Oct 20
4
LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED
The Master had just finished telling His disciples that some very troubling things were soon coming to pass. He told them that one of them would betray Him. He told them that He was going away and they could not come with Him. He told Peter that he would deny the Lord three times that very night. I would imagine the disciples were shocked and dismayed. They probably felt defeated just like we often do.
Then the Lord gave us these comforting words. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1) O what comfort faith in Christ gives to the hearts of His elect. When you are shocked at the pain and suffering you endure, let not your heart be troubled or uncertain, because you believe in Christ who has sacrificed Himself for your soul. Your body will suffer but your soul will never suffer if Christ died for you. When you are disappointed in your failure, let not your heart be troubled, because you believe in Christ the Savior. Thankfully, your salvation and acceptance with God depends on who Christ is and what Christ has accomplished, not who you are or what you have done or what you have failed to do. When you don’t understand what is happening, let not your heart be troubled or uncertain. Our God rules every event so that every event works together to bring to pass the salvation of His people. Our God is working even this together to accomplish His eternal will. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ never have reason for real despair because everything that God is doing is best for me, best for His people and best for His Kingdom. Pastor Frank Tate
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Betrayed with a Kiss
Judas betrayed his Master with A KISS! He came to the Lord with evil in his heart, the price of a compromise in his hand, religious devils at his side, and said, “Hail Master”, as he planted A KISS on the Lord’s cheek!
This is how most apostates and compromisers operate; they betray the Son of God and the gospel of grace WITH A KISS. They talk of love, humility, morality, and sugar and spice while they sell out to the religious world and betray the sovereign Son of God. And men watch their pretended affection and hear their words, “Hail, Master”, spoken so softly, smoothly, humbly, and sweetly, and they say, “Can such devout people be ENEMIES of the Lord?”
Do not be deceived; sometimes the most devout looking, religious people can be the most hypocritical in the world. Do not be deceived by their kisses. LISTEN TO THEIR GOSPEL! Peter, bearing the sword, had more grace than Judas, who came with a kiss. ~Henry Mahan
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LORD KEEP OUR EYES AND HEARTS ON YOU
When our hearts are sincerely, fervently looking to Christ, we see a God who TRULY IS GOD. We see a purpose that is ordered and sure. We see a salvation that is forever settled in heaven. And we see an eternal home that is so much better than the pilgrimage we’re passing through now. We see a Husband who loves us and gave Himself for us. We see a Friend that will stick closer to us than a brother. We see a Shepherd who will watch over our every move, keeping His all-seeing eye on everything concerning us. We see safety. We see mercy. We see grace. We see help in our time of need. Every time we look to Christ, we see lasting joy. We see contentment. We see perfect peace and rest.
The great blessing that God’s people have on this earth is the
God given ability to look to Christ. That will forever be our blessing. The
more we can look to Him, the more joy we will have, the more contentment we
will have, the more peace we will have, and the more rest we will have.
Lord, keep our eyes and our hearts on you.
Gabe Stalnaker
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Guilt
There are two sorts of guilt: condemning guilt and correcting guilt. Condemning guilt is simply the knowledge that we have sinned against a holy God and deserve His everlasting wrath because of it. It is the sort of guilt that produces the fear of death and the bondage associated with that fear. But it is written, “There is, therefore, now, no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 5.1). Therefore, condemning guilt has no legitimate place in the mind of those who are in Christ. Whenever the believer is made aware of his sin in such a way that he fears he has been rejected by God and will suffer His wrath because of His sin, he can be certain that the guilt he feels was not sent by God, for God has said, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” No, such fear inducing reminders of the believer’s sin come from the Slanderer, that Accuser of the brethren, and his fear-inducing accusation is silence by the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 12.10, 11)
But correcting guilt is a gift from God. It does not produce fear but grief. It is revealed in such grief as Peter expressed when he locked eyes with the Lord Jesus after his third denial of Christ, as it is written, “[Peter] went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22.61, 62). It was not the fear of wrath that wrung those tears from his eyes; it was the knowledge that he had sinned against his Lord – that by his denial, he had proved unfaithful to the One he loved – even the One who loved him. When we see our guilt in this way, it serves to correct our behavior for we are moved more by the pain of offending our Lord than we are by the fear of death and judgment.
Grace removes condemning guilt from our conscience so that we may live as free men and women. But correcting guilt is one of God’s gracious means by which He subdues the flesh of His beloved ones. ~Joe Terrell
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When I hear it said, “Such and such do not believe the doctrines of sovereign grace and substitution, but they love the Lord and are saved,”I wonder and ask, “What then was the Bible written for?” Is it no infallible expression of the mind of GOD? Is it no standard of Truth? Are we to believe what appeals to us and deny the rest? God forbid! God’s Word declares the oneness of Truth and condemns every departure from the Truth as a direct attack on God himself! Do not tell me that a man’s heart is right with God when his head contains a creed of error and denies the person and work of the Redeemer.—Horatius Bonar
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How Important Is Him Getting All The Glory?
To every believer it is absolutely essential. And it is essential for two reasons. (1) He merits all the glory. He did everything in our salvation. Even the faith and repentance we have comes from Him. “Salvation is of the Lord.” (2) If He does not get all the glory then some glory goes to man. That means there is something they do that they get glory for. If that is the case, salvation would be by works which man get glory and credit for. I know that if any part of my salvation is dependent on me doing something, I have no hope. But if He gets all the glory that means He did it all. All my salvation is predicated on Him doing everything and getting all the glory. It is essential that He get all the glory because He did it all! If man gets some of the glory, then salvation is by works and I have no hope! ~Todd Nibert
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The only evidence I have of my saving interest in Christ is faith in Christ. All other evidence, all other confidence, all other assurance, I altogether repudiate. When Satan accuses me, when my own heart condemns me, when my sin torments me, when I examine myself, and I do so constantly, I find comfort, peace, and assurance only by faith in Christ. I have no evidence of a clear title to heaven but by faith. And faith is evidence enough. God says that it is enough. And my conscious says it is enough – “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I have blessed confident assurance that my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that I am chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, born again, called, sanctified, and preserved unto life everlasting because I believe that Jesus is the Christ. ~Don Fortner
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When is a Sinner Saved?
Men have debated this questions for millenniums. Most of the controversy stems from man’s effort to reconcile the temporal to the eternal. Living in a world of time and space, he tries to define the when in this question as a single event! Scripture settles all controversies. So, what sayeth the scriptures?
1. God’s elect were saved in the covenant of grace established by God in eternity past. II Timothy 1:9; Is. 45:17; II Thes. 2:13.
2. God’s elect were saved when Christ bore their sins on Calvary’s Cross 2000 years ago. Rom 5:9-10; Jer. 23:6.
3. God’s elect are saved when they hear the gospel as the gospel and are made willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Titus 3:5; Eph 2:8; Rom. 10:9-13.
4. God’s elect are continuing to be saved as they are kept by the power of God to keep coming in faith to Christ. Is. 64:5; I Peter 2:4.
5. God’s elect will be saved when they are taken to glory to see their Savior face to face and be made like Him (sinless). Rev. 12:10; II Peter 3:12-15; I Peter 1:9.
All five of these glorious truths (Election, Redemption, Regeneration, Sanctification and Glorification) are necessary for a sinner’s salvation. Let others speak of when they “got saved”. We don’t hang the hopes of our salvation on one subjective experience in time. Our faith is in Him who does all the saving. We have been saved; we are being saved; and we shall be saved. “And being made perfect He became the author of ETERNAL SALVATION unto all them that obey Him.” Heb 5:9. -Greg