Mar 14
22
A Credible Witness
Criminal investigators learn that a false witness will describe the facts in great detail, in a logical, chronological, precise manner. A true witness may not be as precise but will include the senses of experience: their sorrow–has the prick of the Holy Spirit made you mourn?; the taste–have you tasted that the Lord is gracious?; the smell–have you smelled the myrrh, and cassia of Christ’s garments; the touch–has his hand settled you comfortably in the full assurance that Christ is able to Keep you?
We do not put our hopes in feelings or religious experiences but the believer has witnessed, not merely facts, but a Person. It is the Power of Christ in us that exercises our senses to discern both good and evil, the Person from mere facts. By the Power and Wisdom of God the believer is a credible witness. Clay Curtis.
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SOVEREIGN GRACE AND EVANGELISM
The preaching of Sovereign Grace is not an enemy of true evangelism. Let me hasten to say that the preaching of Sovereign Grace will kill, deader than a doornail, the message and method of present-day evangelism! And some of us believe with deadly intensity that the false message and method must be killed before the true message and method can become effective. We further believe that the only way this can be done is by the preaching of the truth about God, the truth about man, and the truth about Christ, who died and lives that God might be just and justifier!
These lines will appeal to no one who is happy about the results of evangelism today; but should you be one of many who mourn here, you will join in the task of raising up again the standard of Sovereign Grace.
A sovereign Christ is almost unheard of in church circles today – a
Christ into whose hands all things have been given, who has all authority, who gives life and quickens whom He will, who decides the destinies of all men, who is Lord over all flesh. Present-day evangelism, for the most part, poses the question, “What will you do with Jesus?” Bible or true evangelism poses the question, “What will the sovereign Christ do with me?” Present-day evangelism says to men, “Believe and be born again.” Bible evangelism says to men, “Be born again so you can believe.” The one makes the new birth depend on an act of man, the other an act of God.
Present-day evangelism takes for granted God’s mercy and grace, rather than marveling at them in adoration and worship. Hear Paul say, “I obtained mercy.” Hear Peter say, “to all who have obtained like precious faith.” How I long to hear this note in the churches today! Rolfe Barnard
BE OF ONE MIND
Where there is a oneness of heart and affection between Jesus and the soul, if what He loves we love, and what He hates we hate, if His Father be our Father, and His people our people, this sameness of mind will carry with it a sameness of affection and we shall take part in all that belongs to Him. The language of our hearts will go forth in words, like those of Ruth to Naomi when she said, “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” Ruth 1:16, 17 Robert Hawker
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Preaching about Christ or Preaching Christ?
The Holy Spirit does not reach after something novel, new, or spectacular in order to glorify Christ or to preach Christ to men. He does not need tongues, fleshly emotion, bodily healings, and creature fame and importance in order to bring glory to Christ and call out His sheep. He finds Christ’s glory IN CHRIST HIMSELF!
If we want to honor Christ, glorify Christ, and preach Christ, we must not look for something outside of Christ; but we must honor Him by preaching that which is His already–His deity, His person, His man-hood, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, His return! Strange as it may seem, there is today very little preaching OF CHRIST HIMSELF.
Men preach about those who knew Him, who served Him, and who wrote of Him. They preach about His church, His doctrines, and His commandments. They preach series of messages on those who used to preach Christ, on the conduct and conversation of those who profess to know Christ, and on the duties and responsibilities of believers in Christ, but very few messages ON THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST HIMSELF. They read papers and conduct discussions on ways and means to serve Christ, to discipline and organize the kingdom of Christ, and how to honor Christ; and they seldom get around to doing that which God has ordained and commissioned us to do AND THAT IS TO PREACH CHRIST!
Jesus Christ is most glorified, His sheep most edified, His will and purpose accomplished, and His church perfected in faith, hope, and love WHEN WE PREACH CHRIST HIMSELF. The work of the Spirit of God is to reveal to us the beauties of Jesus Christ, AND THEY ARE ALL FOUND IN CHRIST HIMSELF. Henry Mahan.
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From Possessed To Preaching
Mark 5:1-20
He lived among the tombs and was possessed by an unclean spirit. No man could bind him for he had often broken the chains with which they endeavored to hold him. He could not be tamed and he howled day and night, cutting himself with stones. But one day in divine providence this demonic maniac came face to face with Christ Jesus, and you know the rest of the story. He was saved and delivered. We are told that later the town folk found him who ran day and night among the tombs sitting with Christ. The same man that ran half naked with bloody self inflicted wounds was clothed, cleaned and in his right mind. They had been afraid of this man day and night. Now that he sits clothed, clean, and in his right mind, they were even more afraid and desired greatly that Christ leave their coasts. (Men are often afraid of what they do not understand.)
Have you ever paid attention to the rest of the story? The citizens of this country wanted Christ to leave, but the one delivered, wanted to go with Him. That is the true sign of a believer. They want to go, follow and be with their Saviour. I can see this delivered man running to the ship on which Christ had boarded. We are told that he prayed (this word means begged) that he might be with his Lord, but Jesus suffered (allowed) him not. The next words of our Lord are amazing. Christ told him to, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (Mark 5:19). Christ called this once wretch of a man to be a preacher. Go tell your friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee. Tell them how you undeservingly received compassion, mercy and grace. And that is exactly what this once demonic maniac did.
And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel (Mark 5:20). Did you know that this is what preachers do? They report and publish. If you look up that word “publish” it simply means to preach and proclaim. When God calls men to preach the true Gospel and gives lost men and women the understanding of what these preachers publish, the result is always the same. They marvelled. David Eddmenson.
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Faith Cometh by Hearing
Lately, I have been spending time at the doctor’s office picking out new hearing aids. Some of the facts that I have spoken to you about previously have been on my mind again, with some additional thoughts, plus three applications.
The three tiny bones in the middle ear are the first bones to develop when we are in the womb. According to my audiologist, at twenty-two weeks an unborn child can hear. This is by God’s design. Surely it is because “Faith cometh by hearing.” (Ro 10: 17) For instance, after telling Mary that she would bear the Messiah in her womb, the Angel of the Lord told her that Elizabeth “hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.” So John the Baptist was 26 weeks old, the bones in his ear developed, so he could hear from his mother’s womb. Therefore, when Mary went out to the country to tell Elizabeth the good news of Christ Jesus our Lord, “it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.” (Lu 1: 41) We do not have to wonder if that leap by John the Baptist was a leap of faith because the Holy Ghost, by which Elizabeth spoke, tells us it was, “And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” (Lu 1: 42-44)
First, never underestimate God’s ability to give faith to a child through the hearing of faith, even in its mother’s womb. Is it beyond your reasoning ability that God could give faith to a child in the womb? Everything God does is beyond our reasoning ability. “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (Mr 10: 27)
Secondly, never underestimate the importance of hearing the gospel preached. Every aspect of hearing the gospel preached gives Christ all the glory. It is Christ who sends the preacher, who prays the Father to send forth the Holy Spirit by whom we are born again, by whom Christ is made all in the new heart. So when our triune God is using a nobody to preach to a nobody, as God comes forth to make Christ all in the heart of his child, no flesh glories in his presence, but those who glory, glory only in the Lord. And that is the very reason the Holy Spirit says it pleased God to save through the foolishness f preaching. (see 1 Cor 1: 21, 28-31) So when we read the following scripture, know that it is God who gets all the glory, from sending the preacher to making his elect hear the word preached in faith, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!…So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom 10: 14-15, 17)
Thirdly, it may be that one reason it pleased God to give faith through the hearing of the gospel is because hearing is the one thing that requires us to do nothing in order to do it while it is the one thing that requires us to do something in order not to do it. So if we do hear, God gets the glory; if we do not hear, no one is to blame but us. Oh brethren, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor 1: 25)
Clay Curtis.
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Bearing Our Cross
“He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” – Matthew 10:38
Mere professing Christians loudly and proudly like to speak of ‘bearing their cross.’ What they mean by that is going through some sort of trouble or suffering. If that is what it means then the whole world is bearing some sort of cross. But that is not what is meant by bearing the cross.
The Lord Jesus Christ was put on a cross because of what He said. He was crucified by men (according to God’s will and purpose), because of His claim to Sovereignty, His claim to being the only way, truth and life. They crucified Him because He claimed to be God. And the Lord said that everyone who truly believes and confesses Him will also be hated by the world and if lawful, will kill them, too. They would put every believer on a cross for confessing Christ to be Who He is . . . not just a man, but very God of very God, the Sovereign Lord and Creator, the Judge of all, the giver and taker of life, the One with the keys of Hell and death, the One before Whom we stand to be accepted or rejected, the only Way to God, the only Truth of God (all else a lie) the only Life (he that hath not the Son hath not life), the only Mediator, High Priest, Tabernacle, Sin Offering, Messiah, Saviour, Intercessor, Righteousness, Builder of the church, Foundation, Prophet, Priest, and King, yea . . . all and in all!! All other gods, jesuses, christs, messiahs, mediators, prophets, priests, ways, words, religions. . . are a lie!
Just as Christ was crucified without the camp, all who confess Him will have to go unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. Those who truly follow the Lord will be partakers of His sufferings. The man or woman who follows Him, it will follow them to be crucified to the world and the world to (them). “For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” – Rom.8:36
Paul Mahan