Romans 9:6-25 A Dramatic Reading

Romans 7:14-25 A Dramatic Reading

Psalm 22-1-11; A Dramatic Reading By Joshua Barnes

Only By His Grace - The Personal Testimony of Rod Proefrock

He knew me before I was conceived.  He knew my prideful, arrogant, selfish attitude that would bring Him dishonor and cause others pain and heartache.  He knew the decisions I would make that would hurt others and benefit myself.  He knew my lust for sex, money and success that would cause fornication, abortion, debt and undeserved position and power.  He knew my anger that would cause broken hands, hearts and bloody faces.  Yet through it all He loved me.  He pursued me. He met with me.  On that day as I came face to face with His Grace my heart was crushed by the reality of my sin. He didn’t scold me for my wrong.  He didn’t shame me for my acts.  He didn’t point and wave the finger of disappointment.  No, Oh no!  He stretched out His bloody hands and pulled me into his beaten body and wrapped me up In His loving arms and whispered in my ear and said...It’s ok, I got you, you are covered, I love you, it is Finished.  Now come, come follow me.  I have some work for you.  I have a purpose and plan that is not of this world.  It is not going to be easy or even make sense at times but it’s not about you anymore.  It’s for Gods glory, others blessings and your eternal benefit.   You are going to give like you have never given, You are going to love like you have never loved,  you are going feel compassion like you have never felt, you are going see like you have never seen, hear like you have never heard, smell like you have never smelled, speak like you have never spoken.  Your battle is different now.  It’s not with flesh and blood anymore.  But I want you to know that I have Won the war.  So he took my guilt, my pain, my lust, my greed, my pride, my selfishness, my anger, my bitterness, my unforgiveness and wrapped me in His Peace, Joy, Love, Kindness, Gentleness, Longsuffering, Faithfullness, Self Control and Goodness.  My life has never been the same and never will be.  For I know and am fully convinced that Almighty God met with me, despite of my sin,  at an appointed time and by the power of the Holy Spirit illuminated Jesus Christ and Him Crucified and Risen and eliminated my sin forever.  Now I have no other choice but to be zealous, compelled only by His love for me, for the cause of the one who purchased me by His blood…Jesus Christ!.  This is the Grace that has gripped my life.  This is the Grace that causes me to bury self daily and allow Him to live through me.  This is the Grace that gives me hatred toward sin and a Love for that which is good.  This is the Grace that unlocked the truth that set me free. This is the Grace that can Save, Sanctify and fully Redeem a human soul.  Red, instead of Green, is my favorite color now. 

Everyone has a testimony.  The detail of that testimony varies from person to person depending on how the sin manifested itself.   Whether in appearance you are an adulterer, murderer, liar, stealer or cheater, the reality is we are all of these in our heart and sin has come forth from there.  We can try and have tried many “things” to contain sin, but there is only one antidote that can fully kill and heal it:   The Blood of Jesus Christ.  

My Story

I am writing the Story of my life to be a testament to the Grace of God in My life. (If anyone reads this understand that it is written from my point of view only and I don't touch on what was going on in my families lives during this story, their exclusion does not mean that they were not important to me. My marriage to Stacey and the birth of my three sons remain pillars of my life.)

I was raised in a Christian home; I got saved when I was five, (or so I have always said) Our pastor gave an invitation at the end of a sermon and My cousin and I went forward together, form that point on my life has been filled with a performance based religion where I thought that everything I did from sin, to missing my devotions in the morning effected how much God loved me (I did not know that about myself until a short time ago) my life was a spiritual roller coaster with a lot more downs than ups, It was characterized by sin and defeat which fueled my certainty that God could not love a “Christian” like me. About eight years ago I left the church I was raised in, I was certain something was wrong with the pastor, his messages were full of judgment and had no hope, no love, everything I did was a disappointment to him, he even told me that I deserved a series of bad accidents and financial trouble, and were due to the fact that I listened to Contemporary Christian Music, the churches standard was that music with any drums in it at all was offensive to a Holy God. The church had become extremely legalistic and I was not growing at all. So my family and I left the church. We found a wonderful church about 15 miles down the road where the Pastor preached the Word of God, I started to grow again a little at a time but the besetting sin was still there nagging at me that “how can a person live this way and be saved” but it was the best time of my life, I became good friends with the pastor (Jon Speed). We hung out on an almost daily basis which kept me happy and feeling that God was still in my life. Later on Pastor Jon invited me to a hear a minister where I listened to one of the most powerful messages I've ever heard. Pastor Jon made a decision for Christ, I felt nothing. Pastor Jon wasn't sure he had ever truly been saved. I realize now that this was a pivotal point in my life, It was here that God made it plain to my soul that I was not saved, My pride rebelled against this thought, how could I tell my friends, my family that I was not saved. So I brushed off God’s conviction and told myself that I believed all the right things, I knew I was a sinner, I knew that Christ lived a perfect life and that He died to take my place on the cross. I was even remorseful for my sin. A few more months past with Jon making radical changes and talking about eventually leaving the church; I really didn't think He would because God wouldn't take His biggest influences out of my life. God had already called my best friend Tim Crawford to go to Word of life. What God has shown me is that I had been relying on Tim and Jon as Spiritual Crutches to keep my soul happy in mediocrity. God then called both of them into an evangelism ministry in Texas, and my two best friends moved out of my life. This spiraled my life out of control. They had been my two biggest allies against sin and any part of a godly life. God removed my crutches and I fell hard into sin, I devoted all of my time and energies into fulfilling all of my passions. I could not get away with this type of sin with them in my life. They loved God and their influence on me

Kept me from total depravity!
From that day on I had no one to rely on and I believed in my heart of hearts that God had abandoned me to my own demise. Sin ruled in my life and I was helpless before it. So my life continued that way for the next five years, it’s a terrible thing to know the plan of salvation and know the punishment of hell that waits if I didn't get my life right. I awoke each morning knowing that I was a sinner and that if I didn't change I was bound for an eternity in Hell, because how could God love a person like me. My marriage was broken and almost over with so I knew something had to change I did not want my family to leave me. What God has shown me since then is that because Tim and Jon left God was able to show me the total depravity my soul was in, so when I sunk as low as I could go without causing permanent damage to my soul and my life God graciously allowed me to seek counsel from an old friend from grade school to pray for me and meet with me around Christmas 2008, I told him about every aspect of my life and opened up my life for his inspection crying out for help. We spent hours talking, he kept coming back to the fact that I had been raised with a wrong understanding of The Grace of God, and that he had gone through the same sort of thing about 2 years before, and recommended the book Holiness by Grace written by Brian Chapell which helped correct that. We finished up and when I got in the car and cried out to God praying that He would not give up on me. That He would not let me die before I knew whether or not I could be saved.

I said amen and turned on the radio and heard for the first time Tenth Avenue’s song

By Your Side and these are the words

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

 

It was this act of grace by God that gave me hope. I cried most of the way home, when I got home I ordered Holiness by Grace. I started reading it right away and read that when God saves you he not only forgives you of the sin you already committed but he forgives you for the stuff you haven’t done yet and from that moment on He looks at the righteousness of Christ first before he sees us. That sin although it still disappoints God does not affect our standing before God. I now know that my conversion when I was five was false. God miraculously saved me in January 2009. I had been standing on my own righteousness and pride to save me I thought that I had to do something for God to love me and forgive me, now I know that it is only His Grace that allows us to repent of our sin and only by His grace can we stand and live in this life.
So now I can say like the song writer Steven Curtis Chapman in his song Angel’s Wish

I have seen the dark and desperate place where sin will take you
I've felt loneliness and shame
And I have watched the blinding light of grace
Come breaking through with a sweetness only tasted
By the forgiven and redeemed.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

 

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

 

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

 

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

 

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Robinson had a rough beginning. His father died when he was young, and his mother, unable to control him, sent him to London to learn barbering. What he learned instead was drinking and gang-life. When he was 17, he and his friends reportedly visited a fortune-teller. Relaxed by alcohol, they laughed as she tried to tell their futures. But something about the encounter bothered Robert, and that evening he suggested to his buddies they attend the evangelistic meeting being held by George Whitefield. Whitefield was one of history’s greatest preachers, with a voice that was part foghorn and part violin. That night he preached from Matthew 3:7: ‘‘But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’’ Bursting into tears, White-field exclaimed, ‘‘Oh, my hearers! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!’’ Robert immediately sobered up and sensed Whitefield was preaching directly to him. The preacher’s words haunted him for nearly three years, until December 10, 1755, when he gave his heart to Christ. Robert soon entered the ministry, and three years later at age 23, while serving Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, he wrote a hymn for his sermon on Pentecost Sunday. It was a prayer that the Holy Spirit flood into our hearts with His streams of mercy, enabling us to sing God’s praises and remain faithful to Him. ‘‘Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,’’ has been a favorite of the church since that day. Robinson continued working for the Lord until 1790, when he was invited to Birmingham, England, to preach for Dr. Joseph Priestly, a noted Unitarian. There, on the morning of June 8, he was found dead at age 54, having passed away quietly during the night. Take a few moments to offer this hymn as a personal prayer, especially remembering those last insightful lines: Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

 

 Posted to the Servant of God by: Andrew Smith

 

Morgan, Robert J. (2003-02-05). Then Sings My Soul (p. 66). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

 

Mercy and Judgment : Morning and Evening by: Charles H. Spurgeon

I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.

Psalms 101:1

 

 

Faith triumphs in trial. When reason is thrust into the inner prison, with her feet made fast in the stocks, faith makes the dungeon walls ring with her merry notes as she cries, "I will sing of mercy and of judgment. Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing." Faith pulls the black mask from the face of trouble, and discovers the angel beneath. Faith looks up at the cloud, and sees that "'Tis big with mercy and shall break In blessings on her head." There is a subject for song even in the judgments of God towards us. For, first, the trial is not so heavy as it might have been; next, the trouble is not so severe as we deserved to have borne; and our affliction is not so crushing as the burden which others have to carry. Faith sees that in her worst sorrow there is nothing penal; there is not a drop of God's wrath in it; it is all sent in love. Faith discerns love gleaming like a jewel on the breast of an angry God. Faith says of her grief, "This is a badge of honour, for the child must feel the rod"; and then she sings of the sweet result of her sorrows, because they work her spiritual good. Nay, more, says Faith, "These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." So Faith rides forth on the black horse, conquering and to conquer, trampling down carnal reason and fleshly sense, and chanting notes of victory amid the thickest of the fray. "All I meet I find assists me In my path to heavenly joy: Where, though trials now attend me, Trials never more annoy. "Blest there with a weight of glory, Still the path I'll ne'er forget, But, exulting, cry, it led me To my blessed Saviour's seat."

Posted to the Servant of God By: Andrew Smith

Spurgeon, Charles (2008-01-28). Morning and Evening: Daily Bible Readings, improved 8/16/2010 (p. 326). B&R Samizdat Express. Kindle Edition.

The Lockman Foundation (2008-01-26). Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible (NASB) (Kindle Locations 19155-19156). The Lockman Foundation. Kindle Edition.

Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon

A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

Nahum 1:2

Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon him, he is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend--worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to himself. He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in him only, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would fain have us abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship with himself; and many of the trials which he sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon himself. Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if he loves us so much as to care thus about our love we may be sure that he will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies. Oh that we may have grace this day to keep our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

Spurgeon, Charles (2008-01-28). Morning and Evening: Daily Bible Readings, improved 8/16/2010 (Kindle Locations 14205-14210). B&R Samizdat Express. Kindle Edition.

The Lockman Foundation (2008-01-26). Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible (NASB) (Kindle Locations 29712-29714). The Lockman Foundation. Kindle Edition.

 

 

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

 

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

 Only one missionary is honored with a global holiday, and only one is known by his own distinct color of green—St. Patrick, of course, missionary to Ireland. Patrick was born in A.D. 373, along the banks of the River Clyde in what is now called Scotland. His father was a deacon, and his grandfather a priest. When Patrick was about 16, raiders descended on his little town and torched his home. When one of the pirates spotted him in the bushes, he was seized, hauled aboard ship, and taken to Ireland as a slave. There he gave his life to the Lord Jesus. ‘‘The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief,’’ he later wrote, ‘‘in order that I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God.’’ Patrick eventually escaped and returned home. His overjoyed family begged him to never leave again. But one night, in a dream reminiscent of Paul’s vision of the Macedonian Man in Acts 16, Patrick saw an Irishman pleading with him to come evangelize Ireland. It wasn’t an easy decision, but Patrick, about 30, returned to his former captors with only one book, the Latin Bible, in his hand. As he evangelized the countryside, multitudes came to listen. The superstitious Druids opposed him and sought his death. But his preaching was powerful, and Patrick became one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time, planting about 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts. His work endured, and several centuries later, the Irish church was still producing hymns, prayers, sermons, and songs of worship. In the eighth century, an unknown poet wrote a prayer asking God to be his Vision, his Wisdom, and his Best Thought by day or night. In 1905, Mary Elizabeth Byrne, a scholar in Dublin, Ireland, translated this ancient Irish poem into English. Another scholar, Eleanor Hull of Manchester, England, took Byrne’s translation and crafted it into verses with rhyme and meter. Shortly thereafter it was set to a traditional Irish folk song, ‘‘Slane,’’ named for an area in Ireland where Patrick reportedly challenged local Druids with the gospel. It is one of our oldest and most moving hymns: Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, Naught be all else to me save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

 

Morgan, Robert J. (2003-02-05). Then Sings My Soul (p. 6). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Posted to the Servantof God by: Andrew Smith

Psalm 19 - Second Half - Part 2

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever

The judgements of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether

They are more desirable than gold, yes than much fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of honeycomb

Moreover, by them your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is a great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden falults.

Also keep back your servant from presumptiuous sins

Let them not rule over me

Then I will be blameless

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart

Be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

The judgements of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether, They are more desirable than gold, yes than much fine gold.

One thing that is quite interesting to take note of is that the author does not equivocate when it comes to where he is positionally, relative to those judgements. Whether guilty or innocent, whether recieving evil or good from the hand of the LORD, he makes clear that the judgments of the LORD are righteous and true and better than the best wealth analogy possible. Not only this he says they they are righteous altogether. So you get this sense in which he's literally saying, whatever the LORD decides is always right. And that decision is more precious and desirable than the highest form of wealth in all of the Earth. How does one come to such a conclusion? When so many of the world think that God has abandoned them or left us to our own plight. Which paints God as malevolent at worst and ambivalent at best. Yet this is not what He says about His people. He says that He knows the good things that He has planned for us, to prosper us. I begin to ask myself, what does David know of God that I do not yet understand.

Moreover, by them your servant is warned; In keeping them there is a great reward.

By keeping the precepts, commandments, and laws, we understand God's judgments. That they are entirely righteous. For the scripture says, "all things work to the good of His glory for those who are called according to His purposes and love Him." So then we know that God's judgements are righteous, but also, they are intended to benefit His people by giving them a true understanding of God's motives, which are self-glorification; which is the highest good a man can achieve, to glorify God and worship Him forever. Not only is it our highest end, it serves as our highest good. For when we worship and glorify God, we're also practicing righteousness which leads to the feeding of the poor and the caring for the elderly and all the beneficience that this world should expect to see of someone who is commanded to love thy neighbor as you love yourself. Worship of God is not a matter of bowing your face and leaning totally on worshipful gestures but never conducting beneficial acts of service. The worship of God is the reverence of His position in all matters; as the Cheif Organizer and Excutor of judgements. Thus we can know that when we do good, we do so because God planned it so. And when we do bad, we do so because God has planned it so. All to the end that we might understand His glory and His holiness. It is to this point that we now turn to what may well have been the motivation for this entire writing. 

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden falults.

David says plainly; You can't even know all the wrong things you do! You are utterly sinful, against God, backslidden. Yet, earlier He made clear that God's judgements are altogether righteous. This obviously includes the judgement that no man would be able to discern all of his errors. And what is David's response? To overlook it? NO! To pacify the conscience by offering the platitude that "nobody's perfect"? NO! He accepts that he's sinful and wicked and can't even know the extent of his transgression. He quickly follows with a request that glorifies the only being that we should glorify, which is the Most High God of Heaven. He says to the one who can; "Acquit me of hidden faults". This acceptance that he has hidden faults and the plea to be free of them is rooted in the former understanding. Namely:

• The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
• the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
• The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart
• The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
• The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever

David understands the matters of the LORD are not trivial and not only this, they lead to life.

Also keep back your servant from presumptiuous sins

Does David end with giving over to God what only God can do? Does he say to himself, "God can handle my hidden sins, because I can't even see them, but the ones I can see, I'll deal with, so that I can be holy"? NO! He gives to God what is His to do. Keep back your servant from presumptious sins. There are three moving parts in this sentence. Keep Back - Your Servant - From Sin

David is pleading to the one you can; Keep me away; why? Because I'm your servant. Why? Because I know that sin offends you. If I am your servant, and I understand you, I understand also that I cannot, neither rid myself of unknown sins but also known and presumptious sins. Father, keep thy servant from all these things. And to what end is this?

And Then.....I Will Be Blameless

And THEN he will be blameless. David is making abundantly clear that his blamelessness as it were is totally built on the foundation of God being the author of his righteousness. And does not the scripture say that God himself is both the author and finisher, or perfector of our faith, which is a gift from Him also, to which only those who have been drawn by the Father recieve, and these, none of which Christ will cast out on the last day? The very same. David's recognition of this is paramount in our understanding because it should affect how we think about our lives. Do you vainly believe that you are different than David? If in fact the Spirit is within you and you are called...does not the Father seek to treat you the same, to give you the same understanding. I say that He does.

Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon

The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead."

— Ephesians 1:19,

 

In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God’s grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, "Thou shalt," man shall not say, "I will not." Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. "Because he lives we live also." "For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." "Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!

Septenmber 8th's morning reading from Morning and Evening

by Charles H. Spurgeon

posted to Servant of God: by Andrew Smith

Psalm 19 - Second Half - Part 1

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever

The judgements of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether

They are more desirable than gold, yes than much fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of honeycomb

Moreover, by them your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is a great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden falults.

Also keep back your servant from presumptiuous sins

Let them not rule over me

Then I will be blameless

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart

Be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

From this mornings devotion. I wanted to spend a few moments expounding what is the joy of my heart of folllow the LORD, all the days of my life. To offer His word, to speak through it, to give a testimony for Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The awaited King.

Begin by realizing that Davids perception of man is that he's lost, he's stupid, he's wallowing in despair, he sees through dimly lit eyes and without God's intervetion, his end is a godless one. We know this because through sentence construction, David is relaying what he becomes and what is the affect of the work of God on a human being; what he becomes demonstrates that he's currently the antithesis of this new condition.

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The law of the LORD is perfect, but it also restores the soul? How does the law, which was taken advantage of by sin, through the flesh become something that restores the soul? David is describing, by way of the law of God, which is perfect and blameless, an attribute of God. Since what flows from God is perfect, it's sensible to believe and understand that the Law, which God created, is also perfect. How then does it restore the soul? David answers this fully, using various angles. First, it reveals his inability, then in produces contrition, which leads to worship and fear of the LORD, which is the very beginning of all knowledge. The soul in its condition is in need of restoration. When we are born, we're born apart from God, in the dominion of Satan. We cannot, will not and do not come to God. So then, David is makign the statement that is God's law that restores us to Him. His law takes us from our dead state, such a dreadful condition, and quickens us to life, that we may once again share our relationship with God. This is God's work, that you believe in Him who He has sent. 

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

the testimony, the witness, the story, the revelation of the LORD is sure. It's a guarantee. Its possibility perfect and guaranteed. And what is it's affect on the children of God, who are born of blood and not the will of mean (john 1:13), is that it makes you wise. The profoundity of this is rooted more in our foolishness than in the wisdom we gain. The most base thing of God is wiser than the most wise thing of man. Man is stupid. His flesh is a self sustaining mass of sickness, sin and self-worship. So then, it follows that when the LORD's law illumines our mind, we become like God in our knowledge of Him. This casts a deep shadow over how utterly foolish we once were, so that at the point where we even trust the testimony of the LORD we instantly leave our simple and foolish nature; no longer constrained to the dark habitation of godlessness. Even this is the work of God.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart

The statutes, the precepts, the ordinances, the familial rules of God's kingdom that set us apart, that teach us holiness and that illumine the minds of the wicked truly produce rejoicing. Why? Because God is our Father and His ways are right! Though we didn't always know that. When you become a Christian, you can marvel daily at the ignorance of man and the proudness of his heart. How he scoffs at God with all his machines and sciences and how he bravely admonishes the world to follow after him. How he bravely opens his mouth against the Living God. How does such a dog even think to open his mouth? Ignorance. He's stupid by nature and he's ignorant by training. But, the word of the LORD is not slack. It will rip off the lid to any mind that is destined for God's illumination. So then, the precepts of the LORD are right and they cause rejoicing because we have a firm foundation to stand upon. We know that God's testimony is true, we know that our wisdom of Him comes from Him. Thus, from our sickly state of death and depravity we are restored in our relationship with him, which makes us wise and causes rejoicing. And why wouldn't it, when with ease you can look as see the putrid filth of sin and arrogance and proudness of heart that you were rescued from! If you do not understand this, you do not understand your sickly condition! You may yet be dead, spirtually to God and His law.

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Here we see a specific example of God's mercy and work on us. Why do our eyes even need enlightening? Is there some kind of mechanism or necessary belief system required to believe in God? Can the eye not plainly percieve truth? How is it possible that two people can be told the same thing, "thou shalt not murder", one obeys and one does not? Have not both of them heard? Have not both of them understand? You say free will? You say depravity?

The enlightment of the eyes comes by the commandment of the LORD. In Romans 10 Paul teaches us that "Faith comes by hearing" {mechanism} and "hearing comes by the word/command/decree of God" {process}. So then, it could be said that if faith does not come by hearing, it's not because of the hearing, but rather because of the word of God. God has not commanded it, though ears hear. And yet, are we not talking about eyes, which John says are the means by which we percieve the Light of God? Your body is one giant puzzle, put together for the glory of God. Your eyes both see, and percieve. The are physically useful for revelation and they are metaphorically useful for revelation. This is no accident. You were put together in such a manner as to have the expressed purpose of being the revelation of God, by means of your flesh. For sin, took advantage of the law, to put the flesh to death....so that, sin might be shown to be utterly sinful. What is SIN? The want of conformance to, or the transgression of the Law of God. Westminster Catechism. So then, the commandment of the LORD is both decretive in the elightening of the eyes, and it also raises our gaze to see the higher things of God with our spiritual eyes. This helps us make sense of the true words of God say that the invisible attributes of God have been clearly seen.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever

Perseverance of the saints. The fear of the LORD is perfect. In every capacity, although we do not perfectly fear the LORD. No, at times we fear wrongly. We fear what is not right to fear. But the fear of the LORD, that is the beginning of all knowledge, is a correct, God given fear, that endures forever. It will never change. Thus, we are wise from whence we were simple, we are joyful of that from which we've been rescued and our eyes are enlightened as we're lead in to all truth by Christ's Spirit. We are the chosen race, a royal preisted a holy people that God has purchased for a price, in order that He might give us to His Son, Christ.

 

A Mighy Fortress is our God

1.             A mighty fortress is our God,

a bulwark never failing;

our helper he amid the flood

of mortal ills prevaling.

For still our ancient foe

doth seek to work us woe;

his craft and power are great,

and armed with cruel hate,

on earth is not his equal.

 

2.            Did we in our own strength confide,

our striving would be losing,

were not the right man on our side,

the man of God's own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is he;

Lord Sabaoth, his name,

from age to age the same,

and he must win the battle.

 

3.            And though this world, with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God hath willed

his truth to triumph through us.

The Prince of Darkness grim,

we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure,

for lo, his doom is sure;

one little word shall fell him.

 

4.            That word above all earthly powers,

no thanks to them, abideth;

the Spirit and the gifts are ours,

thru him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

this mortal life also;

the body they may kill;

God's truth abideth still;

his kingdom is forever.

 

Author-Martin Luther, 1483-1546

English Translation-Frederick H. Hedge, 1805-1890

Composer-Martin Luther, 1483-1546

Tune Name-"Ein' Feste Burg"

Meter-87.87.66.667

Scripture Reference-Psalm 46

 

 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony, Germany. He was educated at the University of Erfurt, later becoming an Augustinian monk, teaching philosophy and theology at the University of Wittenberg. On October 31, 1517, sometimes called the "4th of July of Protestantism, " Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg, Germany. These theses condemned various practices and teachings of the Roman church. After several years of stormy disputes with the Pope and other church leaders, Martin Luther was finally excommunicated from the fellowship of the Roman Catholic church in 1520. One of the important benefits of the Reformation Movement was the rediscovery of congregational singing. Luther had strong convictions about the use and power of sacred music. He expressed his convictions in this way, "If any man despises music, as all fanatics do, for him I have no liking; for music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity and other devices. " Again, "The Devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God. " In another place, "I wish to compose sacred hymns so that the Word of God may dwell among the people also by means of songs. " Finally, Luther wrote, "I would allow no man to preach or teach God's people without a proper knowledge of the use and power of sacred song.             The single most powerful hymn of the Protestant Reformation Movement was Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, " based on Psalm 46. This hymn became the battle cry of the people, a great source of strength and inspiration even for those who were martyred for their convictions. This hymn has been translated into practically every known language and is regarded as one of the noblest and most classic examples of Christian hymnody. It is said there are no less than sixty translations of this text in English alone. In England the version by Thomas Carlyle is in general use, while in this country the translation by Frederick H. Hedge, a professor at Harvard University, is used most frequently. This translation was not made until 1852 and first appeared in a book entitled Gems of German Verse by W. H. Furness, published in 1853. The first line of this national hymn of Protestant Germany is fittingly inscribed on the tomb of the great reformer at Wittenberg, and may still be read with appreciation by travellers to that historic spot.

 

Kenneth W. Osbeck. 101 Hymn Stories (Kindle Locations 108-114). Kindle Edition.

Posted to Servant of God by Andrew Smith

Paul Washer: Divine Election Explained

by John Samson on August 31, 2011

Some time back I posted a video of a conversation where seemingly unannouced, a young man walked up to Paul Washer asking him if he could explain the doctrine of election (with another friend standing by with a video camera). The result was a very poor quality audio recording but with the transcript provided, it is fairly easy to follow.

Today I spent some time writing out a full transcript of the conversation. There are some people who for some reason find the viewing of videos to be probelmatic. I hope adding the transcript below serves you.

So, here’s the video once again, this time with the transcript (which starts after the initial question has been asked). God bless, John

What it all comes down to is this. You have to answer one question: is man radically depraved?

That’s the only question you have to ask. Because if he is truly dead in his sin, if he truly hates God, if all men are equally evil, and they are, then the question is, how are you standing here right now believing God while some of your friends who are more moral than you still hate Him?

What happened?

If you say you opened up your heart, I’ll say, “no you didn’t” because the Bible says God opened up Lydia’s heart.

If you say, “well I repented.” Well, repentance is an evangelical grace in all the confessions. That means it comes from God as a gift.

If you say, “well I believe.” Ephesians 2. It is also a gift.

Questioner: (I know the Bible says that no man can come to God unless he is drawn by God. I know that well. My question is, “is the offer of salvation for all men or did God sit back in eternity and say, ‘its for you, you, you and you, and you, you, you, you are going to go to hell”?)

See, first of all, your problem is this: let’s say there’s no election. None. Ok. Let’s just start fresh and say there’s no election. Alright.. now, let’s say that men really are radically depraved and no man can come to God unless God draws him. So God comes down to every man and says “Anyone who will bow the knee to Me, anyone who will accept my Son as their Savior will be saved.” Since every man is radically depraved, they all hate God, they all blaspheme Him, turn around walk away and go to hell. The whole world goes to hell. Is that God’s fault?

(No.)

Alright, let’s say that really is the reality. Let’s say the Bible is true and that men hate God that much. So, who is going to be saved? Absolutely no one!

And if God saved no one because everyone is evil and rejects Him, is God wrong in doing that?

No, so that is what you’ve got without election – you’ve got the whole world hating God and going to hell.

That’s it…. and the other option is this:

Among these evil men, for His own glory and to demonstrate His own kindness before the foundation of the world He chooses a group of men out of there to demonstrate His glory in them. Is that wrong?

Did He rip the other men off?

What did He do?

You’ve got two choices: God saves a group of people by His own sovereignty or everybody goes to hell. Everybody!

Because men are that evil.

See, what you need to realize is that if God, right now, were to throw open the door of hell and say “everyone who wants out of hell, the only thing you have to do is bow your knee to Me and recognize My Lordship.” they’ll slam the door and stay in hell.

See what you don’t realize because of the humanistic Christianity in America, you don’t realize that men are really evil. They really ARE evil.

I’ll give you an example.
 
Have any of you seen Lord of the Rings?

Saruman makes these orcs, they come out of the ground evil. EVIL.

Alright, Aragon, all the heroes in the movie, slaughter them like they were insects. Slaughter them. And every time an orc gets killed, what do you do…

Yay! (Cheer)

Why?

Because those orcs really are evil. They are evil.

There’s your problem. You don’t think men are.

Men really are evil. Men really deserve hell. They really do.

(I believe that)

We talk about the doctrine of inability – that men cannot come to God. Jesus said that. Alright, men CANNOT come to God.

Now, if you say, “if men can’t come to God then how can God judge them? Its like judging a blind man because he can’t read. If men can’t come to God then man is not a culprit, he’s a victim.”

But here’s what you have to understand. Men cannot come to God because they WILL not come to God and they will not come to God because they hate Him… and therefore they are responsible.

Men are evil. God is good.

So, men hate God, they hate His law, they hate everything about Him. OK.

It says of Joseph’s brothers: they could not speak to him peaceably.

Now they spoke Aramaic. Why couldn’t they speak to him peaceably?

They could not because they hated him.

Alright, that’s why no man will ever come to God.

If God comes down and says, “Alright, everybody make their choice.”

No one is coming to God.

Why?

They hate Him.

And that is why they are judged, for their moral inability. Their inability is moral. They really hate God.

So, you’ve got the whole human race, every one of them is fallen, everyone of them hates God. God comes down to them and says, “who wants to be saved?”

Everybody blasphemes the name of God, walks into hell and slams the door. That’s what you’ve got. Because men really are evil.

and if out of that God says, “For My own glory, I am going to redeem a people and give them to My Son, by My own choice and by My own Sovereign election. He’s done wrong to no one.

Now how does He save them?

Here’s a question: Are you spiritually dead prior to salvation?

(Yes)

Well then, how did you come to Christ?

If you are spiritually blind, how do you now see Him?

(He draws me unto Him)

But you’re a dead man.

If some of it has to do with you, you’re a dead man.

If God calls your name, you hate Him. You’re not going to come, you’re going to run farther away from Him.

That is why in all.. now listen very carefully… in all the Christian confessions – the old Christian confessions, in the Reformation, early Baptist confessions, … you have been raised on this” ‘If you believe in Jesus you can be born again.’

ALL the early Baptist confessions say you must be born again in order to believe in Jesus.

That’s the difference.

Because if I tell a dead man, “Look, you’re dead, but there’s a hospital over here, where they can put some electrodes on you – so get up and follow me over to the hospital.”

Its nonsensical. He’s dead.

If he can get up he doesn’t need to go to the hospital.

So when Jesus looked at Lazarus and said, “Lazarus come forth” – there’s a problem – Lazarus is dead.

How does he hear the command?

The command was not only to be given, the moment the command is given, Lazarus must be resurrected to be able to even hear the command and respond.

That’s why you probably heard the Gospel for many years, and you’re sitting there and you didn’t care, it’s no big deal, maybe you made a profession of faith.. nothing.

And then one day, the Gospel is preached and wooosh – the blinders are taken off and not only that but you want Him.

Some people say, “well, what God does is He draws us to a certain point and then gives us a choice.”

There’s a problem. If God only illuminates the mind of the sinner then the more the sinner sees God, the more he’s going to hate Him.

So He not only illuminates the mind, He changes the heart.

With a new heart, for the first time you want Jesus and say, “I love Him and am irresistibly drawn to Him. I want Him more than anything.”

That’s what it is.