Believe, and Live

"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."—Jeremiah 8:20.

NOT saved! Dear reader, is this your mournful plight? Warned of the judgment to come, bidden to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved! You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and yet you neglect it, and therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall judge the quick and dead. The Holy Spirit has given more or less of blessing upon the word which has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone—your summer and your harvest have past—and yet you are not saved. Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year will soon be here: youth has gone, manhood is going, and yet you are not saved. Let me ask you—will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most propitious seasons have left you unsaved; will other occasions alter your condition? Means have failed with you—the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection—what more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have alike failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not more than likely that you will abide as you are till death for ever bars the door of hope? Do you recoil from the supposition? Yet it is a most reasonable one: he who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy to his end. The convenient time never has come, why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it never will arrive, and that Felix like, you will find no convenient season till you are in hell. O bethink you of what that hell is, and of the dread probability that you will soon be cast into it!

Reader, suppose you should die unsaved, your doom no words can picture. Write out your dread estate in tears and blood, talk of it with groans and gnashing of teeth: you will be punished with everlasting destruction from the glory of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. A brother's voice would fain startle you into earnestness. O be wise, be wise in time, and ere another year begins, believe in Jesus, who is able to save to the uttermost. Consecrate these last hours to lonely thought, and if deep repentance be bred in you, it will be well; and if it lead to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of all. O see to it that this year pass not away, and you an unforgiven spirit. Let not the new year's midnight peals sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, NOW, NOW believe, and live.

"ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE;
LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE,
NEITHER STAY THOU
IN ALL THE PLAIN;
ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN,
LEST THOU BE CONSUMED."

(C.H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, December 31)

Catholic Mary Doctrines - Truth or Error?

Bible vs Catholic Mary Doctrines A Lecture by Roman Catholic apologist John Martignoni

Is the Roman Catholic Doctrine of the Virgin Mary Biblical? Debate - James White vs. Robert Fastiggi

Psalm 34

¹ I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
² My soul will boast in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶ the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;
²⁰ he protects all his bones,
    not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
    the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
²² The Lord redeems his servants;
    no one will be condemned

    who takes refuge in him.

Francois Fenelon's Spiritual Progress: Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul, Chapter 15, On The Presence of God

The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it quiet and repose even during the day, and in the midst of occupation — but we must be given up to God without reserve. When we have once found God, we have nothing to seek among men; we must make the sacrifice of our dearest friendships; the best of friends has entered into our hearts, that jealous Bridegroom who requires the whole of it for himself.

It takes no great time to love God, to be refreshed by his presence, to elevate our hearts to Him, or to worship Him in the depths of our soul, to offer to Him all we do and all we suffer; this is the true kingdom of God within us, which cannot be disturbed.

When the distraction of the senses and the vivacity of the imagination hinder the soul from a sweet and peaceful state of recollection, we should at least be calm as to the state of the will: in that case, the will to be recollected is a sufficient state of recollection for the time being. We must return toward God, and do everything which He would have us do with a right intention.

We must endeavor to awake within ourselves, from time to time, the desire of being devoted to God in all the extent of our powers; in our intellect, to know him and think on him, and in our will, to love him. We must desire too, that our outward senses may be consecrated to him in all their operations.

Happy is he whose mind contains only what is necessary, and who thinks of nothing except when it is time to think of it! so that it is God who excites the impression, by calling us to perform his will as soon as it is exhibited, rather than the mind laboriously foreseeing and seeking it. In short, let us be accustomed to recollect ourselves during the day and in the midst of our occupations, by a simple view of God.  Let us separate ourselves from all that does not come from God. Let us utter no useless word.

While outwardly busy, let us be more occupied with God than with everything else. To be rightly engaged, we must be in his presence and employed for  Him. At the sight of the Majesty of God, our interior ought to become calm and remain tranquil. Once a single word of the Saviour suddenly calmed a furiously agitated sea: one look of his at us, and of ours toward Him, ought always to perform the same miracle within us.

We must often raise our hearts to God. He will purify, enlighten, and direct them. Such was the daily practice of the sacred Psalmist: "I have set the Lord always before me." (Psalm 16:8) Let us often employ the beautiful words of the same holy prophet,  "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee! God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever!" (Psalm 73:25-26)

[Francois Fenelon's Spiritual Progress: Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul, Chapter 15, On The Presence of God, excerpts]

Francois Fenelon's Spiritual Progress: Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul, Chapter 10, On Self-Abandonment

To abandon one's self to to count one's self as nothing.  Those who have learned what that renunciation is, knows it revolts our nature.  The origin of our trouble is, that we love ourselves with a blind passion that amounts to idolatry.  If we love anything beyond, it is only for our own sakes. We must be undeceived respecting all those generous friendships, in which it appears as though we so far forgot ourselves as to think only of the interests of our friend. The more delicate, the more concealed, and the more proper in the eyes of the world it is, the more dangerous does it become, and the more likely to poison us by feeding our self-love.

However little we may have looked within to study the occasions of our pleasures, we shall have no difficulty in admitting that pride, as it is more or less delicate, has various tastes. But give it what taste you will, it is still pride; and that which appears the most restrained and the most reasonable is the most devilish. 

We may be sure, then, that it is only the love of God that can make us come out of self. If his powerful hand did not sustain us, we should not know how to take the first step in that direction. There is no middle course; we must refer everything either to God or to self; if to self, we have no other God than self; if to God, we are then in order, and regarding ourselves only as one among the other creatures of God, without selfish interests, and with a single eye to accomplish his will, we enter into that self-abandonment which you desire so earnestly to understand.

The reason why no creature can draw us out of ourselves is, that there is none that we perceive is more worthy than ourselves.  But God does two things, which He only has the power to do. First, He reveals himself to us, with all his rights over the creature, and in all the charms of his goodness. Then we feel that, not having made ourselves, we are not made for ourselves; that we are created for Him who was pleased to form us.  He is too great to make anything except for Himself, and therefore all our perfection and our happiness point to Him.

This is what no created thing, dazzling though it may be, can make us realize in respect to itself. Far from finding in them that infinity which so fills and transports us in God, we discover only a void, a powerlessness to fill our hearts, an imperfection that continually drives us into ourselves.

The second miracle which God works is, to operate in our hearts that which He pleases, after having enlightened our understanding. He is not satisfied with having displayed his own charms; He makes us love Him by producing, by his grace, his love in our hearts; and He thus himself performs within us, what He makes us see we owe to Him.

There is little difficulty in comprehending that we must reject criminal pleasures, unjust gains, and gross vanities, because the renouncement of these things consists in a contempt which repudiates them absolutely, and forbids our deriving any enjoyment from them; but it is not so easy to understand that we must abandon property honestly acquired, the pleasures of a modest and well-spent life, the honors derivable from a good reputation, and a virtue which elevates us above the reach of envy. The reason why we do not understand that these things must be given up, is, that we are not required to discard them with dislike, but, on the contrary, to preserve them to be used according to the place where God places us.

We have need of the consolation of a mild and peaceful life, to console us under its troubles; in respect to honors, we must regard "that which  is convenient," and we must keep the property we possess to supply our wants. How then are we to renounce these things at the very moment when we are occupied in the care of preserving them? We are to do what is in our power to retain them, in order to make a sober use of them, without desiring to enjoy them or placing our hearts upon them.

[Chart by Steve Hudgins, http://executableoutlines.com/charts.htm]

I say, a sober use of them, because, when we are not attached to a thing for the purposes of self-enjoyment and of seeking our happiness in it, we use only so much of it as we are necessarily obliged to; as you may see a wise and faithful steward study to use only so much of his master's property to meet his necessary wants.

The abandonment

  of evil things then, consists in refusing them with horror;

  of good things, in using them with moderation for our necessities, continually studying to reduce all those imaginary wants which comes from a greedy nature.

Remember that we must not only renounce evil, but also good things;for Jesus has said, "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33) It follows, then, that the Christian must abandon everything that he has, however innocent.  For if he does not renounce it, it ceases to be innocent. He must abandon those things which it is his duty to guard with the greatest possible care, such as the good of his family, or his own reputation, for he must have his heart on none of these things; he must preserve them for a sober and moderate use; in short, he must be ready to give them all up whenever it is the will of God to deprive him of them.

He must give up those whom he loves best, and whom it is his duty to love; and his renouncement of them consists in this, that he is to love them for God only and be ready to part with them whenever God wills it, and never to seek in them the true rest of his heart. It is thus that we use the world and the creature as not abusing them, according to Saint Paul. (1  Cor. 7:31) We do not desire to take pleasure in them; we only use what God gives us, what he wills that we should love, and what we accept with the reserve of a heart, receiving it only for necessity's sake, and keeping the heart for a more worthy object. It is in this sense that Christ would have us leave father and mother, brothers and sisters, and friends, and that he is come to bring a sword upon earth.

God is a jealous God; if, in the recesses of your soul, you are attached to any creature, your heart is not worthy of Him: You must reject it as a spouse that divides her affections between her bridegroom and a stranger.

Having abandoned everything exterior, and which is not self, it remains to complete the sacrifice by renouncing everything interior, including self. The renouncement of the body is frightful to most delicate and worldly-minded persons. They know nothing, so to speak, that is more themselves than this body, which they flatter and adorn with so much care; and even when deprived of its graces, they often retain a love for its life amounting to a shameful cowardice, so that the very name of death makes them shudder.

Your natural courage raises you above these fears, and I think I  hear you say, I desire neither to flatter my body, nor to hesitate in consenting to its destruction, whenever it shall be the will of God to waste and consume it to ashes.

You may thus renounce the body, and yet there may remain great obstacles in the way of your renouncing the spirit. The more we are able, by the aid of our natural courage, to despise the body, the greater tendency we have to set a higher value our understanding, our wisdom, and our virtue, as a young and worldly woman values her beauty. We take pleasure in them; it gives us a satisfaction to feel that we are wise, moderate, and preserved from the worldly excitement which we see in others; we are intoxicated with the pleasure of not being intoxicated with pleasure; we renounce with courageous moderation the most flattering temptations of the world; we are content with the satisfaction that we are able to practice self-control.

What a dangerous state! What a subtle poison! How prideful are you to God, if you yield your heart to this refinement of self-love! You must renounce all satisfaction of self-worth.

Remember, the purer and more excellent the gifts of God, the more jealous He is of them. He showed mercy to the first human rebel, but denied it to the angels. Both sinned by the love of self, but as the angel was perfect, and regarded as a sort of divinity, so God punished his unfaithful angels with a fiercer jealousy than He did man's disobedience. We may infer from this, that God is more jealous of his most excellent gifts than He is of the more common ones; He would have us attached to nothing but Himself, and to regard his gifts, however excellent, as only the means of uniting us more easily and  intimately to Him. Whoever contemplates the grace of God with a satisfaction and sort of pleasure of ownership, turns it into poison.

Never credit exterior things to yourself then, such as favor or talents, nor even things the most interior. Your good will is no less a gift of God's mercy, than the life and being which you receive direct from his hands. Live, as it were, on trust; all that is in you, and all that you are, is only loaned you; make use of it according to the wi ll of Him who lends it, but never regard it for a moment as your own.

Herein consists true self-abandonment.  It is the use of ourselves with a single eye to the movements of God, who alone is the true master of all his creatures. Self-abandonment is not accomplished by means of painful reflections and continual struggles; it is only by refraining from self-contemplation, and from desiring to master ourselves in our own way, that we lose ourselves in God.

[Francois Fenelon's Spiritual Progress: Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul, Chapter 10, On Self-Abandonment, paraphrased]

How Precious is the Book Divine

How is Precious Is the Book Divine
By: John Fawcett

How precious is the book divine,
By inspiration given!
Bright as a lamp its teachings shine
To guide our souls to heaven.

Its light, descending from above,
Our gloomy world to cheer,
Displays our Savior’s boundless love
And guide our souls to heaven.

It shows to us our wandering ways
And where our feet have trod
And brings to view the matchless grace
Of our forgiving God.

On all the straight and narrow way
Its radiant beams are cast,
A light whose never weary ray
Grows brightest at the last.

It gladly cheers our drooping hearts
In this dark vale of tears.
Life, peace, and joy its light imparts
And guells our rising fears.

This lamp through all the tedious night
Of life shall guide our way
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.

Why Did God Create the World?

Is This All?

The Supremacy of Christ Sermon Jam

What is Preaching?

Conclusion: The Purpose the Refiner's in the Crucified Life

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

Daniel 3:19-25 (NKJV)

The Joy of God's Presence

The fire in the furnace reveals Christ in the midst of His people, sharing their fellowship.  The flame of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace did not overcome the fragrance of God's presence.  Imagine the joy of those men in the flames.  There is no joy comparable to that joy of being in a place where God joins you in sweet fellowship.  Never in the marketplace.  Never on the mountaintop.  Remember Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He wanted to set up a couple of tents, forget the rest of the world and enjoy fellowship with God.  But the value of the mountaintop experience is revealed in the valley below in which we must tread.

The revelation of God is the fruit of the flame.  How many times have we missed the fragrance of God's presence because we resist the furnace and the tribulation and the suffering before us?  We have it all worked out.  We read a couple verses of Scripture and say, "I believe."  That settles it.  We think we can then go on our merry way to heaven, whistling "When the Saints Come Marching In."  We want to be coddled on our way to heaven and have an easy life.  We want to make sure that we are going to go to heaven when we die, but in the meantime we want to enjoy the pleasures of the world.

There is no revelation of God in following that path.  There is no experiencing the fragrance of God's presence.  There is no burning of the bonds that the world has imposed upon us, setting us free to follow our Lord.  Yes, we walk by faith.  But occasionally there are some glorious moments in which God reveals Himself to us.  I tell you, this is holy ground.  This is an area of sacredness incomparable to anything else this side of glory.

Keep in mind that God has a vision for us beyond the furnace.  The fires serves its purpose, burning away the bonds of the world and purifying our relationship with God, and then we move on.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked out of that furnace.  Imagine the testimony they would have the rest of their lives.  They certainly were creatures out of the fire.  They were men who had met God in the wondrous, glorious fashion incomparable to anything else in their lives.  They were counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

If we are ever going to see God in the fullness of His manifestation, we must be like these men.  We must obey Him implicitly and surrender in such a way that He can place us where He wants to place us in order to show us what He wants to show us.  And what He does to us He will also do through us to confound the wisdom of the world, who cannot figure out what we are.

God's most delicate tools are reserved for His special children.  For the Christian on the path of the crucified life, God will bring into his pathway the fiery furnace, the Refiner's Fire, and show that Christian how much He really loves him.

[excerpt from A.W. Tozer's The Crucified Life]

When a Lover of Good Thinks About Evil

A Passion to Pray

The Moon, Self-Distrust, and Trust in God

Study theology and learn about how God is the source and fountain of all things.  Learn about the attributes of God and see if yet in your heart you still believe that God is less than He is and you are more than you are.  Think of the moon.  If the moon could talk like a man and have a personality, it could say within itself, I shine on the earth and every time I'm around, the earth becomes beautiful.  If someone could respond to the moon, they would say, "Listen, you don't do that by yourself.  Don't you know that you have been discovered and found out?  You don't shine at all.  You are simply reflecting the sun's light, so it's really the sun that shines."

Then self comes to the rescue of the moon.  "You're letting your light shine and you're doing a good job," it says.  "When you're not up, one whole side of the earth lies in darkness.  But when you come up, a side lights up and I can begin to see rows of houses.  You're doing a fine job."  The moon would not say, "The glory belongs to God, because it is only by the grace of God that I'm like this."  All the time the moon is thinking that he is shining.

When the moon is shining, it is only a reflection light from the sun.  And if the moon really understood, he could boldly shine and talk about it, because he would know that he was not shining at all.  Similarly, Paul knew that he did not have a thing of himself that was fit for heaven.  He had only the grace of God in him.  It was God and not him.  He completely and radically distrusted himself.  No man can really know himself; he is not capable of knowing how he feels.

It is important that we understand how dangerous it is to trust our good habits and virtues.  Only God can bring us to the point of understanding that our strength is indeed our weakness.  Anything that we rely on or trust can be our undoing.  We do not realize how weak we are until the Holy Spirit begins exposing these things to us.

How does God deal with self-trust?

1.  A flash of holy inspiration in your soul

2.  God-imposed physical discipline

3.  Extreme trials and temptations

You want the Lord to do something for you, don't you?  You want Him to come down on you with a wave of grace.  We want the Holy Spirit to come on us and demonstrate His power.  We want to see all of that, but we need to be careful that we're not trying to work it up on our own.

I do not intend to try to work up anything.  You cannot climb Jacob's ladder without sweat, perspiration and hard work.  The work of God is not dependent on any man's schedule.  I rarely know where I am going in my life's journey, but after I have been there a year, I can look back and see that my path has been relatively straight.  I go to God, write out my prayers, wait on Him and remind Him, but nothing seems to happen.  I seem to be getting nowhere, and then suddenly things break around me.  I look back and see that God has been leading my every step, and I did not even know it. 

I did not know where I was going, but looking back, I can see where I have been.  I do not think we should always look back, but at least we should be able to look back and see the terrain where God has led us -- the valleys and plateaus He has brought us through because He loves us in spite of ourselves.

The more my trust rests in God, the less I trust myself.  If we truly desire to live the crucified life, we must get rid of self-trust and trust only in God.

  

[excerpts from A.W. Tozer's The Crucified Life]

Behavior Like an Awkward Goose

Christ is risen, and we have risen with Him and sit at the right hand of the Father with Him in spirit -- and one of these days with a human body.  In the meantime, we're to act as if we are up there in heaven, but a little bit different.  A farm boy comes to the city and acts different because he belongs on the farm.  The city boy goes to the country and acts different because he belongs in the city.  The man who has not been on a farm walks around gingerly, trying to keep out of the mud and keep his shoes from being soiled.  He is acting like a city man on the farm.  As Christians, we ought to act that way.

In a manner of speaking, we belong up there.  Our culture belongs up there.  Our thinking belongs up there.  Everything belongs up there.  Of course, when you are down here, people recognize you and say, "Well, that fellow belongs in heaven." I know a lot of people that belong in heaven.  I suppose one of the ugliest things in all the world is a goose walking around on the earth.  But one of the most graceful sights in the skies is a wild goose with its wings spread on its way south or north.  I suppose we act awkward here because we belong up there.

Those of you who work in big offices surrounded by people who are not Christians cannot easily fit into the conversation when break time comes.  You act awkwardly, and you are worried and ashamed and wonder why.  It is because you belong to God.  You have another spirit; you know another language, and you speak this world's language with an accent.

When others mention religion, they talk about it with an accent.  They belong to the earth; you belong to God in the skies and, of course, they do not agree.  They think you walk awkwardly down here, but they have not seen you with your wings spread yet.  Wait until the time comes when the children of God spread their wings and soar away to meet Him in glory.  Then they will see how graceful they are.  While on earth, of course, they do not think we are.

--A.W. Tozer, The Crucified Life

Psalm 51 Sermon Jam - Restore the Joy of Thy Salvation

Permanent by Dan Macaulay

Red Mountain Church - There is a Fountain Filled with Blood

The Fulfillment of the Gospel

Failure, Disappointment, and Grace

Yesterday was the day Christians celebrated Christ rising from the dead, demonstrating the victory he has over death and hell.  That victory he shares with everyone who believes in Him.  Victory that is real and that is experienced by so many.  A victory that I didn’t experience yesterday.  See, what happened was I had the privilege of leading the church in singing worship songs, songs that told the story of the risen Lord and his triumph over sin and death.  The problem was, I made some mistakes that threw off the flow of singing, not coming in on time, skipping a line.  I thought afterward, something threw me off.  Was it the extra loud stage volume?  Not enough monitor?  Not enough practice?  Too many new songs?  If you know me, I’m typically prepared, calm, collected.  I take things as they come and find contentment in it all.  Zen master Chen.  I go with the flow.  I let things flow.  But this time, no flow.  This time, failure and disappointment started to set in.  I couldn’t help but feel I’ve let everyone down.  The worship team, the congregation, even God.  Even God?  Can God be disappointed?  I believe so, but there is something greater, something that overcomes the failures and disappointments that we experience – grace.

 Earlier that day, Daniel taught a lesson on John 21.  It’s the story of the disciples going back fishing.  Jesus had died on the cross and had already risen.  He had told them earlier that they would no longer be fishermen, but fisher of men.  You would think by now they would have started their mission of fulfilling their purpose of preaching the good news to the world.  Oh, and by the way, Jesus had already appeared to them twice (v.14) after he was raised from the dead.  They already saw him alive again after he died!  Twice!  Instead of passionately going out and changing the world, Simon Peter says, “I’m going out to fish.”  And the disciples responded, “We’ll go with you.”  So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  Utter failure.  Not fulfilling the mission.  Not catching anything.

Here is when grace, the unmerited favor of God, dawns on the scene.  Early the next morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

   He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
  “No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”  When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish (John 21:4-6).  Jesus reenacts his first personal miracle with the disciples.  Excited, they met Jesus on the shore, where a breakfast of fish and bread was already prepared for them.  I like how Jesus tells them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught (v.10)."  He could have said, "Bring me the fish that I just miraculously gave to you."  Our Lord is so tender and gracious.  He cares intimately about our humanity.  He is God, but not a God that is aloof.  It was when God showed up that their joy was restored.  It was here where Jesus restores Peter and redirects him to feed Jesus’ sheep and follow Him.

Without grace, the disciples would have been left with no fish.  The message of hope and reconciliation would have never spread.  We would all be left to wallow in our failures and disappointments.  Our only destiny would be to die in our sins.  We would only be looking forward to a sunless dark morning.  Joy and peace would only be elusive ideals never to be fully grasped.  But that’s not how the story ends.  The Lord is risen and a new day has dawned.  The message of hope and reconciliation is alive and life’s failures and disappointments are only but a vapor.  The journey across the valley of the shadow of death is temporary and the destiny of those in Christ is not death, but eternal life.  God has not left us abandoned, but has given us much grace, and is faithful to give us more.  “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

Worthy of it All / I Exalt Thee

Future Grace

Future Grace (Session 1)
Future Grace (Session 2)
Slides (PDF download)

Triune GOD - Jovan Mackenzy feat Dr. James White

That I Might Know Him

That I might know Him! Let this be life’s aim,

Still to explore the wealth stored in His name.

With heaven-bought intelligence to trace

The glories that light up His sinless face:

That I might know His power day by day,

Protecting, guiding in the upward way:

That I might know His Presence, calm and pure,

Changeless midst changes, and midst losses sure:

To dwell in Him, in spirit, day and night;

To walk in Him by faith, if not by sight;

To work with Him, as He shall plan, not I:

To cleave to Him, and let the world go by:

To live on earth a life of selfless love;

To set the mind and heart on things above:

Till I shall see Him without vision dim,

And know Him as I know I’m known by Him.

(Max I. Reich 1863-1945)

Overcoming Hindrances on the Path to God's Presence

"Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

(Hebrews 2:1-4 ESV)
 

The heart is a leaky thing.  You have good intentions and at times a strong spiritual desire for God, but your heart is like a sieve, and pretty soon it all leaks away.  Soon there is no desire left at all.

The difference between spiritual things and earthly things is that the things of the spirit are so modest; the things of the spirit are not pushing in on you; they are not singing commercials to you; they are not knocking on your door and urging you to buy; they are simply waiting for you to notice.  The things of the flesh are so insistent, so clamorous.  Everybody is singing to you, urging you, pushing you, trying to get you to go certain ways and do certain things.

Our Lord is never intrusive; but the things of the world are intrusive.  Here is the point I'm trying to make: If you are going to give attention to the things of God, you must shake yourself and say, "Now, I don't know what others are going to do, but as for me, I'm going to seek the face of God." Some will confess, "I intend to ... later."  However there may be no later time.  "I didn't understand," they may say, but they understood enough at the time.  "I was too busy." But at last they found time to die.

Somebody else says, "Nobody in my crowd paid any attention to these things," but it is always so.  The saving voice of God speaks to a crowd of men, but only one here and there hears it.  When the voice of God spoke to the antediluvian world, only Noah and his family heard it.  The rest of them perished in the flood.

Somebody else says, "If I pay attention to this, I'll lose my job."  Chances are, you will not, but if you do, any job you lose saving your soul certainly will be a wonderful bargain.

Somebody else says, "I want to have some fun now.  And then I'll become a Christian."  This is meaningless, lacking in significance to warrant any serious answer.

Somebody else says, "I was afraid of what people would say."  Afraid of what people would say?  What about what God says?

Society is in an elaborate conspiracy to make us alike.  Society is in a conspiracy to make us all bad; not too bad, because if we get too bad, we become a problem to the police.  But not too good, for if we get too good, we are fanatical, so they say.  So society wants to keep us nice, trimmed down, going to church, supporting boys' clubs and girls' clubs and hospitals.  Certainly those things are all right.  The general society wants to keep us good enough not to be a problem to the police but bad enough not to bother their conscience.

I hear the voice of God calling us to a higher kind of life.  The book of Hebrews is an urgent, vibrant, living book that speaks to those that are on the border and says, "Go on over.  You can dare to do it.  Go on over."  And it speaks to those who could not quite make up their minds whether they wanted to obey and believe God, and says, "You dare obey.  You dare believe."

We who overcome all hindrances is handsomely rewarded when we break through to the glorious sunshine of His blessed presence.

[A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God]

An Evening of Eschatology

The Word of God Is At Work In You

A — I admit I can’t in myself do what needs to be done.
P — I pray for God’s help.
T — I trust a particular promise he has given.
A — I act to do whatever God is calling me to do.
T — I thank him for his help when I am done.

God wants worshipers before He wants workers.

God of gods and Light of light, He was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, overcame the sharpness of death and opened the Kingdom of heaven to all believers.  Back of this must be a purpose, for God has intellect.  Intellect is one of the attributes of deity and, therefore, God must have a reasonable purpose that can stand up under the scrutiny of sanctified human reason.

The supreme reason the Lord was born of the Virgin Mary to suffer under Pontius Pilate to be crucified, die, and be buried; the reason He overcame death and rose again from the grave is that He might make worshipers out of rebels.  We are the recipients of a grace meant to save us from self-centeredness and make worshipers out of us.

Thomas Boston said the difference between man and beast is that a beast looks down and a man is made to look up.  A man can engage the God above while the beast goes about and only sees the ground underneath its short legs.  But man can see into the heavens above.  A beast bows under his burden, but a man lifts his heart in praise to his Burden bearer, Jesus Christ.

God is infinitely more concerned that He has worshipers than that He has workers.  Unfortunately, most evangelicals do not share this concern.  For the most part, evangelicals have been reduced to the position where God is a supervisor desperately seeking help.  Standing at the wayside, He tries to find how many helpers will come to His rescue and bail Him out of a tight spot.  We mistakenly believe that God needs workers, and so we cheerfully say, "I'll go to work for the Lord." If we could only remember that as far as His plans are concerned, God does not need us.

We should work for the Lord, but it is a matter of grace on God's part.  However, I do not think we should ever work until we learn to worship.  A worshiper can work with eternal quality in his work but a worker who does not worship is only piling up wood, hay and stubble for the time when God sets the world on fire.  God wants worshipers before He wants workers.  He calls us back to that for which we were created -- to worship the Lord God and to enjoy Him forever.  And then out of our deep worship flows our work for Him.  Our work is only acceptable to God if our worship is acceptable.

[A.W. Tozer, The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship, pg. 94-95]