Spurgeon Lloyd Hodge
“When once I mourned a load of sin, When
conscience felt a wound within, When all
my works were thrown away, When on my
knees I knelt to pray, Then, blissful hour,
remembered well, I learned Thy love,
Immanuel!
When storms of sorrow toss my soul, When
waves of care around me roll, When
comforts sink, when joys shall flee, When
hopeless griefs shall gape for me, One word
the tempest’s rage shall quell, That word,
Thy name, Immanuel!”
Charles Haddon spurgeon
Steve Hammer
Can Satan and/or his demons read our
minds? No. First Kings 8:39 says that God
alone knows every human heart. There is no
one else who has that ability. God knows
what we will say before we can say it, while
the thought is still formulating (Psalm
139:4). Jesus, being God incarnate, exhibited
the divine quality of knowing men’s thoughts:
“He knew what was in each person” (John
2:25; cf. Matthew 9:4; John 6:64).
The Bible does teach us that Satan is
powerful. Likely he was the highest of all the
fallen angels, as he was persuasive enough to
convince one third of the angels to join him
in his rebellion (Revelation 12:4). Even after
his fall, not even Michael the archangel dared
to confront him without the Lord’s help (Jude
9). Satan is the “the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those
who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:2b).
However, Satan’s power has its limits, and
reading our minds seems to be beyond his
ability.
For Satan and his demons to read our minds
would take omniscience, which they do not
have. God is the only One who can know our
thoughts. However, Satan and his demons
have been observing and tempting human
beings for thousands of years. In addition,
they can overhear our speech when we talk to
others (and to ourselves!). Surely, they have
learned a few things about us over the years.
Even without the ability to know our thoughts,
they can make a well-educated guess as to
what we are thinking and then attempt to use
that to their advantage. That is why we are
commanded to “submit yourselves, then, to
God” (James 4:7a), before we are told to
“resist the devil” (James 4:7b).
Tim Thompson
J.C. Ryle
Do You Have True Peace With God?
There is no peace with God except through Christ! Peace is His peculiar gift. Peace is that legacy which He alone had power to leave behind Him when He left the world. All other peace beside this, is a mockery and a delusion.
When hunger can be relieved without food, and thirst quenched without drink, and weariness removed without rest—then, and not until then, will people find peace without Christ. Now, is this peace your own? Bought by Christ with His own blood, offered by Christ freely to all who are willing to receive it—is this peace your own? Oh, rest not—rest not until you can give a satisfactory answer to my question, have you true peace with God? ~ J.C. Ryle
Steve Hammer
My dear brothers and sisters, not one of us
is incapable of being deceived. We must
continue to press into the kingdom, seeking
truth and holiness with all our heart, mind,
soul, and strength, being led by the Holy
Spirit that guides in all truth..
The law and the prophets were until John:
since that time the kingdom of God is
preached, and every man presseth into it.
(Luk 16:16 KJV)
Marc Roy
((( APOCRYPHA )))
Why the KJV Translators Did Not Accept the
Apocrypha as Scripture
Another favorite lie of the critics is that the
original KJV of 1611 included the Apocrypha,
which no true Christian today accepts as
Scripture. The Apocrypha is a collection of
several pagan writings which the Catholic
church accepts as inspired Scripture. In fact,
the Council of Trent (1546) pronounced a
CURSE upon anyone who denied that these
books were inspired. The King James
translators did NOT consider the books to be
inspired Scripture, nor did they include them
in the canon as such. They merely placed the
Apocryphal books BETWEEN the Old and New
testament as a historical document, not as
Scripture. Their reasons for not accepting the
Apocrypha as Scripture are listed on page
185-186 of the book Translators Revived, by
Alexander McClure. The seven reasons are
basically as follows:
1. Not one of them is in the Hebrew language
like the rest of the Old Testament books.
2. Not one of the writers lays any claim to
inspiration.
3. These books were never acknowledged as
sacred Scriptures by the Jewish church, and
therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.
4. They were not allowed a place among the
sacred books, during the first four centuries
of the Christian church.
5. They contain fabulous statements, and
statements which contradict not only the
canonical Scriptures, but themselves. For
example, in the Books of Maccabees alone,
Antiochus Epiphanes dies three times in three
places!
6. It inculcates doctrines at variance with the
Bible, such as prayers for the dead and
sinless perfection.
7. It teaches immoral practices, such as
lying, suicide, assassination and magical
incantation.
Streams in the Desert – September 25
2017Sep 25
Why go I mourning?” (Psalm 42:9).
Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair?
Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou ever! for God fails thee not.
–C. H. Spurgeon
“He was better to me than all my hopes;
He was better than all my fears;
He made a bridge of my broken works,
And a rainbow of my tears.
“The billows that guarded my sea-girt path,
But carried my Lord on their crest;
When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march
I can lean on His love for the rest.
“He emptied my hands of my treasured store,
And His covenant love revealed,
There was not a wound in my aching heart,
But the balm of His breath hath healed.
Oh, tender and true was the chastening sore,
In wisdom, that taught and tried,
Till the soul that He sought was trusting in Him,
And nothing on earth beside.
“He guided by paths that I could not see,
By ways that I have not known;
The crooked was straight, and the rough was plain
As I followed the Lord alone.
I praise Him still for the pleasant palms,
And the water-springs by the way,
For the glowing pillar of flame by night,
And the sheltering cloud by day.
“Never a watch on the dreariest halt,
But some promise of love endears;
I read from the past, that my future shall be
Far better than all my fears.
Like the golden pot, of the wilderness bread,
Laid up with the blossoming rod,
All safe in the ark, with the law of the Lord,
Is the, covenant care of my God.”
The “Go” of RelationshipBy Oswald Chambers
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. —Matthew 5:41
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, “I am here for God to send me where He will.” Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
Rhonda Ballance
It May Be Today
1. There is a message written in the Word of God for me, My Savior put it there to ease my load of care.
I read, “Let not your heart be troubled, I will come again,
That with me you may be through all eternity.”
CHORUS: The Christ I love is coming soon,
It may be morning, night, or noon.
My lamps are lit, I’ll watch and pray.
It may be today, it may be today.
2. So many hearts are broken here, so many tears are shed
But Jesus brings sweet peace, this message brings relief.
He’ll come again for those he loves.
The clouds will part someday, And Jesus will break through, I’m going up, are you?
3. This is the Christian’s hope,
And like a beacon in the storm,
It still sends forth it’s light, to make the pathway bright. The dead in Christ, and we remaining,
Shall be upward caught.
Oh, what a day t’will be, blest day of victory!
J.C. Ryle
3 Simple Rules For Listening to a Sermon
It is not enough that we go to church and hear sermons. We may do so for fifty years, and be nothing better, but rather worse. “Take heed,” says our Lord, “how you hear.” Would any one know how to hear properly? Then let them lay to heart three simple rules.
1) We must hear with FAITH, believing implicitly that every word of God is true, and shall stand. The word in old time did not profit the Jews, since it was “not mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Heb. 4:2).
2) We must hear with REVERENCE, remembering constantly that the Bible is the book of God. This was the habit of the Thessalonians. They received Paul’s message, “not as the word of men, but the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13).
3) We must hear with PRAYER, praying for God’s blessing before the sermon is preached, praying for God’s blessing again when the sermon is over. Here lies the grand defect of the hearing of many. They ask no blessing, and so they have none. The sermon passes through their minds like water through a leaky vessel, and leaves nothing behind.
► Summary: Let us bear these rules in mind every Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached. Let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if it mattered not in what way such work was done. Let us carry with us faith, reverence, and prayer. If these three are our companions, we will hear with profit, and return with praise.
~ J.C. Ryle
Sharon Moles
PASTOR J.D. — PROPHECY UPDATE — September 24, 2017
A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE. AWESOME. POWERFUL. IMPERATIVE TO HEAR. (Too much to easily summarize.) “This has been one of the busiest weeks in Bible prophecy…if NOT the VERY busiest,” says Pastor J.D.
He begins by making a wise and discerning comment about all the high anticipation of Jesus’ appearing to Rapture His Church that transpired this week. A key point: The Lord does not “fault” us for being so excited about His coming. 2 Timothy 4:8. And this: God’s word does NOT return void–even in the face of those who continue to set dates.
Pastor declares emphatically: The Rapture is EVEN CLOSER than anyone can even imagine. He goes on to tell WHY.
1. GEOPOLITICAL: The U.N. General Assembly. Three leaders refused to attend–from Russia, China and Germany. The wars, threats of war, nations rising against nation–in rhetoric. Soon to be action? Iran fires off a missile that can strike Israel. Then there’s the war of words with North Korea (When we think of NK, make it “North Korea/Iran”.) Rouhini. Abbas. Their bile-filled words. Trump saying he will push for a peace deal with all of his heart–the deal of the century–yet this year??? The formidable threat of Russia in Syria. Russia threatens to target U.S. backed fighters who are operating in Syria (“strike a third time” they warn, “we will get you!”). Israel striking weapons depots near Damascus. On and on…all of these things VERY PROMINENT in Bible prophecy–YET TO BE FULFILLED. But on the brink!
2. NATURAL CATACLYSMS: THE BIRTH PANGS. all over the world now; many, many of them–all coming one after the other–non-stop. So many people are being devastated by them. Hurricanes. Earthquakes. Unimaginable suffering and death.
What is going on? PROPHETIC BIRTH PANGS THAT JESUS LISTED. Once BIRTH PAINS start, they do not quit.
These FACTS alone, literally shout the the hour is short.
When the last Gentile enters the Church, the Rapture WILL happen. And that number can be reached just any time.
Paula Maillet
September 24
Faith Rejoices In All Circumstances
“I am filled with comfort.
I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.”
2 Corinthians 7:4 The apostle Paul suffered greatly in his ministry – rejections, imprisonment, beatings, even having been left for dead. Yet he rejoices no matter what tribulation assails him.
It’s hard to imagine how anyone can be joyful in tribulation. He had a wisdom not many have, a perspective rare among men. Truly he portrayed Romans 8:28:
“And we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called
according to His purpose.”
In all our various trials and tribulations, let us grasp the truth that our God truly WILL make all things work together for good, and in this assurance let us rejoice regardless what the devil throws against us. In this is a great demonstration of the power of faith.
J.C. Ryle
“Young men, ‘Flee from sexual immorality’ if you love life. ‘Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient’. Flee from the opportunity of it–from the company of those who might draw you into it–from the places where you might be tempted to do it.
Read what our Lord says about it in Matthew 5:28, ‘I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’ Be like the holy servant Job: ‘I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl’. Flee from talking about it. It is one of the things that ought not even be hinted about in conversation. You cannot even touch black grease without getting your hands dirty. Flee from the thoughts of it; resist them, destroy them, pray against them–make any sacrifice rather than give way to them.” – JC Ryle; Thoughts For Young Men
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Stephen Thomas
Words to Ponder
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these and Almighty God … I commit my day.
Heavenly Glory
is Forever!
So is Hell!
Voice of the dying Church 