Jun 17
2
Gladness and Singleness of Heart
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart. ” (Acts 2:47). Gladness means good cheer, joy,
mirth, gladness of heart. I do not know of anybody who does not want
gladness to be the characteristic of their life. But there will be no
gladness without “singleness of heart.” Single as opposed to double.
When the aim of your heart is single; the glory of Christ….you will
necessarily have gladness. It can be none other. But when your interests
are divided, un-gladness is sure to follow! Remember, “No servant can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other:
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).
Todd Nibert
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 will 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’s witness is not in dead facts
but from seeing the Person. It is his power that exercises our senses to
discern both good and evil, the Person from mere facts. The believer is
a credible witness!
Clay Curtis.
THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE
Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
What is the Apostle’s doctrine? 1 Tim 6:3 If any man teach otherwise,
and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. The
Apostle’s doctrine was “even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What
is our doctrine? Church tradition (1 Peter 1:18)? The commandments of
men (Matt. 15:9)? Have we concocted a set of doctrines that reflect our
depraved sense of justice, or is it thus saith the Lord? Do we trust our
“interpretation” of the Bible or believe God?
How important is doctrine? The books of Timothy are the old and wise
Apostle, teaching and exhorting the young preacher Timothy regarding the
ministry, and the word “doctrine” is in his letters to Timothy twelve
times. (1 Tim 4:16) Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine;
continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt oth save thyself, and
them that hear thee.
Doctrine is not salvation, Christ is salvation, but you are not saved
without doctrine. Some say things like, don’t preach doctrine, just
preach Christ. This is like saying, don’t get in the water, just swim.
Doctrine means “teaching.” Christ said, (Matt. 11:29) Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For you to learn of Christ, someone is going
to have to teach you.
What is it to continue in the doctrine? They continued to hear it. God’s
sheep don’t ever tire of hearing the truth. We are diligent seekers of
and lovers and students of the truth. What could be better, more
interesting, more profitable, more enjoyable than the truth of God in
Christ? Truth never changes, like God Who is truth, it is immutable.
They continued to learn it and pursue it. Acts 17:11 These were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those
things were so. They continued to embrace it. They were steadfast and
were not carried about with every wind of doctrine. (Eph. 4: 14) That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. They continued to walk
in it. “Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Tit. 2:10).
If we truly believe what we say we do, we will act like it. Many in
studying the word of God make separation between what is called the
doctrinal and the practical teachings of scripture. They can be
distinguished, but not be separated. Every truth taught, and learned,
affects the walk of those taught.
We do emphasize that a man can know doctrine, and believe all the things
that we believe, and miss Christ. But, I believe, by far more to the
point in my generation, is that men and women cannot believe on the
Christ, of whom they have not heard (Rom. 10:14).
Chris Cunningham.
If God is sovereign is man responsible
Yes. I do not understand how God is absolutely sovereign, the first
cause of everything, yet I do neither more nor less than what I want to.
My actions are mine. I do not understand how both of those things are
true, but they are. An if you do not believe in both God’s absolute
sovereignty and man’s complete responsibility, in reality you believe
neither.
A belief in God’s absolute sovereignty and man’s complete responsibility
is essential in a sinner asking for mercy. You have never asked for
mercy until you see you are in the hands of a sovereign God and you have
no control. If you fail to see your own responsibility for your actions,
you become a victim of God’s sovereignty. You will not truly ask for
mercy when it is not your fault. But when you see that you are in the
hands of an absolute Sovereign, and that all your sin is all your fault,
then and only then will you sue for mercy.
Todd Nibert
The Remembrancer of CHRIST JESUS
“Reader! here is one of the sweet offices of GOD the HOLY GHOST,
particularly endeared to us. You, and I, are forgetful of divine things.
JESUS saith, that the HOLY GHOST shall bring all things to our
remembrance, whatsoever he himself hath said unto us, John 14:26. And
shall not you and I look up to that gracious, and loving Teacher, and
say, LORD! be thou the Remembrancer of CHRIST JESUS; that none of his
precious words, and the glorious things belonging to his Almighty
Person, and offices, may at any time slip from our minds?” -Robert Hawker
Commonest Things Blessed
Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy
water. (Exodus 23:25)
What a promise is this! To serve God is in itself a high delight. But
what an added privilege to have the blessing of the Lord resting upon us
in all things! Our commonest things become blessed when we ourselves are
consecrated to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus took bread and blessed it;
behold, we also eat of blessed bread. Jesus blessed water and made it
wine: the water which we drink is far better to us than any of the wine
with which men make merry; every drop has a benediction in it. The
divine blessing is on the man of God in everything, and it shall abide
with him at every time.
What if we have only bread and water! Yet it is blessed bread and water.
Bread and water we shall have. That is implied, for it must be there for
God to bless it. “Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be
sure.” With God at our table, we not only ask a blessing, but we have
one. It is not only at the altar but at the table that He blesses us. He
serves those well who serve Him well. This table blessing is not of debt
but of grace. Indeed, there is a trebled grace; He grants us grace to
serve Him, by His grace feeds us with bread, and then in His grace
blesses it. C.H.Spurgeon. (faith’s checkbook)
The Gospel In Person – The Doctrine Of God
Tommy Robbins
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God, (Which He had promised afore by His prophets in
the holy scriptures,) Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord …” Romans
1:1-3
Before the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh the gospel of
God was in promise by oath, or covenant, Christ being the Surety and
Substance of that promise – “Who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began” 2Timothy 1:9.
HE IS THE PROMISE of the gospel. The gospel and Christ are synonymous.
He is the mystery of the gospel revealed to His people – “But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory” 1Corinthians 2:7. The
preaching of the gospel is the declaration of Christ, Who has come into
the world and effectually put away the sin of His people by the
sacrifice of Himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ IS the Good News. Make no mistake, if the message
which we preach is not saturated, permeated, with the person of Christ,
we have not preached THE GOSPEL. He is our doctrine! The Lord Jesus
Christ is not revealed in the doctrine of God, the doctrine of God is
revealed in HIM! If we preach the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in
the scriptures our doctrine will be correct. Confused? Let me simplify
it; “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” 1Co 1:23-24.
The gospel is concerned with the Lord Jesus Christ, all He is, all He
has done, and all He is doing. He has preeminence in all things. It is
vital to be doctrinally correct. However, there is no correct doctrine
apart from Christ our Lord. Whether one labels me as a Calvinist or not,
is of no concern to me. I pray that it may be said of all who hear me,
“He determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified” 1Corinthians 2:2.
Bread or Poison?
Clay Curtis
Malachi 1:7: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say,
Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is
contemptible.
The next time you are baking a fresh loaf of homemade bread, mix in rat
poison. Do you think you could obtain life by eating it? Why not, there
will be good bread in each bite? The problem is that the whole loaf is
contaminated by the poison. We would not even call such mixture bread,
we would call it poison.
There is no doubt that the Pharisees used the good food of the
scriptures. The Judaizers in Galatia even used that good name of Christ
Jesus the Bread. They added many good ingredients of true doctrine. Yet,
insisting there is something the sinner can do to make himself more holy
than Christ does, they denied that God put away the sin of his people
according to his holy justice; that he by himself justified each child
whom he saves in the person of his Son; they sprinkled in the poison of
man’s free will contaminating the whole. The apostle Paul called it,
“another gospel.” The Lord called it, “the leaven of the Pharisees.”
Believers call it poison.
According to his word, a sinner can as soon expect life from eating rat
poison as from eating such polluted bread. The Lord Jesus Christ saves
in power, in righteousness and in truth or he does not save at all.