Freedom

O HOLY FATHER, thou hast freely given thy Son,
O DIVINE SON, thou hast freely paid my debt,
O ETERNAL SPIRIT, thou has freely bid me come,
O TRIUNE GOD, thou dost freely grace me with salvation.

Prayers and tears could not suffice to pardon my sins,
nor anything less than atoning blood, 
but my believing is my receiving,
for a thankful acceptance is no paying of the debt.

What didst thou see in me?
that I a poor, diseased, despised sinner should be clothed in bright glory?
that a creeping worm should be advanced to this high state?
that one lately groaning, weeping, dying, should be as full of joy as my heart can hold?
that a being of dust and darkness should be taken like Mordecai from captivity, and set next to the king?
should be lifted like Daniel from a den and made ruler of princes and provinces?

Who can fathom immeasurable love?

As far as the rational soul exceeds the senses,
so does the spirit exceed the rational in its knowledge of thee.

Thou has given me understanding to compass the earth,
measure the sun, moon, stars, universe,
but above all to know thee, the only true God.

I marvel that the finite can know the Infinite,
here a little, afterwards in full-orbed truth;

Now I know but a small portion of what I shall know,
here in part, there in perfection,
here a glimpse, there a glory.

To enjoy thee is life eternal and to enjoy is to know.

Keep me in the freedom of experiencing thy salvation continually.



From The Valley of Vision, Puritan Prayers and Devotions, p.100-101

There Is Only One God and One Mediator

I am not interested in a World Congress of Faiths.  I cannot kneel down together with, and look up with people, one of whom is looking at Confucius and another at Mohammed and another at the Buddha, and another at some philosopher.  I cannot!  There is only One to look at, it is this blessed Son of God.  And I have no sense of unity and no fellowship with any man who is not looking together with me at the same Saviour.  “There is one God and one mediator (and one mediator only) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).  There is on unity apart from this.  We are together in failure and hopelessness, and now we are looking together at the same blessed Person.  And if we are not, what is the value of talking about unity?  What is the value of talking about having things in common and claiming that we are all one, if there is any question about Him, as to whether He is Son of God or only man?  If there is any doubt about it there is no unity, there is no fellowship.  We must confess together that there is only one Saviour, one only Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, two natures in one person, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, risen again.  There must be no question about Him!  There is no unity unless we are agreed about Him!  The same Saviour, the same Person!

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, pp.284-285

Some Random Good Stuff

One of my readers pointed me to a pastor out in Texas, Dr. Randy White.  No, this is not the Randy White married to heretic Paula White!  I have begun looking over his articles and have found some good ones worth sharing, so these are the first three entries for today.

“Why I Believe in Believer’s Baptism.”  I certainly have to agree with his reasoning.

Contrary to the teachings of so many cults, when the Christian dies, he goes immediately to be with the Lord.

Good analysis of a very disgusting picture supporting the social gospel of the liberals.

What does the term “only begotten” mean?

Steve Bricker posts a good commentary on Psalm 19.

I found another excellent article on the subject of judging.  I’m really tired of the trite claims against Christians by the public and against apologists by Christians with “judge not.”  Should Christians Judge?

Think about it, pastors:  Are You Chasing Goats or Tending Sheep?

A good article on early Christian beliefs.

I’ll leave you with a good bit of humor.

Sin Must Be Punished

Any view of the cross and of the death of Christ which does not bring "the blood" to the very centre and make it an absolute necessity is a misrepresentation of the cross.  Christ is our Sin-bearer.  He died on Calvary's hill for our sins, to receive the punishment of our sins.  The just and holy God had to punish sin, and He punished it there.  A preaching of the cross which does not mention the righteousness and the justice of God, and the absolute necessity of punishment, is a complete misrepresentation of the doctrine of the death of Christ.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.262

Random Aberrations, Apostasies, and Heresies

What is it with the Pope who thinks he speaks for God.  Now he says that if you aren’t open to having children then you can’t be married.  I knew that Rome was big on not permitting contraception, but to give it as a condition of marriage is just bizarre.  Can someone please show me in the Bible where it says this?

And yet we have Catholic Relief Services helping Planned Parenthood and promoting abortion aside from contraception?!?!?

While on the subject of Romanism, Lighthouse Trails Research Project has a new tract booklet about The Catholic Mary & Her Eucharistic Christ.

Another follow-up about the Perry Noble fiasco.  Then we find a good rebuttal to Christianity Today’s Astray’s defense of Noble.  HT to Erin

Another HT to Erin for this one.  I wonder where false teacher Jesse Duplantis finds this in Scripture?

One of the things I’ve always heard from many legalistic teachers is that the root word for pharmaceutical has to do with sorcery, and therefore it is wrong to use drugs of any sort, and also that is why using recreational drugs can be so evil.  Sola Sisters puts that claim to rest.

Still lots of brouhaha over the one “heaven visitor” recanting his tale.  First there is Tyndale’s justification for not pulling the book. Hip and Thigh has a good article about this “pestilence” of “Heaven Tourism.

A twist from the Cripplegate is how one discusses a real trip to heaven.

I found this old article while skimming this site to check out the teacher.  He has some pretty good teachings, and I can understand why he wants to make sure which Randy White he is!  Paula White is about as heretical as they get.

Until next time, contend for THE Faith.

Do You Know God?

You can be religious and know certain things about God, and believe certain things about God, and be interested in God, and read books about God, and listen to lectures and arguments about God.  Yet you may not be a Christian.  To be a Christian is to know God.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.183

True Unity

To me one of the major tragedies of the hour, and especially in the realm of the Church, is that most of the time seems to be taken up by the leaders in preaching about unity instead of preaching the gospel that alone can produce unity.  The time is spent in talking and in conferences, endlessly -- conferences in which they "explore their difficulties".  You will never get unity that way.  It is the gospel alone that will produce unity.  And while there is disagreement about the gospel it is a waste of breath and of energy to be talking about any other possible way to unity.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.157

He made himself of no reputation.

“He thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”  He regarded the insignia of His Godhead not as a prize to be held on to, to be clutched.  He deliberately decided that He would for the time being lay them aside.  Not lay the Godhead aside — He could not do that — He did not lay the Godhead aside, but He did lay the signs of the Godhead aside.

Then after that first initial decision the second followed, and of necessity. “He made himself of no reputation.”  How superior the Authorized Version is here to the Revised Version and others, which say here “He emptied himself”!  No, He did not empty Himself, He did not empty himself at all.  He “made himself” — still remaining what He was — “of no reputation.”  There is no “kenosis” in the sense of evacuating Himself of His Godhead, for that is impossible.  It is something much more wonderful than that.  It is that He decided to “make himself of no reputation.”  Though still the eternal Son of God, He came down to earth, and He was born as a babe and He lived as a man.  He was still the same but He made Himself of no reputation.  We read stories of great kings putting on ragged clothing and going to work with their hands; nobody knew them, nobody recognised them.  What had happened?  They king had made himself of no reputation, he pretended to be an ordinary man, he did not take with him the trappings and the insignia of his regal position; in other words, he made himself of no reputation.  Or you can think of it in terms of a king traveling incognito.  That is the very thing that happened in the incarnation.  That is what happened when the Son of God came down on earth to dwell amongst men.  Though He remained exactly what He always was, He came as a Man and took upon Him the form of a servant.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.123

Are You Heavenly-Minded?

Do you know the influence of the heavenly love drawing you and wooing you, and speaking to you?  Heavenly-mindedness!  It is a sad thing, but I have even heard evangelical people joking about this, saying of people, "They have become so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly use."  And that is thought to be a clever statement.  Oh, the tragedy!  You can never be too heavenly-minded.  The trouble with all of us is that we are not sufficiently heavenly-minded, we do not know enough about it, we do not dwell enough there.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.101

A Difference Between Christians and Unbelievers

One difference between the non-Christian and the Christian is that the non-Christian is overcome by the world, he is absolutely controlled by it.  There is no need to demonstrate this; the way in which people live is an absolute proof of it.  It is all depicted in the newspapers.  Non-Christians are entirely controlled by "the thing to do," and by "what everybody is doing."  Controlled by the world!  The Christian, on the other hand, is a man who has a victory over the world.  What a contrast!  He is taken out of that realm.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, God’s Way of Reconciliation: An Exposition of Ephesians 2, p.97