, I ask, is it not tragic that the Christian Church should be doing that? With the world as it is today – commissions to investigate, commissions of enquiry! And, indeed, in one case there is a commission even to report on what the Christian faith is, and how it is to be expressed. With the world on fire, with hell let loose, the Christian Church is trying to discover what her message is. She is seeking for some way of meeting the situation.

       It is true of all sections of the Christian Church. They are all in exactly the same condition. Not a word about the need for the power. Not a call to prayer and humiliation and to agony in the presence of God. The Church does everything except that which the Lord himself commanded the early Church to do. 'Ah,' but the Church says, 'you know, the conditions are different now. This is the twentieth century.' I would insult you by giving you an answer to that. The twentieth century has nothing to do with the situation at all. Man in sin does not change. But, my friends, we are talking about the power of God. And when we are talking about the power of God, to talk about superficial changes in men is not only an irrelevance, it is non-sensical. The world, I say, has always been the same. Look at the position in the book of Acts. Can you imagine any more hopeless position than that? There we find just a handful of people, and they are very ordinary men. They are described later as illiterate and ignorant men. The Lord of glory goes back to heaven, and he leaves his cause and his interest in the hands of these man. The Jews are all against them, as they had been against him. The Gentiles are all pagans. That is the position. A handful of people in an entirely hostile and gainsaying world. Nothing could have been worse than that. Nothing could have been more difficult. But you remember what happened when the Holy Ghost came down upon them. They were like lions, mighty in power, and within three centuries, this little sect became the official religion of the great Roman Empire. How did it happen? Did they hold commissions of enquiry and investigation? Nonsense. They just went on praying, waiting for the promise, the gift of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

       And so it has been through the ages. Again I could take you over the history. Was it not like that at the Protestant Reformation? What hope had that one man Martin Luther, just an unknown monk? Who was he to stand up against all the Church, and fifteen centuries almost, or at least a good twelve to thirteen centuries of tradition in the opposite direction? It seems a sheer impertinence for this one man to get up and say, "I alone am right, and you are all wrong.' That is what would be said about him today. And yet, you see, he was a man with whom the Spirit of God had been dealing. And though he was only one man, he stood, and stood alone, and the Holy Ghost honored him. The Protestant Reformation came in, and has continued, and it has always been the same.

    * * *

    Holy Spirit, melt us down into one mass by an electric shock from heaven.
    God send the shock in Your own time!

    Please note (Updated 2/12/2013): Thanks to the MLJ Trust (http://www.mljtrust.org/), you can find and listen to the entire sermon from which this book excerpt was taken, along with 1600 sermons by the late Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones by clicking here:  http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/. The sermon I cited here is titled "The Power of Pentecost," which is 16th sermon in the series of sermons on revival ML-J preached in 1959 and can be found here: http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/the-power-of-pentecost/. You can access the rest of ML-J's sermons on revival here:  http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/revival/.

    You can also access a weekly podcast of one of ML-J's sermons at http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/living-grace/listen/. They're currently broadcasting ML-J's sermons on the book of Ephesians.

    If the Lord has given you a burden to pray for reformation and revival in the Church, I invite you to visit tent of meeting, my blog devoted to prayer for revival.

    Related posts:

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations included in the excerpt from ML-J and others marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_006.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0
    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vesimyllyn_vett%C3%A4.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

  • Prayer & Revival in Ireland (R.A. Torrey) & Livingstone in Africa: Are we in our closets?

    The following is an excerpt from R.A. Torrey's book "How to Pray," Chapter XII - The Place of Prayer before and during Revivals, which was published in 1900 (boldface mine):

    In the early part of the seventeenth century there was a great religious awakening in Ulster, Ireland. The lands of the rebel chiefs which had been forfeited to the British crown, were settled up by a class of colonists who for the most part were governed by a spirit of wild adventure. Real piety was rare. Seven ministers, five from Scotland and two from England, settled in that country, the earliest arrivals being in 1613. Of one of these ministers named Blair it is recorded by a contemporary, “He spent many days and nights in prayer, alone and with others, and was vouchsafed great intimacy with God.” Mr. James Glendenning, a man of very meager natural gifts, was a man similarly minded as regards prayer. The work began under this man Glendenning. The historian of the time says, “He was a man who never would have been chosen by a wise assembly of ministers nor sent to begin a reformation in this land. Yet this was the Lord’s choice to begin with him the admirable work of God which I mention on purpose that all may see how the glory is only the Lord’s in making a holy nation in this profane land, and that it was ‘not by might, nor by power, nor by man’s wisdom, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.’” In his preaching at Oldstone multitudes of hearers felt in great anxiety and terror of conscience. They looked on themselves as altogether lost and damned, and cried out,

    “Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?” They were stricken into a swoon by the power of His Word. A dozen in one day were carried out of doors as dead. These were not women, but some of the boldest spirits of the neighborhood; “some who had formerly feared not with their swords to put a whole market town into a fray.” Concerning one of them, then a mighty strong man, now a mighty Christian, say that his end in coming into church was to consult with his companions how to work some mischief.”

    This work spread throughout the whole country. By the year 1626 a monthly concert of prayer was held in Antrim. The work spread beyond the bounds of Down and Antrim to the churches of the neighboring counties. So great became the religious interest that Christians would come thirty or forty miles to the communions, and continue from the time they came until they returned without wearying or making use of sleep. Many of them neither ate nor drank, and yet some of them professed that they “went away most fresh and vigorous, their souls so filled with the sense of God.”

    This revival changed the whole character of northern Ireland.

    Another great awakening in Ireland in 1859 had a somewhat similar origin. By many who did not know, it was thought that this marvelous work came without warning and preparation, but Rev. William Gibson, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1860, in his very interesting and valuable history of the work tells how there had been preparation for two years. There had been constant discussion in the General Assembly of the low estate of religion, and of the need of a revival. There had been special sessions for prayer. Finally four young men, who became leaders in the origin of the great work, began to meet together in an old schoolhouse in the neighborhood of Kells. About the spring of 1858 a work of power began to manifest itself. It spread from town to town, and from county to county. The congregations became too large for the buildings, and the meetings were held in the open air, oftentimes attended by many thousands of people. Many hundreds of persons were frequently convicted of sin in a single meeting. In some places the criminal courts and jails were closed for lack of occupation. There were manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power of a most remarkable character, clearly proving that the Holy Spirit is as ready to work to-day as in apostolic days, when ministers and Christians really believe in Him and begin to prepare the way by prayer.

    Mr. Moody’s wonderful work in England and Scotland and Ireland that afterwards spread to America had its origin on the manward side in prayer. Mr. Moody made little impression until men and women began to cry to God. Indeed his going to England at all was in answer to the importunate cries to God of a bed-ridden saint. While the spirit of prayer continued the revival abode in strength, but in the course of time less and less was made of prayer and the work fell off very perceptibly in power. Doubtless one of the great secrets of the unsatisfactoriness and superficiality and unreality of many of our modern so-called revivals, is that more dependence is put upon man’s machinery than upon God’s power, sought and obtained by earnest, persistent, believing prayer. We live in a day characterized by the multiplication of man’s machinery and the diminution of God’s power. The great cry of our day is work, work, work, new organizations, new methods, new machinery; the great need of our day is prayer. It was a master stroke of the devil when he got the church so generally to lay aside this mighty weapon of prayer. The devil is perfectly willing that the church should multiply its organizations, and deftly contrive machinery for the conquest of the world for Christ if it will only give up praying. He laughs as he looks at the church to-day and says to himself:

    “You can have your Sunday-schools and your Young People’s Societies, your Young Men’s Christian Associations and your Women’s Christian Temperance Unions, your Institutional Churches and your Industrial Schools, and your Boy’s Brigades, your grand choirs and your fine organs, your brilliant preachers and your revival efforts too, if you don’t bring the power of Almighty God into them by earnest, persistent, believing, mighty prayer.”

    Prayer could work as marvelous results today as it ever could, if the church would only betake itself to it.

    There seem to be increasing signs that the church is awakening to this fact. Here and there God is laying upon individual ministers and churches a burden of prayer that they have never known before. Less dependence is being put upon machinery and more dependence upon God. Ministers are crying to God day and night for power. Churches and portions of churches are meeting together in the early morning hours and the late night hours crying to God for the latter rain. There is every indication of the coming of a mighty and widespread revival. There is every reason why, if a revival should come in any country at this time, it should be more widespread in its extent than any revival of history. There is the closest and swiftest communication by travel, by letter, and by cable between all parts of the world. A true fire of God kindled in America would soon spread to the uttermost parts of the earth. The only thing needed to bring this fire is prayer.

    It is not necessary that the whole church get to praying to begin with. Great revivals always begin first in the hearts of a few men and women whom God arouses by His Spirit to believe in Him as a living God, as a God who answers prayer, and upon whose heart He lays a burden from which no rest can be found except in importunate crying unto God.

    May God use this book to arouse many others to pray that the greatly-needed revival may come, and come speedily.

    * * *

    Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. (KJV)

    Let us not despise the day of small things!

    Let us rely wholly on the Spirit of Lord, rather than on the flesh of man.

    Please notice these portions I emphasized above:

    the small numbers...

    Seven ministers

    four young men

    and those who would be passed over as judged by the world's eyes...

    a man of very meager natural gifts

    He was a man who never would have been chosen by a wise assembly of ministers nor sent to begin a reformation in this land. Yet this was the Lord’s choice to begin with him the admirable work of God which I mention on purpose that all may see how the glory is only the Lord’s in making a holy nation in this profane land, and that it was ‘not by might, nor by power, nor by man’s wisdom, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.

    a bed-ridden saint

    God's ways are NOT our ways – but how often do we forget that? Very often when we see a problem, instead of seeking the Lord's mind and will about that, so we might see the situation through God's eyes and discern the solution that comes from Him, we approach the problem according to our own human, fleshly thoughts and ways, and we begin to look to the world's ways. As a result, our way is to campaign and to network and to shout, to try to be the loudest voice on the block, we do all we can to make the biggest splash and the greatest impact. We try to rally more and more people, we seek to raise more and more money, we strive to enlist the biggest and brightest and shiniest and flashiest and strongest and wisest in the world's eyes. We get enamored with and tangled up in that vain and vile machinery of man!

    But that's never God's way, as we read in I Corinthians 1:

    26  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are...

    That makes no sense to our flesh. Why, then, is that God's way?

    ...  29  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30  He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31  Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

    We see that story repeated time and again throughout the Bible and throughout Church history, such as we see in Torrey's account of God's workings in revival in Ireland throughout the years. God is always seeking that He gets all the glory. All! All means all!

    Isaiah 42:8  I am the LORD; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.

     

    For example, consider the story of Gideon and Israel's battle against the Midianites in Judges 7 and 8. (See also my post here.) If you remember the story, God has Gideon continue to pare down his army time and again. Why did God do such a thing? To our human reasoning, the more the better!

    Judges 7:2  The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

    God is passionate for His own glory! That's the bottom line! God's glory! O, don't get me wrong, as we rely on our own fleshly ideas and plans, we may very well get a good result in the eyes of the world, we may be successful in many ways – but how does God see it? Have we robbed the LORD of the glory due His name in the process? Have we gained the whole world and lost our souls in the process?

    The LORD ends up bringing victory to Israel with 300 men! Consider who He is:

    I am the LORD; that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.

    Our God is the LORD! The LORD - Jehovah! If we would consider that, if we would consider our God's continuing, everlasting covenant love for the elect through the Lord Jesus Christ! If we would consider that our God is for us! If we would consider that He who did not spare His only begotten Son for us will freely give us all things! If we would consider that our God is the omniscient, omnipotent, only wise God, we would never consider turning to and relying on earthly means for help!

    In II Chronicles 14-16, we find the story of Asa, king of Judah, and how the Lord continued to give deliverance to Asa and Judah – so long as Asa relied on the Lord. Read the sad account of what happened when Asa chose to turn away from relying on the Lord to relying on man, in this case his making an alliance with Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria:

    II Chronicles 16:7  And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8  Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. 9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. 10  Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (KJV)


    How can we expect God's blessing to pour down upon us, how can we expect God to revive the Church if we continue to rely on our own devices rather than pleading with God in prayer, pulling down His promises, and seeking His strength and His wisdom?     Whenever we continue to rely on ourselves, on our flesh and the machinery of man, God rebukes us and renders this judgment upon us: "Woe to you!" – just as God spoke to Israel thousands of years ago:

    Isaiah 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. 4  For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 5  They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. 6  The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. 7  For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. (KJV)


    Isaiah 31:1  Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! 2  Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. 3  Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. (KJV)

    These things are written to us for our instruction! Let us take heed!

    Shouldn't the people of God seek their God? And yet how often do we walk in the ways of rebellious Israel and go down to "Egypt" for help? Isn't it an abomination that the children of God would do such a thing? And isn't it an abomination that we would even entertain the thought of doing such a thing? Jesus' words about adultery in the heart come to mind...

    Luke 5:28  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

    That's a sobering reminder to each and every one of us! As we look at the world and the world's devices and methods and think: "If we had more people, more money, more advertising, a bigger building, more followers, more readers..." At that point, each and every one of us have already committed adultery with the world in our hearts! Is our God not enough? Does He not long and yearn to show Himself strong on our behalf, to give strong support to us (ESV), to rain down in power upon us and provide all we need for the work He has given us to do? That which we need more of is more of the Holy Spirit, and, as Torrey said, more and more dependence on God and less and less dependence on man's machinery!

    People of God, let us consider our God! Let us consider our God is the Almighty God, the Lord of hosts! We sing Sunday after Sunday about the power of God – but do we really believe it? Do we see that apart from Him we have no power? Have we been brought to see our own insufficiency: that we are the branches and Jesus is the Vine and apart from Him we can do nothing?

    Let us consider who we are: we are the bride of Christ! Let us consider the treasure we have: our first Love, our Bridegroom! Let us consider that we are children of God, and let us consider the resurrection power which God makes available to us through His Holy Spirit – so long as we stop relying on our own power and we turn away from relying on the world's power and begin to ask, seek and knock at the throne of grace! Does our heavenly Father not want to give His children His Holy Spirit? (Luke 11) May we despise ourselves each and every time our hearts begin to wander from wholly relying on the LORD alone! Our seeking to work according to worldly ways, with worldly power and machinery is adultery against the one true God!

    The eyes of the LORD are still running to and fro throughout the earth today. And our God is looking for those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, or in the NKJV, whose hearts are loyal to Him, or the ESV, blameless toward Him. What does it mean to be perfect, loyal and blameless toward God? It means that God is looking for souls who are relying on Him. God did not find Asa to be such a man. Would God consider you to be such a man or a woman, one who relies on the Lord? Would He consider me to be such a woman? . . .

    Because Asa was not relying on God. God rebuked king Asa – and not only that, there were dire consequences for the entire nation of Israel! Let us not forget how our own neglect of prayer and our own lack of reliance on God as individuals does have an effect on the entire Body of Christ! Consider how Miriam's sin of dissension against Moses caused her to be stricken with leprosy, and while she was sent outside the camp for seven days, the rest of the nation could not journey until she was brought back in again (see Numbers 12).

    God says Asa had done foolishly. How foolish we are to rely on the power of man when our God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, He is our Savior and Redeemer, the God who conquered and defeated sin, death and Satan, the God whose Spirit blew and made us alive together with Christ – this is the God we have who is waiting to show Himself strong on our behalf! How foolish we are to despise our time in the closet in prayer, and in the meantime we find plenty of time and energy to run, run, run to all our activities, and we run, run, run to imitate the world's ways! And no, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be actively engaged in good works in the world, of course we should – but let's never do so without being engaged in that good work of prayer in the closet!

    Luke 18:1  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? , Will he delay long over them? 8  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

    We all ought to be running to our closets and falling down on our faces to our God there! Has God not promised that He will show Himself strong to us? Has He not promised He will avenge us speedily! Will He find faith on the earth? Will He find us in prayer? We can't expect God to show Himself strong on our behalf if we continue to rely on our own fleshly ideas and earthly schemes. How can we possibly expect God to bless us as we make our plans apart from consulting Him? How can we possibly expect God to bless us if we are not relying on Him?

    March 19, 2012 will be the 199th birthday of David Livingstone. The love of God had constrained and compelled Livingstone to spend and be spent for Jesus Chris. As a missionary and explorer in Africa, he laboring unceasingly to lift up Christ and Him crucified to the natives and to tear down the slave trade. Though his outer man had been more than worn out, both his flesh and his spirit continued more than willing... ¹:

    It must have been around 4 am when Susi heard Majwara's step once more. 'Come to Bwana, I am afraid; I don't know if he is alive.' Susi quickly called Chumah, Chowpere, Matthew and Muanyasere. The six men went immediately to the hut.

    Passing inside they looked towards the bed. Dr Livingstone was not lying on it, but appeared to be engaged in prayer, and they instinctively drew backwards for the instant. Pointing to him, Majwara said, 'When I lay down he was just as he is now, and it is because I find that he does not move that I fear he is dead.' They asked the lad how long he had slept. Majwara said he could not tell, but he was sure that it was some considerable time: the men drew nearer.

    A candle stuck by its own wax to the top of the box shed a light sufficient for them to see his form. Dr Livingstone was kneeling by the side of his bed, his body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. For a minute they watched him:  he did not stir, there was no sign of breathing; then one of them, Matthew, advanced softly to him and placed his hands to his cheeks. It was sufficient; life had been extinct some time, and the body was almost cold: Livingstone was dead.


    "... And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks." – Hebrews 11:4
    May the Holy Spirit call us and draw us and keep us in the closet and faithful to the Lord in the same way He did Livingstone.

    "... Could you not watch one hour?" – Mark 14:37

    May God give us grace to be patient, steadfast, fervent and faithful in prayer, knowing our labor in prayer in the Lord is not in vain.
    James 5:7  Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9  Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10  As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11  Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful...

    16 ... The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18  Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

    May our God have mercy upon us and pour out upon His people the spirit of grace and supplications (Zech. 12:10), so we might watch in prayer and give the LORD no rest till He establish and make His Church a praise in the earth once again! (~ Isaiah 62)

    May God give us ears to hear His Spirit speaking to us...

    "Prayer could work as marvelous results today as it ever could, if the church would only betake itself to it."

    "It is not necessary that the whole church get to praying to begin with. Great revivals always begin first in the hearts of a few men and women whom God arouses by His Spirit to believe in Him as a living God, as a God who answers prayer, and upon whose heart He lays a burden from which no rest can be found except in importunate crying unto God."

     ~ May God be pleased to use this blog to arouse souls to pray that the greatly-needed revival may come, and come speedily. ~

    If God has been putting into your heart a similar burden to serve Him and to pray for the church, please visit tent_of_meeting, my blog dedicated to revival prayer, and deerlife, my blog to encourage believers to serve in their churches.

    Related posts on prayer and revival:

    Reference:  ¹Rob Mackenzie, "David Livingstone: The Truth Behind the Legend" (Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 1993), 365-366. Mackenzie used the account of Livingstone's death as recorded in "The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa 1865-1873," by Horace Waller & John Murray (London: 1880), 308). For more on Livingstone, please see the Biography of David Livingstone at the Gospel Fellowship Association.

    Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Work found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Livingstone.jpg  / CC BY-SA 3.0/ {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

  • out of the mouth of an atheist ~ the Christmas sermon you may not have heard

      
    Dan Barker, a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, recently spoke about the offense of Christ and Christianity in a discussion about the display of Nativity scenes on public property on Eric Bolling's "Follow the Money" program on Fox Business Channel (see here and here).

    Barker asked:

    "Why would they want to put up a discriminatory and insulting image? To a lot of Americans, the nativity scene basically is an insult to human nature, that we are all doomed and damned and deserving of eternal torment..."

    Bolling interrupted Barker:

    "I have to take exception to the way you described the nativity scene. It's not an insult, certainly not an insult to me. I'm a Christian. It's not an insult."

    Barker replied, "It is an insult, sir..."

    And later Barker added:

    "And by the way, why was Jesus born? To save us from our sins. What an insult that we are degraded, depraved human beings, that Jesus created a hell, a place of torture..."

    I loved this! You may be asking, "Why?"

    Well, first off, I have to say that I am saddened and grieved that Mr. Barker is not trusting in Christ.

    However, it seems to me Mr. Barker displayed a lot more doctrinal depth and understanding of the true message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ than many (most) Christians or professing Christians or pastors or denominations do today.

    First off, Barker sees Jesus Christ, Christianity and the cross of Christ as an insult. And that's exactly in line with Scripture, which tells us that the cross of Christ is an offense (Galatians 5:11) and that Jesus Christ is

    “A stone of stumbling,
    and a rock of offense.”
    (I Peter 2:8)

    Too often in too many churches today the message of the Gospel is watered down! We want to make it less offensive! We want to make it user friendly! We don't want people to be insulted. We leave off teaching about sin, judgment, condemnation and hell! God forbid! God forgive us!

    Jesus said that the preaching of the Gospel would have ramifications. As those who are Christ's come to know peace with God through Jesus Christ, we enter into a warfare and a separation from the world:

    Matthew 10:34  "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

    John 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

    Matthew 10:24  “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25  It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household."

    The Gospel message will be considered insulting and offensive by unregenerate souls, so we shouldn't be surprised at such reactions as Mr. Barker's.

    May God give us shepherds who preach the Word, fearing God and not fearing men; pastors who are not seeking to become popular or to lift themselves up, but to be jealous for Christ's renown and to lift up Christ and Him crucified; men who are not seeking to fill their membership rolls or their offering plates but seeking to fill up in their bodies what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ and passionately pleading for souls to count the cost and to come to Christ. May the Good Shepherd give us pastors of His flock, men who seek to preach Christ and Him crucified and not themselves, men who preach the word in fear and trembling, realizing that one Day they will stand before the Chief Shepherd to give an account; men who would not seek to feed their own lusts for fame but would seek to feed the flock of God and have great longings in their bowels for all the sheep who have been purchased with Christ's own blood; men who would have the Spirit's unction to preach in unwavering boldness and firm assurance and trust the Holy Spirit to open eyes and ears and hearts and minds to the truth. Jesus told us that His sheep would hear His voice. As we lift up Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we can trust that His sheep will hear and come to Him. Why? The Spirit will give them ears to hear.

    We treat the Gospel message as if we are hucksters! As if we have a product to sell! We are sorely tempted to spice it up and polish it – but how can the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ be enhanced or made brighter or greater or more glorious?! The Gospel is not to be sold, not to be bartered or not to be bantered about! The Gospel is God's holy message of salvation to be proclaimed to a dying and lost world! May we not be ashamed of Christ or His Gospel – for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17). Let us not be surprised then that many will consider it an insult, and remember that the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (I Cor. 1:18).

    May God protect us all, so we might be found faithful, so we do not resort to worldly means as we steward the Gospel of God. May we seek not to rely on ourselves and our own power and fleshly devices, for we are not sufficient (II Cor. 3), but rather to rely on the Holy Spirit, the supernatural power of the resurrected Christ in us, and that we be not like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ (II Cor. 2:17).

    We are called to sow the seed, to preach the Word, to labor hard as God's grace labors in us, and then to trust God to bring the increase through the working of His Spirit, for it is God alone who brings life to dead souls and immortality to light in souls which are in darkness through the preaching of the Gospel:

    Romans 10:14  But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

    Ephesians 2:1  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved...


    I Corinthians 2:7  But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8  None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9  But, as it is written,

    “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
    what God has prepared for those who love him”—


    10  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11  For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

    The unregenerate soul does not and cannot accept or receive the teaching of Christ because his mind is hostile to God and the things of God, particularly the Biblical teaching that Mr. Barker considered an insult: that we are depraved and degraded sinners who are helpless and powerless and in need of a Savior and we have no means to save ourselves:

    Romans 8:7  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

    Colossians 1:21  And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind...

    When Barker says, "And by the way, why was Jesus born? To save us from our sins..." – even though he has clearly rejected the truth that Jesus came to save us from our sins, even though considers such teaching an insult to himself and human nature, nonetheless, he does make a crystal-clear statement as to why Jesus was born, a statement which is in accord with the Scripture:

    Matthew 1:21: She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.



    In addition, though fully disagreeing with it and considering it "an insult to human nature," Barker also makes a crystal-clear statement as to the Biblical assessment of the condition of men apart from faith in Jesus Christ, that we are "degraded" and "depraved"    :

    Romans 3:9  For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10  as it is written:

    “None is righteous, no, not one;
    11  no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
    12  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”



    And finally, even though patently rejecting it, Barker makes a crystal-clear statement about God's just judgment of unbelievers in hell,     "that we are all doomed and damned and deserving of eternal torment," a doctrine which many professing Christians, including many so-called Gospel preachers deny:

    Acts 17:31  ... he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
    Romans 3:19  Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

    23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Revelation 20:14  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.


    Matthew 25:46  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

    Jesus Himself talks about hell as a place of "unquenchable fire" and "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" (see Mark 9). The word "eternal" in Matthew 25 is the same in both cases; in other words, the redeemed, those who have put their trust in Christ to save them from their sins, will live eternally with Christ in paradise; while in contrast, those who have not trusted in Christ will leave eternally apart from Christ in hell. There is no teaching of annihilation in the Bible, as many may claim there to be.

    As Christians, may we go back to the law and the testimony, and test and prove all things, and then hold fast to what is good. May we be valiant for truth. May we not be deceived and walk according to the imagination of our own hearts or according to the lies of the prince of the power of the air. Let us study to show ourselves approved and not be ashamed of these Biblical doctrines: the total depravity of man and our sinful condition – and with it, our need of salvation, which comes only through God's appointed Savior, His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and the resurrection and the final judgment and the doctrines of heaven and hell, with the just by faith in Christ being raised to eternal life but the unjust being condemned to eternal torment.

    Hebrews 9:24  For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26  for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
    How many of you heard a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day sermon which mentioned sin?

    Sometimes the Gospel of Jesus Christ gets truncated... For example, John 3:16-17 may be understood as . . .

    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should have eternal life....in order that the world might be saved through him.

    Did you notice what's missing there?

    16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

    Do you understand that whoever does not believe in Christ is condemned already and apart from faith they will perish, go away into eternal punishment?

    18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.

    Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

    Each and every man, woman, boy and girl needs saving from his sins for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – and apart from faith in Christ, each and every man, woman, boy and girl will perish!

    Even near the end of his life, in I Timothy 1, the apostle Paul wrote:

    The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

    Do you see yourself as a depraved and degraded sinner in need of salvation? Do you see yourself as the foremost sinner, or the chief of sinners? Do you profess that apart from Christ, no good thing dwells in you (Romans 7:18), and that all your deeds are evil and you love the darkness?

    Or, like Dan Barker, are you insulted and offended by that?

    Are you insulted and offended by God's plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, the Babe who lay in the manger, who lived the perfect life none of us could live and died as a spotless, sinless Lamb who died on the cross bearing the sin of the world, becoming the propitiation for all who would believe?

    In Romans 3 and 5, Paul lifts high that nativity scene which Mr. Barker considered an insult. He lifts up Jesus Christ before us in all His glory, in whom grace and truth dwelt, through whom God was just and justifier. A holy and just God must punish sins, but because God punished sin in His Son, all who trust in Christ are justified in the eyes of God. In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them (II Cor. 5:19a).

    Romans 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

    Paul embraces and exalts and exults in Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior, the only Mediator between God and men, the God-man; the Prince of Peace who reconciled sinners to God. Paul explains our lost, sinful condition and then lifts up Jesus Christ and Him crucified before us and proclaims to us the free gift of God offered to all who will receive Him by grace through faith:

    Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13  for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

    15  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17  If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

    18  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19  For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20  Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    In His lovingkindness, mercy and grace toward us, because God loved us first, not because of any merit or worthiness or wholeness or wholesomeness on our part, God provided His Son as an atonement for sin, so all who trust in Him might be saved!

    To God be the Glory
    (Fannie J. Crosby)

    To God be the glory, great things He has done;
    So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
    Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
    And opened the life gate that all may go in.

    Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the earth hear his voice! 
        Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the people rejoice!
        O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
        and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

    O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
        to every believer the promise of God;
        the vilest offender who truly believes,
        that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

    Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the earth hear his voice! 
        Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the people rejoice!
        O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
        and give him the glory, great things he hath done!
     
    Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
        and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
        but purer, and higher, and greater will be
        our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

    Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the earth hear his voice! 
        Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
        let the people rejoice!
        O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
        and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

    Have you entered the life gate by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

    Luke 13:3  "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."


    I Corinthians 15:1  Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

    3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
    Paul's writing there to remind us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is of first importance, but so many pastors, churches and denominations today have made it secondary, elevating good works and morality and a social gospel above it, and others teaching a universal salvation.

    Paul wrote to remind his readers, as do I!

    Hold fast to the word!

    Christ died for our sins!

    I pray that you have not believed in vain, but will hold fast to this glorious Gospel...

    that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.



    Luke 18:9  He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

    So long as you do not see yourself as a sinner in need of God's mercy through Jesus Christ
     you will not be justified!

    My soul magnifies the Lord,
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
    for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    (Luke 1:46b-48)

    To God be the glory, great things He has done;
    So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
    Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
    And opened the life gate that all may go in.

    O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
        and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

    References:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEjVhesyqYw
    http://www.christianpost.com/news/fox-news-host-boots-atheist-off-show-for-belittling-jesus-64766/

    Related:

    please see my follow-up post, What is sin? | "the ultimate evil & the ultimate outrage in the universe" & the wrath to come, and . . .

    Advent #2 WHY HAS JESUS COME? to give his life as a ransom for many
    Advent #3 WHY HAS JESUS COME? not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance
    Advent #4 WHY HAS JESUS COME? "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword"
    Good Friday: Jesus Christ & the cross ARE an offense...What does that mean for us?
    First Week of Advent: The Most Scandalous Bailout Ever
    Second Sunday of Advent: FAQ about Santa Claus and the Gospel of Christ
    The Gospel: Penal substitution? Really? Yes, really!
    Surely none is righteous, no, not one ~ The Pharisee's Warning (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:9-10)
    From top of head to soles of feet ~ O my Father! ... O my Advocate!
    Why preach the Gospel? # 1: Bad men need Good News!
    Why preach the Gospel? # 2: Dead men need Life!
    Hear this, all ye people; give ear! ... He shall save His people from their sins!
    Have you believed with your heart ... all your heart? (Acts 8:37)

    the lost treasures of the Church: fools who preach Christ with great joy (letter 86)
    Lenten Reflections: Plucked
    Why I blog and the only kind of recommendation I should seek
    I don't want to walk anyone into hell
    the lost treasures of Christianity & the call to pray for revival (Bible reading: Ezra 1)

    Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Krippe_crib_detail_h_family.JPG  / CC BY-SA 3.0
    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_200.png  / CC BY-SA 3.0 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}

naphtali_deer

About me...

Christian hedonist in training. Pressing on to know more and more of the joy of the LORD. Pleading with God to rend the heavens and revive and refresh my own soul, as well as His Church, to His praise, honor and glory.

Thank God. He can make men and women in middle life sing again with a joy that has been chastened by a memory of their past failures. ~ Alan Redpath

My other websites

tent of meeting: Prayer for reformation & revival

(See also Zechariah821. Zechariah821 is a mirror site of tent of meeting, found on WordPress)

deerlifetrumpet: Encouragement for those seeking reformation & revival in the Church

RSS feed

RSS feed