Grace will Lead Me Home

I'd like to share some thoughts from and about Morning and Evening (Charles Spurgeon) for September 22 Morning.  It struck me the other day, so I wanted to share it with you now.

"When my heart is faint...lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

- Psalm 61:2

The central focus of Spurgeon here was on Christ "leading" us to Himself, the "harbor of weather-beaten sails."  He comments that "the helm does not answer to our puny hand; [God] alone can steer us over the bar between the sunken rocks and safe into the fair haven."

That made me think about something that comes up a lot in my godly conversations--the fact that man, on his own, cannot choose or come to God.  Along with what Kole was just talking about in the last post!  Man is incapable--he has a "puny hand."  Man needs God to lead him heavenward.

This is true in the sense that man needs God to call him to Himself initially (salvation), but it is also true for people who have already been saved.  Christians still need God to lead them toward heaven--without Him, our "puny hand" would allow the sea of the world to pull us into the rocks and drown us in its depths.

Just a few profound thoughts from Spurgeon.  I recommend his writing, especially the twice-a-day devotional Morning and Evening.  It is thought-provoking and is well worth the read for the Spiritual benefits it provides by pointing to God and His word.

On the non-spiritual side of things, I'm having computer problems that will end today by me sending my computer to HP.  This is nice because my computer problems will go away.  This is bad because I will be without a computer for two weeks.

What is a guy like me to do?  I do school on the computer, I entertain myself on the computer, I make money with the computer (making websites and Flash applications/games), I make music on the computer, I even exercise on the computer (I run Dance Dance Revolution through the computer).  Pray for me.  This is God's way of saying "stop relying on the computer, you geek."

I might have small windows of time at least every other day to check my email and reply to comments, but nothing beyond that.

Well, that's all I've got.  Comment!

Luke

In the Fullest Measure

1 Peter 1:2, "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood.  May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure."

As I was memorizing, reading, and studying 1 Peter, I noticed the phrase Peter writes at the end of chapter 1 verse 2: "in the fullest measure."

Grace in itself is full.  Grace is love that stoops.  Grace is God's act of love toward sinners that keeps them from His holy wrath and gives them eternal life.

The peace is peace with God.  Apart from this God-given peace, we are all His enemies.  With this peace, we are adopted as sons.

Not only does Peter pray that these people receive grace and peace, but he adds "in the fullest measure."  This reminds me of that song--"dayanu."  You remember, the one at seder?  "Da da yanu, da da yanu, da da yanu, dayanu dayanu dayanu."  You get the point.

It's Hebrew for "it would have been enough."  Put it this way:  it would have been enough if God had made peace with us so that we would no longer be enemies.  Dayanu.  But, in the fullest measure, God has given us peace by adopting us.

It would've been enough if God had given us grace so that we would not experience His eternal wrath.  Dayanu.  But, He has given us grace in the fullest measure--He has given us eternal life with Him in heaven.

Praise God, who gives us grace and peace--in the fullest measure!

Luke

Note: Sorry it took so long to post.  I just kept procrastinating.

The Preeimence of the Gospel (part 5)

Hey guys, it is a little hard for me to type because I burnt my hand on a crock-pot. It left a big air bubble on the finger I was touching it with. It sounds gross, right? Anyway here's part five, and hopefully the last, of The Preeminence of the Gospel by Paul Washer. It's pretty long so I would read some today and them some tomorrow. Here it is:

We ended last time with this, "It sent we into such confusion, wondering, "Upon what should I set myself? What can I know with certainty and preach with boldness?" And I decided that I would set myself upon one thing. Learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

This is part five. PW: "And for years I've dedicated myself to that one thing. And I know less now than I knew when I began. Not because it cannot be known, but because it CAN BE KNOWN, BUT IT IS SO GREAT!! Me painting a picture of Jesus Christ for you, what chance is there? There is a greater chance that your dog would paint the "Water Lilies" again with his paw. Who can paint this picture? Who can proclaim this message? I remember once, in a moment of fleshly praying I cried out to the Lord and I said, "OH GOD, IF YOU WOULD GRANT ME THIS ONE THING, ON THAT ONE DAY WHEN I STAND BEFORE YOU; PERFECTED IN YOUR HOLINESS AND YOUR GLORY IF YOU WOULD JUST LET ME, ONE TIME, STAND UP AND PREACH CHIRST AND THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST AS IT AUGHT TO BE PREACHED!!! And a sound rebuke came, "Son, even then you will not my son as he ought to be preached!"

PW: Now I want us to go to Galatians for a moment. Chapter 1 verse 6. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel." My friend, I want you to know, we have a lot of gospels floating around in our conservative Bible believing churches in America. A lot of different gospels that are as damaging and as dangerous as any cult out there. Look what we've done. Pray this prayer. No discernment. Is there a working of God? No discernment. Is there repentance working in the heart? Has faith been born? No discernment. Pray this prayer. No preaching. Pray this prayer. AND IT'S ALL OVER. IT IS ALL OVER, AND THAT IS WHY SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE CONVERTED IN OUR REVIVALS AND OUR CHURCH SERVICES NEVER COME TO CHURCH. AND THAT IS WHY THOSSE THAT DO, MANY OF THEM ARE JUST AS CARNEL AS WHEN THEY DID NOT COME.

Paul Washer: "Paul says in verse 7, "Which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Jesus Christ." There are many who want to distort the Gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning with the slanderer, himself. If there is one message Satan desires to distort, it is the Gospel, because the Gospel is the foundation. It is our foundation. It is the foundation of Christianity. The acropolis of our faith. DISTORT THAT ONE THING, REMOVE THAT ONE CORNERSTONE AND THE ENTIER BUILDING COMES DOWN!!! And you say, "Well the building hasn't come down." It will. And when it does according to the prophet Ezekiel, then men will ask, "Where was that wall you built?" If persecution where to come to this country tomorrow, you would see the churches the big movers and shakers, throughout this country empty out so quickly it would make your head swim. Because Church has become more like a mall, than a place to worship the Lord and learn from him. MEET OUR NEEDS AND WE'LL COME!! COME IF YOU WANT TO BE A DECIPLE, OR DO NOT COME AT ALL!

PW: "Now he says, verse 8, " But even if we, or any angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, of any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" Now my dear friend, I want you to take note. The Jew, when he wanted the emphasize something, would use something we call a parallelism, Hebrew parallelism. I'll make one up for you. "The wicked shall not live in the land; the wicked shall be destroyed." Sounds a lot like Proverbs doesn't it? What is he doing well he's saying the same thing twice with a little bit of a different twist. Well why would he do that? That's the way they give great emphasize. That's why it says in the Bible God is Holy, Holy, Holy. And from that you can take the foundational attribute of God, if you can say such a thing, would be his holiness. It never says in the Bible God is nice, nice, nice. It never says that He is merciful, merciful, merciful; but it does say he is holy, holy, holy. And Paul repeats himself here, WHY?! TO GIVE EMPIAHSISE. TO UNDERLINE. IT'S TO SCREAM IT OUT, "YOU PREACH ANOTHER GOSPEL, YOU ARE ACURSED OF GOD!! I always tell people before I go preach at a visiting church I say, "Now, listen to me. There are two things gong on here that are quite dangerous. It is dangerous to preach. Because if I preach to you a message that is not according to the word of God, it is a dangerous, terrible dangerous thing for me. AND IF I PREACH A MESSAGE THAT IS ACORRDING TO THE WORD OF GOD, it is a terrible dangerous thing for you. Because you will be held accountable on the day of judgement when you stand before Him. Preaching is DANGEROUS! And especially the preaching of God's Gospel, and especially when that Gospel is about His Son! My dear friend, God loves His Son more than ANYONE!! And only to the degree that you honor His Son, do you honor God. And only to the degree that you preach His Gospel, correctly, do you honor Him.

PW: "To be Accursed. I want you to know. There are men in modern-day conservative Evangelicalism, that are accursed. Because they are preaching a gospel that is not found in the New Testament. Oh, they'll build big churches, they'll climb denominational ladders, but they will stand accursed on that great day when they stand before Him; before whom all the world stands. And so it is with this, that we go into our conference, The preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul Washer: "Now before I conclude this session, or this introduction that was to be this session. Whenever we're dealing with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is only reality for us in this Gospel, to the degree that this Gospel has been reveled to us? And if this Gospel has been reveled to you, than listen to me closely and with great fear. If this Gospel has truly been reveled to you, my dear friend, then Jesus Christ will be more to you than a ticket to HEAVEN. WHY IS THIS GOSPEL SO IMPORTANT? "Oh, Brother Paul, because it is our way of salvation; it is our way to heaven!" No. No. THIS GOSPEL IS PRECIOUS, NOT PRIMAIRALY BECAUSE IT IS HAS BROUGHT A GREAT SALVATION TO US. THIS GOSPEL IS PRECIOUS TO US BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT GOD'S ONLY BELOVED SON!!! IS HE PRECIOUS TO YOU?!! IS HE PRECIOUS TO YOU?!! DO YOU LOVE HIM?!!! DOES YOUR HEART BURN FOR HIM?!! IS THERE A PASSION?!! I DON'T CARE WETHER OR NOT YOU THINK YOUR GETTING IN OR NOT!! BECAUSE GETTING IN IS NOT THE TOPIC!!! THE THING IS THIS, IS CHRIST PRECIOUS TO YOU?!!!! I DON'T CARE IF YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON!! I FEAR FOR GOOD PEOPLE, WHO HAVE NO PASSIONATE LOVE FOR JESUS!! WHO NEVER WEEP ABOUT JESUS. WHO NEVER DANCE ABOUT JESUS. WHO NEVER ARE EXCITED WITH JOY ABOUT JESUS!!! WHO ARE NEVER BROUGHT SPEECHLESS AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, WORSHIPING JESUS!!!! DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE ALONE. DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR MAKING THE RIGHT DECISSION. TALK TO ME ABOUT HIS BEAUTY! TALK TO ME ABOUT HOW PRECIOUS HE IS! TALK TO ME ABOUT HIS WORTH! AND IN DOING SO, YOU'LL HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL WELL! YOU'LL HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL WELL.

PW's Prayer: "Let's pray. Father? Oh Lord that Jesus Christ, your son, would be real in this place. That He would be real to me! Oh lord, so much of my piety is plastic. So much of my zeal, enthusiasm. So much of my praying, public. Oh that Christ, that Christ, would be made more real and more real in our hearts. That we might worship Him. And adore Him and serve Him; and talk much of Him. We ask these things in Jesus name, and for His saving, Amen."

If you listen to the message, it is a lot more powerful hearing it from him than me writing it out. I hope you enjoy it. It's a little (just a little) long. Come on, it 's a forty minute sermon! I encouage you to listen to this sermon, if any other from Paul Washer. I emplore you to!! I exort You to!!

For the Glory of God's Son,
Jesus Christ!!
-Kole

The first and second Adam

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."

So what is this saying? That Adam failed pitifully. God meant for everything to be perfect, but because this man sinned...all have sinned. And unless somebody else lived a perfect life, we will all go to hell, thanks Adam. Good news: There was a second Adam, and who is this second Adam?

Romans 5:18, 21 "Therefore as one trespass lead to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to Justification and life for all men... So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life for all men, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So this is saying: Adam failed, but Christ was righteous! And because He was righteous, He made the way to heaven! (not "make it possible" He "made the way"). And God didn't leave us like that: Not only did He make a way to heaven, but He drags us into Heaven!

All for the glory of God,
~Kade

The Preeimence of the Gospel (part 2)

I hope you guys liked the first part of the sermon that I posted yesterday. Part 2 is a little longer. But I hope everyone can find the time to read this. This is Paul Washer:

"Turn back with me to Romans 1:16. The next part of the verse says, "for it is the power of god." The word power is the same word in the Greek as the word dynamite. And what we are going to study in the next session will seem quite unusual to you because we are going to study the radical depravity of man. Because we've got a PROBLEM today in that we believe men are SICK!! MEN are not sick, MEN ARE DEAD!! Men do not cooperate, men cannot help themselves, they cannot adjust the rout or route, or their power or even the fixture of their eyes. If men are to be saved they are to be saved by the power of an ALMIGHTY GOD, and again that power is manifested through the preaching of the GOSPEL!! not gimmicks. not props. not pillars made of dough. Men are saved by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If man cannot bring down the walls of Jericho, they cannot bring down the depravity of their own heart. It must be the power of God.

PW: "When I went to preaching class when I was younger, our assignment was to write a sermon, and I did a presentation of the Gospel. They asked me afterward, "Why did you preach the Gospel in a preaching class? The Gospel is for lost people. Did you pull this from a sermon you had already wrote, so you need not write a new one?"

PW: "How far have we fallen to believe the Gospel is only for lost people. Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, "Now I make known to you the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received." Paul had preached the Gospel to these people. THESE people had received the Gospel of JESUS CHIRST! He is preaching it to them again. WHY? People always ask me, from where does the passion come from? From where does the zeal come from? From where does the desire come from? It comes from an ever increasing, deeper, and deeper understanding of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The more you understand the beauty and the glory and the power of God reveled in the cross of JESUS CHRIST, the more your heart will be surrendered unto him. Such a glory you heart cannot deny. This is what we NEED, and this is what we have LOST!!! THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL!!! NOT A TRACK!! NOT FOUR LITTLE WORDS!! NOT FIVE STEPS!!! NOT TEN WAYS!!! THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHIRST!!!"

Paul Washer: "I've gotten to the point now where if I walk into a congregation, and the preacher comes forward and says he wants to share from his heart I get up and leave, Because I could really careless what's in his heart. The Bible tells me his heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it. I don't want to hear what's in a mans heart. When someone stands before me I WANT TO HEAR "THUS SAYTH THE LORD." TELL ME THE WORDS OF GOD! I NEED POWERFUL WORDS FOR THIS WEAK HEART OF MINE! I NEED POWERFUL WORDS TO DIRECT THIS DULL MIND OF MINE. Give me the word of God."

PW: "Look what we have done to this word. We have turned this word "receive" the Gospel down to the most pitiful, impudent, superstition. I have heard of evangelist who someone will come forward without any sign of repentance or brokenness, and tell them, "do you want to go to Heaven?" How many people do you know who would raise their hand and say, "No, I'd rather go to Hell?" Do you want to go to Heaven? 'Well yes I do.' Then pray this prayer. 'Well praying makes me uncomfortable.' Ok, well than repeat this prayer after me. 'Well that makes me uncomfortable too.' Than, I pray the prayer and if it what you want to say, squEEZE my HAND!! That's what we have done with the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST TODAY!!! The salvation of a man is a supernatural work of GOD, where I believe in my own heart that more power is manifested in the regeneration of one man of a wicked heart, than the power that was manifested in the creation of the UNIVERSE!!! IT IS THE LITTERAL RAISING IF THE DEAD!!! AND WE"VE REDUCED IT DOWN TO squeeze my hand. WHY? We don't trust in the power of the Gospel, so we use gimmicks."

To be continued.
-Kole

P.S. I am going to split it down into four days, so be looking Saturday.