Mar 24
11
Afflicted saint, when you are fretful and desponding – think what a lost soul, who had been in Hell but an hour, would give for a drop of that grace which you have in your heart! Think seriously of this and be thankful! ~Thomas Brooks
Sinful man is so proud, so self-righteous, so conceited and deceived about himself, that, when it is declared unto him that God saves sinners fully, freely and forever, with no regard to human works, worth or merit – he is offended, gets angry, and seeks another preacher and another message. Tell sinful man that God has merely made salvation available, and that it is left up to sinners to avail themselves of it; that they must do or perform something to obtain it, and they set to work and are happy. I call this spiritual insanity! Leading to spiritual suicide!!!
Pastor Maurice Montgomery
God does not say “when I see your faith,” or “when I see your believing,” or “when I see your experience,” or “when I see your baptism,” or “when I see your graces,” but “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Pastor Milton Howard
Crying Peace, Peace
Preachers try to convince men of God’s love and mercy without a word about His justice and righteousness. Preachers try to convince men of God’s willingness to receive them while nothing is said about their unwillingness to come. Preachers are comforting and encouraging men in their rebellion. They dare not reprove, rebuke, exhort or offend. They cry peace when there is no peace…Men are built up who have never been broken down. Men are filled who have never been emptied. Men are saved who have never been lost. Men are healed who have never been wounded. Men are exalted who have never been humbled. Men are given life who have never been killed. Men are given grace who have never been guilty. They wear the wool, eat the fat, but do not feed the sheep. They say God has put forth an effort. He sent His Son. That is all He can do. You must do something for God so God can do something for you. But the word of God says that He must do something for you, before you can do anything for Him. Pastor Scott Richardson
God told Moses, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Exodus 33:20) The very One that we cannot look in the face of and live is the Very One that we must look into the face of to live. What a predicament. How can a man see God and live? Only one way! The apostle Paul answered that question for us very plainly and simply. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
~David Eddmenson
“Touching Christ”
(Luke 8:46) “And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.”
When our Lord preached, His preaching was very plain and clear. He did not beat around the bush and dodge the issues.
Of all those gathered around our Lord this day, only one is mentioned – and this one is only called a “woman” – “somebody”. Today you are reading this short word – and in a few minutes you will be through. But, you will not be as you were. This Word will have its perfect work. Some will be moved by it. “Somebody” will be rejoicing in Christ. Somebody will say, “I have touched the hem of his garment, and I have been made whole.” That is what makes it worth all, for in this pile of rocks called humanity, God has His precious jewels.
All we do has no meaning unless we touch Christ. This has to be our only desire. Peter said, “The multitude throng thee, and press thee.” For many that is enough. All of this religious doing means nothing if none are moved to touch Christ in faith.
Some go to church because they think they are supposed to. There is no interest in being there. Some go just to maintain their place in the community, or to keep someone else from getting their pew.
What a sad thing it will be when we come to judgment and find out that custom has nothing to do with it. That is when we will find out that to have heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ is a serious matter. We will have to answer before the great Judge of all the earth for what we have heard.
For some it is enough to go through the motions of religion. You are content with the form of godliness, but reject the power. There were many around Jesus in the crowd, but only one touched Him in faith. Christ said, “Somebody hath touched me,” and that is the heart of the matter. In all your religion, never be satisfied until you have touched Christ. Never be satisfied with just watching what goes on. Unless you touch Him, it is only form without power. It is a dead performance.
This woman must touch Him but it was not an easy thing to do. To touch Christ we have to get through all of our religion to get to Him. Religion is a great obstacle to the salvation of our soul. This disease had taken all her strength. It left her helpless, just as our sin keeps us from God. It bars the gates of Heaven to us. God hides His face from us because of it.
But, all that stood in her way is what qualified her to come to Christ and touch Him. There is no great show in what she did. It is not how much I touch, but Who I touch. It is not how much I look, but to Whom I look. It is not how much I believe, but Who I believe. It is not how much faith I have, but the Object of my faith. Our plea must not be our goodness, but our guilt.
The emptier I am, the more room there is for my Master. The more I lack, the more He will give. A touch of Christ will heal your sin-sick soul. The precious blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all sin, and make you white as snow.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Milton W Howard
OF COURSE IT MUST BE “SURE” IF IT IS ORDAINED OF GOD
David writes of the CERTAINTY of the salvation of God’s elect in 2 Samuel 23:5 declaring the “everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.” OF COURSE IT MUST BE “SURE” IF IT IS ORDAINED OF GOD. Rulers and monarchs may ordain certain things and never have power to carry them out – be frustrated in their designs – BUT GOD NEVER CAN BE. He is omnipotent as well as in possession of all other perfections and consequently, WHAT THE ETERNAL MIND HAS ORDERED, SETTLED, DETERMINED AND FIXED BY DECREE, CAN NEVER BE REVOKED, BUT MUST BE CARRIED OUT AND ACCOMPLISHED BY HIS OWN ALMIGHTY ARM. If God had ordained salvation with some ifs, buts and peradventures and left them for you and me to get rid of, they would have stood against us till we were banished to hell. THERE NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN A SINNER ON EARTH SAVED IF JEHOVAH HAD LEFT CONDITIONS FOR MAN TO FULFILL. We must have been eternally lost; and therefore I do charge it upon those who advocate the free-will system and the accursed doctrine of universal redemption, THAT THEY ARE DOING ALL THEY CAN TO DRIVE MEN TO DESPAIR. IT IS THE MOST WICKED SYSTEM UPON EARTH. ” —Joseph Irons
True Humility
True humility is to have a right estimate of one’s self. It is not to deny or underestimate true ability, real knowledge, and obvious gifts. A gifted singer knows he can sing. An intelligent person is aware of his knowledge. A successful businessman knows his business, and an artist knows his skills. It is not humility to speak what one does not truly feel. True humility is born when one discovers the SOURCE of all gifts, talents, and knowledge. “WHO maketh thee to differ?” It is certain that we are different and some have what others do not have in different areas. But the Lord God, in His sovereign will, gives us all that we have. “Without Him we can do nothing.” “A Man can receive nothing except it be GIVEN him from heaven!” The higher a man grows in the grace of God, the lower he will be in his own eyes. A man who has been introduced to what really happened in the Garden of Eden and what really happened on the cross of Calvary will have no problem with pride and arrogance. Apart from the mercy and grace of God, he knows WHERE he could be and WHAT he could be! “By the grace of God, I am what I am.”
Henry Mahan
Without Christ We Are Nothing
There is an old saying, “God helps those that help themselves.” However, the word of God teaches us differently. The word of God teaches us that God helps those that cannot help themselves. “He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength; (Isa. 40:29). Christ said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, that same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Without Christ we are nothing and can do nothing that God can be pleased with. We cannot take our next breath nor breathe out a prayer that God will hear without Christ. We cannot know God without Christ. Christ is the key of knowledge, apart from Christ we know nothing and are nothing, period! ~John Chapman