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Tuesday, December 31, 2024

"I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil" (John xvii. 15).

 Days of Heaven Upon Earth




      "I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil" (John xvii. 15).

      

      He wants us here for some higher purpose than mere existence. That purpose is nothing else than to represent Him to the world, to be the messengers of His Gospel and His will to men, and by our lives to exhibit to them the true life, and teach them how to live it themselves.

      

      He is representing us yonder, and our one business is to represent Him here. We are just as truly sent into this world to represent Him as if we had gone to China as the ambassador of the American Government.

      

      While engaged in the secular affairs of life, it is simply that we may represent Him there, carry on His business, and have means to use for His affairs. He came here from another realm, and with a special message, and when His work was done He was called to go home to His Father's dwelling-place and His own.

      

      Lord, help me to worthily represent Thee.

      

      And carry music in our heart

          Through busy street and wrangling mart;

      Plying our daily task with busier feet,

          Because our souls a heavenly strain repeat.



David Wilkerson - "Doubt" The Sin God Hates Most

Faith Pt 5 of 10 - The Danger of Unbelief - Derek Prince

The Resistance of Unbelief ― A Sermon on 1 Timothy 1:12-16 (Remastered)

Help My Unbelief – John Piper

Acting Out Unbelief By A.W. Tozer

 Acting Out Unbelief

By A.W. Tozer




      Human sin began with loss of faith in God. When our mother Eve listened to Satans sly innuendoes against the character of God she began to entertain a doubt of His integrity and right there the doors were opened to the incoming of every possible evil, and darkness settled upon the world. 

The Bible talks about mans being alienated from and an enemy to God. Should this sound harsh or extreme you have only to imagine your closest personal friend coming to you and stating in cold seriousness that he no longer has any confidence in you. I do not trust you. I have lost confidence in your character. I am forced to suspect every move you make.

 Such a declaration would instantly alienate friends by destroying the foundation upon which every friendship is built. Until your former friends opinion of you had been reversed there could be no further communion. 

Only a restored faith could bring about a restored friendship. Now, it is well known that people do not go boldly to God and profess that they have no confidence in Him, and no one except the rare professional unbeliever is willing to witness publicly to his low view of God. The frightful thing, however, is that people everywhere act out their unbelief with a consistency that is more convincing than words.


Psalm 119: 103-105


Psalm 119: 103-105


 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!


104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.


105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.


Monday, December 30, 2024

Looking at the Waves ― A Sermon on Matthew 14:22-23 (Remastered)

"The end of a matter—is better than its beginning." Ecclesiastes 7:8

Morning and Evening

by Charles Spurgeon




"The end of a matter—is better than its beginning." Ecclesiastes 7:8


Look at Christ's beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right hand, waiting until His enemies be made his footstool.

"As He is—so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross—or you shall never wear the crown! You must wade through the mire—or you shall never walk the golden pavement! Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "The end of a matter—is better than its beginning."

See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that butterfly with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him—a deespised worm—that like Him you may be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness.

That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the jeweler. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much—much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the jeweler. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process.

Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you! "They shall be Mine," says the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "The end of a matter—is better than its beginning."


"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!" Hebrews 13:8

 Miller's Year Book—a Year's Daily Readings




J. R. Miller, 1895


"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!" Hebrews 13:8


We leave many things behind us, as we go on. We can never go back again over the closing year. We never go over any life-path a second time. We never pass a second time through any experience. We have infancy once, childhood once, youth once, manhood and womanhood once, old age once, and we die once. We are forever leaving things, places, conditions, and experiences behind us. But through all these, we have the same Christ, unchanged, unchanging.


The Christ of childhood and of youth remains the Christ of manhood and of old age. Whatever changes the years bring to us—we must ever keep our eyes on the living Christ. He will always be all we need. There will never be a path which he cannot find for us and show us. There will never be a dark valley which he cannot light up for us. There will never be a battle which he cannot fight for us. There will never be an experience through which he cannot safely take us. We are leaving the old year behind, but we are not leaving Christ in the dead year. We need not be afraid, therefore, to go forward, if we go with him. We have not passed this new way before, and it is all strange to our inexperience; but Christ knows and he will guide us, and all will be well—if we put our hand in his.


The Lord Leading; David Following (2 Samuel 5:24,26) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

He smote thrice and stayed. 2 Kings 13:18

 Our Daily Homily




      He smote thrice and stayed. 2 Kings 13:18

      

      A STRIKING spectacle. The dying prophet, with his thin hands on the muscular hands of the young king, as he shoots his arrow through the eastern window; the exhortation to smite the remaining arrows on the ground; the bitter chiding that the king had struck thrice only, instead of five or six times. What lessons are here! The Lord Jesus put his hands upon ours. Here is the reverse to the incident referred to. Ours are weak, his are strong; ours would miss the mark, his will direct the arrows, if only we will allow Him, with unerring precision. We shoot, but the Lord directs the arrow's flight to the heart of his foes.

      

      Our success is commensurate with our faith. If we strike but thrice, we conquer but thrice. If we strike seven times, we attain a perfect victory over the adversary. Is not this the cause of comparative failure in Gospel effort? Souls are not saved because we do not expect them to be saved. A few are saved, because we only believe for a few. It is one of the most radical laws in the universe of God, and one which our Lord repeatedly emphasized, that our faith determines the less or more in our own growth, and in the victories we win for Christ. Do not stay, 0 soul winner, but smite again and yet again in the secret of thy chamber, that thou mayest smite Satan, and compel him to acknowledge thy might.

      

      Let us not stay, though the energy of earlier days may be ebbing fast. The sanctified spirit waxes only stronger and more heroic, as Elisha's and Paul's did, amid the decay of mortal power. The Lord will say to us, as He did to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."



Ye Shall Live

 Ye Shall Live

By A.B. Simpson




       The Holy Spirit is the only one who can kill us and keep us dead. Many Christians try to do this disagreeable work themselves, and they are going through a continual crucifixion but can never accomplish the work permanently.


      This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and when we really yield ourselves to the death, it is delightful to find how sweetly He can execute the sentence. They tell us that by the touch of the electric spark life is extinguished almost without a quiver of pain. However this may be in natural things, we know the Holy Spirit can touch with celestial fire the surrendered thing, after it is really yielded up to the sentence of death, and slay it in a moment. The yielding is our business, and it is God's business to execute the sentence and to keep it constantly operative.


      May we not live in the pain of perpetual and ineffective suicide, but reckoning ourselves dead indeed, let us leave ourselves in the hands of the blessed Holy Spirit. He will slay whatever rises in opposition to His will and keep us true to our heavenly reckoning and filled with His resurrection life.



Sunday, December 29, 2024

A Cure for Care (1 Peter 5:6,7) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

S.M. Lockridge - The Great Proclamation (Never Heard Before)

Adversity – Burden or Bridge? – Dr. Charles Stanley

Adrian Rogers: You Are Saved By Grace Not By Religion

The Dilemma Of Obedience

 


The Dilemma Of Obedience

By Oswald Chambers


      'And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.'

      1 Samuel 3:15


      God never speaks to us in startling ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand, and we say, "I wonder if that is God's voice?" Isaiah said that the Lord spake to him "with a strong hand," that is, by the pressure of circumstances. Nothing touches our lives but it is God Himself speaking. Do we discern His hand or only mere occurrence?


      Get into the habit of saying, "Speak, Lord," and life will become a romance. Every time circumstances press, say, "Speak, Lord"; make time to listen. Chastening is more than a means of discipline, it is meant to get me to the place of saying, "Speak, Lord." Recall the time when God did speak to you. Have you forgotten what He said? Was it Luke 11:13, or was it 1 Thess. 5:23? As we listen, our ear gets acute, and, like Jesus, we shall hear God all the time.


      Shall I tell my "Eli" what God has shown to me? That is where the dilemma of obedience comes in. We disobey God by becoming amateur providences - I must shield "Eli," the best people we know. God did not tell Samuel to tell Eli; he had to decide that for himself. God's call to you may hurt your "Eli;" but if you try to prevent the suffering in another life, it will prove an obstruction between your soul and God. It is at your own peril that you prevent the cutting off of the right hand or the plucking out of the eye.


      Never ask the advice of another about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will nearly always side with Satan. "Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."


We Have Been Made Alive

Saturday, December 28, 2024

How Do You View Your Body? | Sermon

The money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 12:4

 Our Daily Homily



   The money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the Lord. 2 Kings 12:4

      

      THE margin suggests that the thought of giving for God's house would ascend in a man's heart, till it became the royal and predominant thought, swaying the whole man to obedience. It is a beautiful conception!

      

      For the reconstruction of the Temple there were two classes of revenue: the tribute money which each Israelite was bound to give, and the money which a man might feel prompted to give. Surely the latter was the more precious in the eye of God.

      

      Does it ever come into your heart to bring some money into the house of God? Perhaps the sug gestion comes, but you put it away, and refuse to consider it. The thought begins to ascend in your heart, but you thrust it down and back, saying, Why should I part with what has cost me so much to get! Beware of stifling these generous promptings. To yield to them would bring untold blessing into heart and life. Besides, the money is only yours as a stewardship; and the thought to give it to God is only the Master's request for his own.

      

      The great mistake with us all is, that we do not hold all our property at God's disposal, seeking his directions for its administration; and that we forget how freely we have received that we may resemble our Father in heaven, and freely give. Too many, alas! are anxious to hoard up and keep for themselves that which God has given them, instead of counting themselves and all they have as purchased property, and using all things as his representatives and trustees. Let us make a complete surrender to our Lord, and from the heart sing,

      

          "Take my silver and my gold,

          Not a mite would I withhold.


According to the power that worketh in us

 According to the power that worketh in us

By A.B. Simpson



      When we reach the place of union with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we come into the inheritance of external blessing and enter upon the land of our possession. Then our health and physical strength come to us through the power of our interior life. Then the prayer is fulfilled that we shall be in health and prosper as our soul prospers. Then, with the kingdom of God and His righteousness within us all things are added unto us. 

God's external working always keeps pace with the power that works in us. When God is enthroned in a human soul, the devil and the world soon find it out. We do not need to advertise our power. Jesus could not be hid, and a soul filled with divine power and purity should become the center of attraction to hungry hearts and Suffering lives.

 Let us receive Him and recognize Him in His indwelling glory, and then will we appropriate all that it means for our life in all its fullness. Lord, give me the "hiding of thy power," and let Christ be glorified in me.



S.M. Lockridge - The Holding Patterns of Life (Sermon Jam)

Friday, December 27, 2024

WATCHMAN NEE - THE SIGNS THE HOLY SPIRIT SEND YOU WHEN YOU ARE IN DANGER!

Be Silent You Will Get Everything You Want | Charles Spurgeon Sermons

Three Different Forms Of Antichrists In Bible

The Key to Continuing Peace – Dr. Charles Stanley

S.M. Lockridge - The Problems with Todays Churches (Sermon Jam)

A Tribute to Leaders in the Past and Present By A.B. Simpson

A Tribute to Leaders in the Past and Present

By A.B. Simpson



      In a very real sense we thank God when we thank His people. Gratitude felt and expressed becomes a healing, life-building force in the soul. Something wonderful happens within us when gratitude enters. We cannot be too grateful, for it would be like loving too much or being too kind. And if we are to make a mistake it had better be on the side of humble gratitude for benefits received. Should we in error give credit to someone who does not deserve it we are far better off than if we fail to give credit to one who does.


      To those holy men who gave us the sacred Scriptures we owe a debt we can never hope to pay. We should be glad they were in such a spiritual state that they could hear the Voice at the critical moment when God would use them to transmit His mighty words to mankind. And to all who in olden times lovingly transcribed the Word, we should be thankful, and to the old saints who at various dangerous times in the past risked their lives to preserve the Holy Scriptures inviolate.


ASTONISHED REVERENCE

 



ASTONISHED REVERENCE

By A.W. Tozer


      In my own being, I could not exist very long as a Christian without the inner consciousness of the Presence and nearness of God! I can only keep right by keeping the fear of God on my soul and delighting in the fascinating rapture of worship. I am sorry that the powerful sense of godly fear is a missing quality in churches today. The fear of God is that "astonished reverence" of which the saintly Faber wrote. I would say that it may grade anywhere from its basic element-the terror of the guilty soul before a holy God-to the fascinated rapture of the worshiping saint. 

There are few unqualified things in our lives but I believe that the reverential fear of God, mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and adoration, is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. A true fear of God is a beautiful thing, for it is worship, it is love, it is veneration. It is a high moral happiness because God is!


Thursday, December 26, 2024

Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel. 2 Kings 10:31

 



Our Daily Homily


      Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel. 2 Kings 10:31

      

      JEHU was the Cromwell of his time. He swept away the symbols of idolatry with ruthless destruction. Nothing could withstand his iconoclastic enthusiasm. But he failed to keep his own heart, and therefore his dynasty lasted for but one generation. It is a deep lesson for us all.

      

      We may keep other people's vineyards, and neglect our own. We may give good advice to our friends, but into the very faults against which we warn them. We may pose as infallible guides, but fall into the crevasses and precipices from which we had carefully warned our companions. Jehu avenged the idolatries of Ahab, but he departed not from Jeroboam's calves.

      

  Before you rebuke another, be sure that you are free from the faults that you detect in him. When you hear of the failings of some erring brother, ask yourself whether you are perfectly free from them. And never attempt to cast out the mote from your neighbour's eye till you are sure that the beam has been taken from your own.

      

      Take heed to your heart. Its complexion colours all the issues of life. Do not be content to be strong against evil; be eagerly ambitious of good. It is easier to be vehement against the abominations of others than to judge and put away your own secret sins. But while we keep our heart with all diligence, we cannot afford to be independent of the keeping power of God. We must yield ourselves to Him, reserving nothing. The King must have all. The light of his face must fill every nook and corner of the soul. And every power that opposes itself to his dominion, must be dragged beyond the barriers and ruthlessly slain.


S.M. Lockridge - The Decision is Yours

Adrian Rogers: Godly Zeal and Ungodly Extremism #2227

"And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens." Mark 13:27




Miller's Year Book—a Year's Daily Readings

J. R. Miller, 1895


 "And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens." Mark 13:27


There is no danger that in the last day, that anyone will be overlooked or forgotten who has been a true follower of Christ. The obscurest Christian, hidden away in the lowliest or most neglected spot, will not be missed by the angels, when they come to gather in Christ's little ones. On nearly every battle-field where the slain are buried, there are graves marked by the sad word "Unknown." But if among these, there are those who belonged to Christ, the angels will not fail to find them and bring them.


A ship went down on the British coast, and all on board perished. None of the bodies of those who had been lost were found, except the little body of an infant that was washed ashore among the wreckage. The kindly people of the place who picked it up buried the body, and having no clew to its name, put on the little stone simply, "God knows." When the angels come they will know whose body it is, and will not overlook it.


There is only one thing about which we need to concern ourselves, that we are indeed of those who have accepted Christ and have been faithful to him in this life. It will not matter in that day whether we have been rich or poor, famous among men or unknown; the determining element will be, whether or not we have belonged to Christ.



Don't bite the stick! By Charles Spurgeon



Flowers from a Puritan's Garden
by Charles Spurgeon, 1883 


"As children will thank the tailor, and think they owe their new clothes to him rather than to their parent's bounty—so we often look to the instrument of blessing, and thank that instead of God."


Second causes must never be made to stand before the First Cause. Friends and helpers are all very well as servants of our Father—but our Father must have all our praise.


There is a similar evil in the matter of trials and afflictions. We are apt to be angry with the instrument of our affliction—instead of seeing the hand of God over all, and meekly bowing before it.


It was a great help to David in bearing with the railing Shimei—when he saw that God had appointed this provocation as a chastisement. He would not allow his hasty captains to take the scoffer's head, but meekly said, "Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him."


When a dog is struck—he will bite the stick! If he were wise, he would observe that the stick only moves as the hand directs it. Just so, when we discern God in our tribulations, we are helped to be quiet and endure with patience.


Let us not act like silly children, but trace matters to their fountain-head, and act accordingly. May the Spirit of wisdom make us understand.


"He is the LORD; let Him do what is good in His eyes." 1 Samuel 3:18


"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away—may the name of the LORD be praised." Job 1:21


"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job 2:10


"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." Ecclesiastes 7:14


Greatest Sermon Ever Preached in this Generation - S.M. Lockridge

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Lessons From a Man on the Run

 Lessons From a Man on the Run

By Charles Stanley




Psalm 139:1-10


      In the light of God's omniscience and omnipresence, it is easy to wonder why Christians still attempt to run from Him. Jonah certainly demonstrated that it could not be done, and yet people insist on trying. Why? Sometimes they act out of pure selfishness. It seems that we have an unlimited capacity to believe we know what is best for us, no matter what God thinks or says. Sometimes we balk out of simple fear: we are afraid that we might not succeed; we are concerned that others will be critical of our efforts; or perhaps we fear obedience might be too costly. What we often fail to recognize is the high price of turning aside and fleeing from the Lord.


      Jonah paid dearly for his rebellion. Not only did he suffer embarrassment, terror, and guilt, but he also jeopardized the lives of innocent men. You cannot run from the Lord without inflicting heavy punishment on innocent people. How many fathers and mothers walk away from their children and say, "I can do what I want. It's my own life." No, it is not. You cannot leave little children fatherless or motherless without reaping lifelong pain and suffering. Nor can you sin against the Lord without paying a terrible price yourself and hurting others in the process.


      In spite of this awful reality, it is also true that God is forgiving - He offers a second or third or fortieth or millionth chance. (Jonah 3:1) He kept after Jonah as long as it was necessary, and He will be faithful to you as well.



Pastor Billy Graham - DARE TO BE A DANIEL

The Hand of God in the History of A Man (Job 7:1) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:11

Miller's Year Book—a Year's Daily Readings


J. R. Miller, 1895



"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:11


They were not content merely to worship the King, showing him homage in word or in posture; but they also laid their gifts at his feet. It is not enough for us to sing our songs of praise to Christ, to bow before him in reverent worship, and to speak our heart's homage in words. We should bring our gifts too, the pledges of our love, to lay at his feet.


There is a great deal of mere sentimentality in the consecration of many people. It is sentiment only; and when there is call for gifts or sacrifices, or for real services—the sentiment instantly vanishes. People sing missionary hymns with great warmth, and when the collection-plate comes to them—they sing on but allow the plate to pass by. They make prayers that God would send laborers into his vineyard, but they do not themselves respond to God's call for laborers and errand-runners. We need to learn the lesson: that our singing and praying can never go beyond our living.


Not only did these magi bring gifts, but they brought rich and costly gifts; we should bring our best—our gold, incense, and myrrh—the alabaster box of our heart's deepest love, and the best of all our life and service. Too often we give Christ only what is left over after we have taken all we desire for self-indulgence, or for the promotion of our own ambitions. We should always let him have the best!


2 Thessalonians 2

 


2 Thessalonians 2

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,


2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.


3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;


4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.


5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?


6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.


7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.


8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:


9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,


10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.


11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:


12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.


13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:


14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.


15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.


16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,


17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.


S.M. Lockridge - Captain of The Host - Naaman

David's Harp of Five Strings (Psalm 140: 6,7,12&13) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

Peace With Ourselves – Dr. Charles Stanley

How to Recognize a Curse

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and they were sore afraid--Luk 2:9

George H. Morrison - Devotional Sermons



      Love and Courage
      
      And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and they were sore afraid--Luk 2:9
      
      But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping and seeth two angels and she turned herself back, and saw Jesus--Joh 20:11, Joh 20:12, Joh 20:14
      
      The Shepherds Were Afraid
      
      We do not like to associate fear with Bethlehem. Fear seems to be banished from the picture. We associate Bethlehem with joy and singing, and with the springing up of glad and glorious hope. Our Christmas hymns are among the gladdest hymns to be found in the whole range of Christian praise. Even waifs and strays, and desolate, lonely people are conscious of an inward warmth at Christmas. And yet these shepherds, out on the hillside, and "simply chatting in a rustic row," were (as Moffatt puts it) terribly afraid. They were not careless nor irreligious men. Eastern shepherds were very rarely that. Their converse with the solitudes of nature kept their hearts alive to awe and wonder. Yet when the angel of the Lord appeared, in some sudden and overwhelming flash of glory, these hardy men were terribly afraid. The unseen world was breaking in on them. Invisible presences were near. That hidden realm which lies beyond the grave was revealing its mysterious secrets. And though their trust, as simple faithful shepherds, was in the God of Abraham and Isaac, an awful dread fell upon their hearts.
      
      But Mary Magdalene Was Not Afraid When the Angels Spoke to Her at Jesus' Grave
      
      Now the singular thing is that when we come to Mary there is not a trace of that commanding terror. And yet if it struck into the shepherds' hearts we should expect to find it here intensified. They were hardy and courageous men; she was a delicate and shrinking woman. They were together, in strengthening companionship; she was all by herself in the dim dawn. They were out on the hills, where sheep were bleating, and where every bush and streamlet was familiar; she was in the presence of a grave. Fear falls upon the heart more readily when some intense experience has exhausted it. No such experience had reached the shepherds; Mary had come through Calvary. Yet there is not a trace in Mary's instance of that gripping and overpowering fear which seized the shepherds when they saw the angels. She did not flee. She did not faint. She saw them, and she continued weeping. The angels spoke to her and Mary answered, as if she were talking with some village friend. And so little did they disturb her heart that she did not even continue gazing at them, but, having spoken, turned herself about. One could not imagine the shepherds doing that. Terror held their eyes. Had a wolf howled, and any sheep cried piteously, I question if they would have even heard it. What, then, had happened? What made the difference? What banished that overwhelming dread in the intrusion of the realm unseen?
      
      Mary's Love for Jesus' Made the Difference
      
      The difference lies in Mary's love for Jesus, a love of which the shepherds were quite ignorant. They came to the innumerable company of angels; she to the Mediator of the better covenant. We all know how love can banish fear. The Apostle tells us there is no fear in love. In the strength and passion of her mother-love, the timidest of mothers will grow brave. And the love of Jesus had so mastered Mary, and captured every tendril of her heart, that fear took to itself wings and flew away. it was a fearful thing to be out in the dim dawn, beside a grave, and near those Roman soldiers, it was a fearful thing within a sepulchre lo be confronted with these unearthly presences. But just as mother-love will drill out fear when a beloved baby is in peril, so the love of Jesus drove out fear from Mary. To have known Jesus had made all the difference. To have loved Him had slain a hundred terrors. To be perfectly certain of His love for her had swallowed up her womanly timidities. A woman with a woman's heart, she was stronger than these hardy sons of shepherding, because Christ had come into her life.
      
      Haunting and Mysterious Fears Can Be Banished in Your Life
      
      And that is what always happens in a life, amid the presences of the unseen and the unknown. To banish haunting and mysterious fears takes more than the natural courage of the heart. No one would charge these shepherds with being cowards. They would have laid down their lives for the sheep. Amid familiar and expected dangers they were easily equal to their problem. But let unseen and mysterious fingers touch them, and flashes betray the nearness of eternity--and dread awakes, and sudden pangs of fear, and piercing terrors in the stoutest heart. No natural courage can keep such fears at bay. They haunt and darken every human heart. We all move through a mysterious universe, and from irruptions we are never safe. But one thing we do know, and even Mary was not sure of this, that neither height nor depth nor life nor death can separate us from the love of Christ. in that love, given and returned, lies the dismissal of a thousand fears. We do not tremble now when the unknown assails us, nor when the finger of death is on the latch. We are like Mary, very near a sepulchre, in the dim dawn, amid unearthly things, but undisturbed, untroubled, unafraid--because Christ has come into the life.



Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Five Links in a Golden Chain (Titus 1:4) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

The Testimony of S.M. Lockridge

The Fruit of Joy

The Courage To Obey – Dr. Charles Stanley

Nehemiah 1

 


Nehemiah 1

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,


2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.


3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.


4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,


5 And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:


6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.


7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.


8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:


9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.


10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.


11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.


Walking In The Favor of God - Part 3 – Dr. Charles Stanley

Monday, December 23, 2024

Openness and Authenticity - Sermon Jam (Matt Chandler)

Use and Abuse of the Tongue - Part 1A (1:1)

The Sages, The Star and the Saviour (Matthew 2:1,2) - C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

Walking In The Favor Of God – Part Two – Dr. Charles Stanley

Walking In The Favor Of God – Part One – Dr. Charles Stanley

This day is a day of good tidings. 2 Kings 7:9

  Our Daily Homily



 This day is a day of good tidings. 2 Kings 7:9

      

      IT was indeed. The enemy that bad so long hemmed them in had dispersed, leaving a great spoil behind. The famine which had driven the people to awful straits was at an end, and there was now plenty of everything. It was inhuman for these four lepers to be content with eating and drinking, and sharing out the spoil, when hard by a city was in agony. Common humanity bade them give information of what had happened.

      

      Let us take care lest some mischief befall us, if we withhold the blessed Gospel from a dying world. We know that Jesus has died and risen again, and that his unsearchable riches wait for appropriation. We have availed ourselves of the offer; but let us see to it that so far as we can, we are making known that the wine and milk may be obtained without money and without price.

      

      Mischief always overtakes a selfish policy; whereas those who dare to share with others what they have received, not only keep what they have, but find the fragments enough for many days afterwards.

      

      Let us tell men that the Saviour has overcome our foes, and has opened the kingdom of heaven to all who believe. Let us speak from a full heart of all that He has proved to be. Let us invite men to share with us the grace which hath neither shore nor bound.

      

      One ounce of testimony is worth a ton weight of argument, and overpowers all objection. The Lord, on whom the king leaned, derided the possibility of the prophet's prediction; and no doubt had plenty of adherents. But the leper's report swept all his words to the winds. They had known, tasted, and handled. Let us remember that we are called to be witnesses of what God hath done for us.



Isaiah 9



Isaiah 9


9 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.


2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.


3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.


4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.


5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.


6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.


7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.


8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.


9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,


10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.


11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;


12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.


14 Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.


15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.


16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.


17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.


19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.


20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:


21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


Sunday, December 22, 2024

Unchanging Love | Billy Graham Classic

Love Lessons – Dr. Charles Stanley

Spirit Of Depression

"My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long" (Ps. lxxi. 24).

 Days of Heaven Upon Earth



      "My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long" (Ps. lxxi. 24).

      

      It is a simple law of nature, that air always comes in to fill a vacuum. You can produce a draught at any time, by heating the air until it ascends, and then the cold air rushes in to supply its place. And so we can always be filled with the Holy Spirit by providing a vacuum.

      

      This breath is dependent upon exhausting the previous breath before you can inhale a fresh one. And so we must empty our hearts of the last breath of the Holy Spirit that we have received, for it becomes exhausted the moment we have received it, and we need a new supply, to prevent spiritual asphyxia.

      

      We must learn the secret of breathing out, as well as breathing in. Now, the breathing in will continue if the other part is rightly done. One of the best ways to make room for the Holy Spirit is to recognize the needs that come into the life as vacuums for Him to fill, and we shall find plenty of needs all around us to be filled, and as we pour out our lives in holy service, He will pour His in--in full measure.

      

      Jesus, empty me and fill me

      With Thy fulness to the brim.



Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17

 Our Daily Homily 




      Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17

      

      SO it is with each of God's saints. We cannot see, because of the imperfection of mortal vision, the harnessed squadrons of fire and light; but the Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. If our eyes were opened, we should see the angel hosts as an encircling fence of fire; but whether we see them or not, they are certainly there.

      

      God is between us and temptation. However strong the foe, God is stronger. However swift the descending blow, God is swifter to catch and ward off. However weak we are, through long habits of yielding, God is greater than our hearts, and can keep in perfect peace. "Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is the Rock of Ages."

      

      God is between us and the hate of man. Dare to believe that there is an invisible wall of protection between you and all that men devise against you. What though the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing! No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise in judgment shall be condemned.

      

      God is between you and the deluge of care. What thousands are beset with that dark spectre! They have no rest or peace either day or night, saying, "Where will the next rent, the next meal, come from? " How different the life of birds, and flowers, of children, of Jesus, and all holy souls. Oh, rest in the Lord, and put Him between you and black care.

      

      God is between you and the pursuit of your past. He is your reward; and as He intercepted the pursuit of Pharaoh, so He stands at Calvary between your past and you. The assayer of retribution is arrested by that Divine Victim what more can we ask!



It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me. (Galatians 1:15,16)




It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me. (Galatians 1:15,16)

It is always futile and dangerous to advise people to leave one thing until they have a revelation of the fuller, and only such a revelation will accomplish the true emancipation.... It may not be applicable to many of us, but the principle is what I want you to recognize. You may not need to be emancipated from anything like Judaism or legalism, but the principle is this, that for all increase, progress, enlargement, growth, and maturity, it is essential that there should be in the heart a continuous unveiling of Jesus Christ, and you and I will never get to the end of that unveiling. It is possible for some of us to say with truth that this year we have seen more of the meaning of the Lord Jesus than in all the previous years of our lives. Can you say that?

It is the most blessed and most wonderful thing to be able to recognize that there is a growing revelation of Jesus Christ within; you see more and more of what He means from God’s standpoint, and as that is so, there comes this increase of the Lord Jesus... the fruit of the Spirit – love. An increase of the revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart is an increase of the love of the Lord Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit. You are conscious that your heart is coming more and more under the constraint of His love and that unloveliness is becoming subordinate to His love. There is more joy in the Lord Jesus today than ever, because you are seeing more of what He is. It is practical. That is spiritual growth: “It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me....” It is so important that there should be this continual, living unveiling of Christ in the heart if we are to reach God’s full end.


By T. Austin-Sparks from: Spiritual Maturity - Chapter 6


Let Us Give Thanks

 



Let Us Give Thanks


    If we have lived another year

And, counting friends by regiments

Who share our love and confidence,

        Find no more broken ranks,

        For this let us give thanks.


    If, since the last Thanksgiving-time,

Have we been blessed with strength and health,

And added to our honest wealth,

        Nor lost by broken banks,

        For this would we give thanks.


    If through adversity we trod,

Yet with serene and smiling face,

And trusted more to saving grace

        Than charlatans and cranks,

        For this let us give thanks.


    If we have somehow worried through

The ups and downs along life's track,

And still undaunted can look back

        And smile at Fortune's pranks,

        For this would we give thanks.


    If every page in our account

With God and man is fairly writ,

We care not who examines it,

        With no suspicious blanks,

        For this let us give thanks.

       - Hattie Howard


Proverbs 13

 


Proverbs 13


13 A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.


2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.


3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.


4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.


5 A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.


6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.


7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.


8 The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.


9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.


10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.


11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.


12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.


13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.


14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.


15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.


16 Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.


17 A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.


18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.


19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.


20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.


21 Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.


22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.


23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.


24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.


25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.


Saturday, December 21, 2024

What'll Happen When You’re Not Forgiving | Derek Prince

Dominating Another is Demonic

David Wilkerson Sermon Jam | How To enter Full Time ministry

"The eternal God is your refuge." Deuteronomy 33:27

 DAILY PORTIONS


(Selected from the writing of J.C. Philpot by his daughters)

"A word spoken in due season, how good is it!" Proverbs 15:23




"The eternal God is your refuge." Deuteronomy 33:27


There is, to my mind, much sweetness in the contrast between the eternal God being the refuge of his people, and the lying refuges that most hide their heads in. God's people need an eternal refuge. They have a never-dying soul; and unless they have a never-dying refuge, it is not sufficient for a never-dying soul. Works! these are for time; the never-dying soul needs something to stand when works and wonders cease. Doctrines, opinions, sentiments, ordinances, the good opinion of men, the applause and flattery of the creature--these are of the earth, earthy; they fail when a man gives up the spirit.

But a child of God needs a refuge, not merely that his soul may anchor in it in time, but that when time is ended, when the angel proclaims, "There shall be time no longer," and his liberated soul escapes its prison-house, and is wafted into the presence of the eternal God, it may find in Him at that solemn moment a refuge. No, all through eternity, in the rolling circle of its never-ending ages, the soul will still need a refuge. For could it even in eternity exist for a moment out of Christ--in a word, were the refuge of the elect anything but eternal, the moment the limited time of their shelter closed, the frowns of God would hurl them into perdition; so that nothing but an eternal God can ever be a refuge for a never-dying soul.

It does not say, "His grace is your refuge." No; because grace will end in glory. Nor does it say, "His mercy is your refuge," for his mercy will end in blessing and praise. Nor does it say, "His attributes or his perfections are a refuge." It drops the gifts, and leads the soul up to the Giver, as though God's own gifts and mercies were not sufficient, but that the immortal soul must have the immortal God, and the never-dying spirit is only safe in the bosom of an eternal Jehovah.


Hebrews 11



Hebrews 11


11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.


2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.


3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.


4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.


5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.


6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.


8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.


9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:


10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.


11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.


12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.


13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.


14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.


15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.


16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.


17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,


18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:


19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.


20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.


21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.


22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.


23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.


24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;


25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;


26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.


27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.


28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.


29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.


30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.


31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.


32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:


33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.


34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.


35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:


36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:


37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;


38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.


39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:


40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.