Light in the Darkness

You cannot see the stars while the sun shines. Wait till it is dark, and then you shall behold them. And many a Christian grace is quite imperceptible until the time of trial, and then it shines out with great luster. - Spurgeon

 

Society Getting Darker?

If Society as a whole seems to be getting darker and darker, it is not a problem with the darkness (world), the darkness is just acting like it’s nature. But it is time for the light (church) to say, "If things are getting darker, the problem is with us." – Henry Blackaby

 

Martin Luther Quote

"Lord Jesus, you are my Righteousness. I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have made me what I was not, by taking to yourself what you were not." – Martin Luther – "The Great Exchange"

If God is Not Sovereign in Salvation Then Why Pray?

I was listening to a message on the Sovereignty of God in Salvation today by Michael Horton and he made an excellent point. Have you ever been asked, "If God is determines who will be saved, then why pray for someone to be saved? If it has already been determined, why pray. Horton went on to say, "Not only does God determine the end, but he determines the means as well". But then he said, "Really we should be asking them, if God is NOT Sovereign, then why pray for the salvation of anyone? Since God has done all he can and he is just waiting for the poor sinner to choose Him and God is helpless in determining the eternal destiny of a man, then why pray to ask God to save anyone? I thought this was an excellent point that he made which I had never considered before and wanted to share it.

For we know that God is in control of all things, including the salvation of men. We pray to Him, because we know that God can change a mans heart if God is willing and has compassion on the man. Amen?

Spurgeon Nugget regarding the Doctrine of Election

ELECTION

Quoted from a sermon delivered on September 2, 1855, by C. H. SPURGEON,

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark

It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, which are called by nickname Calvinism, but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic of no very honourable character might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren—I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church.

I also give you an extract from the old Baptist Confession. We are Baptists in this congregation—the greater part of us at any rate—and we like to see what our own forefathers wrote. Some two hundred years ago the Baptists assembled together, and published their articles of faith, to put an end to certain reports against their orthodoxy which had gone forth to the world. I turn to this old book—which I have just published The Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)— and I find the following as the:—

3rd Article: "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice. These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory out of his mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto."

As for these human authorities, I care not one rush for all three of them. I care not what they say, pro or con, as to this doctrine. I have only used them as a kind of confirmation to your faith, to show you that whilst I may be railed upon as a heretic and as a hyper-Calvinist, after all I am backed up by antiquity. All the past stands by me. I do not care for the present. Give me the past and I will hope for the future. Let the present rise up in my teeth, I will not care. What though a host of the churches of London may have forsaken the great cardinal doctrines of God, it matters not. If a handful of us stand alone in an unflinching maintenance of the sovereignty of our God, if we are beset by enemies, ay, and even by our own brethren, who ought to be our friends and helpers, it matters not, if we can but count upon the past; the noble army of martyrs, the glorious host of confessors, are our friends; the witnesses of truth stand by us. With these for us, we will not say that we stand alone, but we may exclaim, "Lo, God hath reserved unto himself seven thousand that have not bowed the knee unto Baal." But the best of all is, God is with us.

Limited Atonement

Recommended Reading regarding Limited Atonement:

If you are looking for a great book to read regarding limited atonement (the Biblical teaching that Christ's atoning death on the cross was for the elect only and not the whole world) I would highly recommend the book "The Death of Death is the Death of Christ" by John Owen.  It is not a quick read, but would be well worth your time to read it.  The introduction by J.I. Packer is awesome, it is one of the best essays that I have ever read.   If you don't read the book, please read the introduction!  Here is the link...

 

JI Packer's Introduction to "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ":

http://www.heritageonline.org/packerintro.htm

He Who Counts the Stars

He who counts the stars
(by Charles Spurgeon)

"He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their
 wounds. He counts the stars and calls them
 all by name. How great is our Lord! His power
 is absolute! His understanding is beyond
 comprehension!" Psalm 147:3-5

He who counts the stars and calls them by
their names, is in no danger of forgetting His
own children! He knows your case as thoroughly
as if you were the only creature He ever made,
or the only saint He ever loved!

(pasted from Grace Gems)

 

Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats

FEEDING SHEEP OR AMUSING GOATS?
C. H. Spurgeon
An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its imprudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate evil for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.
My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Then again, "He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry." Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.
Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? "Ye are the salt," not sugar candy-something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was in awful earnestness!
Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Their message is, "Come out, keep out, keep clean out!" Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord grant Thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They "turned the world upside down." That is the difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.
Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy-laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God's link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today's ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Quote of the Day

Tozer on Man Centered Christianity

"Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show."

Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 27. - A.W. Tozer