Zingers
Pastor Fortner addresses some subject or thought very briefly in each bulletin. Those which he authored are contained in the document below. While we believe them to be "quotable quotes" and worthy of posting to any refrigerator, some of us have given them another name. If you will allow, we call them "Zingers."
April 19, 2020
In the Book of God we are told repeatedly that God’s judgments are in all the earth. Without question, the present Coronovirus Pandemic is an act of Divine judgment upon the nations of the world. But divine judgment never brings repentance. Repentance is the gift of God’s grace, the work of his Spirit.
April 12, 2020
Either the Lord Jesus Christ obtained eternal salvation for all for whom he died upon the cursed tree or he obtained salvation for no one.
April 5, 2020
Satan has never succeeded at thwarting God’s purpose, harming God’s church, impeding the spread of the gospel or the growth of God’s kingdom, or injuring one of God’s elect. — Satan is God’s devil, not his rival! He is God’s servant, not his error!
March 29, 2020
If the God of Glory declares that his elect are by the new birth made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), all who are born of God are made “partakers of the divine nature.”
March 22, 2020
If the Lord God declares that the holy Christ was made a curse (Galatians 3:13), the Holy One was made a curse for us.
March 15, 2020
God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” If God declares that he who knew no sin was made sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), Christ was made sin.
March 8, 2020
I believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God, the incarnate God, that he fully accomplished everything the Old Testament Scriptures said the Christ would do, and that he has by the infinite power and virtue of his obedience unto death saved his people from their sins.
March 1, 2020
How sweet it is to awake every day knowing that God my Savior is on his throne, that he has purposed all that the day shall bring forth, and that he has purposed it for me, for my everlasting good.
February 23, 2020
Having experienced the first resurrection, I am assured that I shall not be injured by the second death.
February 16, 2020
A few more nights, then everlasting day! A little more pain, then endless pleasure! Just a few more sleepless nights, then eternal rest! Just a little more trouble, then everlasting ease! Just a little more dying, then eternal life!
February 9, 2020
The Lord God our Savior asserts that his rightful claim to our hearts’ affection and utter devotion to him is redemption. That fact alone asserts with clarity that Limited Atonement is gospel doctrine (1 Corinthians 6:19).
February 2, 2020
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the woman’s promised Seed, the incarnate God, and that by his obedience unto death he actually accomplished all that the Old Testament Scriptures prophesied he would accomplish. — He saved his people from their sins!
January 26, 2020
Fallen man is totally depraved, utterly corrupt, spiritually dead, and without desire or ability to even acknowledge, let alone change, what he is.
January 19, 2020
He who alone is God is the absolute sovereign of the universe, determining all things, ruling all things, and disposing of all things as he will.
January 12, 2020
God’s grace is infinite, his works of grace unalterable, his gifts of grace indestructible, and all were done and given to us from eternity!
January 5, 2020
Nothing is sweeter or more comforting than the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, is the Lord God omnipotent who rules the universe.
December 22, 2019
“Jesus wept” at Lazarus’ tomb, not because he was weak, unbelieving, or discontent with divine providence, but because he was and is a real man touched with the feeling of our infirmities, moved by that which moves us. He wept with his weeping friends because he felt and shared their grief and sorrow.
December 15, 2019
God’s saints are not stones. We feel things, just as others do. Faith in Christ does not make us unfeeling stoics. Never proudly presume that weeping eyes indicate an unbelieving heart.
December 8, 2019
Grace is not a helpless passion in God. Grace is an attribute of God’s Being which, like himself, is almighty and effectually, irresistibly, accomplishing the salvation of chosen sinners. — “By grace ye are saved!”
December 1, 2019
The natural man may express thanksgiving for what he has in his hand; but the believer is thankful for what he has in his heart and what he has in Christ, even if he has nothing in his hand.
November 24, 2019
To all who vainly imagine that the grace of God is a license to sin God the Holy Ghost says, “Ye have not so learned Christ.”
November 17, 2019
Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior by your behavior, living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
November 10, 2019
The requirements of the law are the promises of the gospel. And all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus yea and Amen.
November 3, 2019
He who satisfied the justice of God shall be satisfied by the justice of God. — “He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.”
October 27, 2019
Mine is the highest honor, the most humbling fact, the greatest privilege, the heaviest weight of responsibility, and the most immense burden imaginable. — The God of heaven made me a preacher of the gospel.
October 20, 2019
Christ in you, that new man created in righteousness and true holiness in the new birth, is that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. He who is our Wisdom, Righteousness, and Redemption is our Sanctification (Holiness) too.
October 13, 2019
Faithful pastors are men who “labour in the Word,” seeking by diligent study and prayer to rightly understand the Book of God. And they labor in “doctrine,” teaching and preaching the gospel. They are not loiterers, but laborers.
October 6, 2019
God the Holy Spirit tells us that there is always one specific thing that motivates false prophets — “advantage.” “Having men’s persons in admiration,” they willingly compromise and even utterly deny the truth of God seeking their own “advantage.”
September 29, 2019
I trust Christ because God took everything else away from me. He emptied me, stripped me, beat me down, bowed me, broke me, and slew me. — How wondrously gracious he is!
September 22, 2019
Regeneration, the new birth, is being made a partaker of the divine nature. Only God the Holy Ghost can do that.
September 15, 2019
Salvation, eternal life is nothing less than the life of God in you! It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
September 8, 2019
We believe God only as God the Holy Spirit works faith in us. Initially, moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day, faith in Christ is the gift and operation of God.
September 1, 2019
The name God gives to Babylon, the name God gives to all Arminian, free-will, works religion is “Blasphemy” (Revelation 17:1-3). That is what will-worship is. That is what unbelief is. — Blasphemy!
August 25, 2019
When God has grace to convey to his elect, he always sends a messenger to speak for him. He always sends a preacher to the lost one he will save, the languishing one he will revive, and the fallen one he will restore. — “How shall they hear without a preacher?”
August 18, 2019
No one has ever been saved by walking an aisle, kneeling at an altar, saying “the sinner’s prayer,’ making a decision for Jesus, getting baptized, joining the church, or by anything else they might do. Salvation is God’s work alone. — “By grace ye are saved!”
August 11, 2019
God says of every heaven-born soul, “ye are unleavened,” without corruption, because “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” Believers, though utterly corrupt by nature, are without sin because Christ was made sin for us and took away our sins. And that new man created in us by grace is “created in righteousness and true holiness.”
August 4, 2019
Salvation is not accomplished, in any way determined by, or in any way dependent upon the will of man. Salvation is accomplished, determined by, and dependent upon the will of God alone (Romans 9:16).
July 28, 2019
God does not permit things to happen. He purposed all that comes to pass in time before time began (Romans 11:36; Isaiah 45:7). And all that he ordained from eternity and performs in time is good. Let men think and say what they will, God says concerning all that comes to pass in time, “This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth” (Isaiah 14:26-27).
July 21, 2019
Praying for the dead, as ignorant papists and Mormons do, is an act of idolatry and rebellion under the pretense of worship and reverence. It is asking your god to change his mind, alter his decree, deny his justice, and undo his judgment. Your god might do those things, if he could do anything. — Jehovah will not!
July 14, 2019
Nothing in God’s universe is excessive, unneeded, redundant, insignificant, or superfluous.
June 30, 2019
The scorn of men should mean nothing to those who live under the smile of God.
July 7, 2019
If you feel terribly carnal, unspiritual, and unholy in someone’s presence, you can be sure that that is precisely the way that person intended to make you feel by his or her pretentious show of godliness.
June 23, 2019
Christ’s sheep contribute none of their own wool to their garments of salvation. They wear only the fine linen of Christ’s obedience.
June 16, 2019
When I am comfortable and at ease, I enjoy reading good books, especially books about theology and history. But when I am in trouble, tempted, tried, broken, and heavy laden, I have no interest in them. Then I read no book but the Book of God. Only the light of God’s Word supplies my need in hours of darkness.
June 9, 2019
The old man Adam never did anything but sin and never will. The new man created in righteousness and true holiness never sinned and never can.
June 2, 2019
There is in Christ such infinite merit, efficacy, power, and virtue that he gives it all to every sinner who but touches the hem of his garment by faith and yet retains it all in himself.
May 26, 2019
When sorrow crushes your heart, when trouble overwhelms your soul, when adversity presses you down, bury yourself in Christ, in his person, his work, his Word, and his worship.
May 19, 2019
In Bible language love is not the evidence of faith, but faith is the evidence of love (1 John 5:2; 3:23).
May 12, 2019
In Bible terms faith alone is the evidence of God’s saving grace (Hebrews 11:1). All other imaginary evidences are broken crutches. If you lean on them, they will cause you much pain.
May 5, 2019
Sodomy is distinctly set forth in Holy Scripture as a crime against God and a crime against humanity, signaling the just judgment of God upon an idolatrous, will-worship generation, by which he gives people over to a reprobate mind.
April 28, 2019
Divine sovereignty, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the certain preservation of God’s elect are like salt and pepper and bread and butter on the table. Wherever the gospel feast is spread they are always on table.
April 21, 2019
Atonement is the expiation of sin, the canceling of debt, the pardoning of iniquity, the removal of transgression, the taking away of guilt by the satisfaction of justice. In the Old Testament sacrifices, the atonement was only ceremonial. But the atonement made by our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary was and is effectual. All those for whom the Lamb of God was slain are by his blood freed from all sin, all debt, all iniquity, all transgression, and all guilt before the thrice holy God.
April 14, 2019
Nothing more effectually encourages our faith in our God today as the remembrance of his wondrous works yesterday.
April 7, 2019
The peace God gives is “perfect peace;” but none possess that peace perfectly while living in this body of flesh.
March 31, 2019
When God’s saints are in their very worst condition in this world, having no sweet tokens and evidences of grace, believing Christ they have every reason, their only reason for assurance. Christ is still our Beloved and we are still beloved of him. Read the Song of Solomon 5:2-16, John 13:38-14:1, and John 21:17, and see this for yourself.
March 24, 2019
Gospel preaching is the means by which God saves his elect, nourishes his children, feeds his sheep, comforts his saints, edifies his church, and shows us his will. To neglect the preaching of the gospel is to despise God’s ordinance, destroy your own soul, and lead all those you influence to hell.
March 17, 2019
I have no righteousness but Christ who of God is made unto me righteousness. I have no sanctification but Christ who is made of God unto me sanctification. I have no redemption but Christ who is made of God unto me redemption. I have no holiness but Christ who is made of God unto me holiness.
March 10, 2019
My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with God.
March 3, 2019
The only evidence of grace is faith in Christ. The only basis of assurance is faith in Christ.
February 24, 2019
We all want mountain-top experiences. But nothing grows on the mountain-top. The higher the mountain, the thinner the air and the more likely dizziness is. Far better for us to live here below in the fertile valley, even if here we must deal with darkness, dampness, and dirt.
February 17, 2019
The more vile we are in our own eyes, the more precious the Lord Jesus is to us. If I am, at times, favored with some liberty in prayer, some strength in believing, and some sense of love for God, sadly it leaves me with a higher opinion of myself!
February 10, 2019
Confusion and darkness will not follow us into the eternal world of order and light.
February 3, 2019
Wearisomeness with the warfare in our souls is one means by which our heavenly Father graciously causes his child to calmly and joyfully anticipate entering into the rest that awaits us in Heaven.
January 27, 2019
The distressing, deep-seated evil of the old man in us and the relentless warring of the flesh against the spirit are instruments by which God the Holy Ghost graciously weans from trusting in ourselves, makes Christ more precious, and causes us to look away from self to Christ alone as all our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption.
January 20, 2019
The work of the ministry is the only work there is in which success is measured only by faithfulness.
January 13, 2019
Our Savior tells us that all power has been given to him. If he has all power, no one else has any power.
January 6, 2019
The Lord Jesus presents us to the Father in his own eternal perfection. And the Father delights in us as thus presented in his perfection because we are in him.
December 30, 2018
The natural man cannot be taught spiritual things. He can be taught religion, doctrine, and strict morality, but not the things of God. To learn the things of God he must be born again.
December 23, 2018
All of God’s elect were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, and only God’s elect. All the redeemed, and only the redeemed, are called by irresistible grace and omnipotent mercy and born again by the mighty operations of his grace. All the called, and only the called, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the gift of his grace. And all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are preserved and kept by his grace and power unto life everlasting.
December 16, 2018
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save his people from their sins. The blessed good news of the gospel is that he did what he came to do. With his own blood he entered once into the holy place, “having obtained eternal redemption for us!”
December 9, 2018
Let the gospel be preached in “the power of the Holy Ghost,” and you will see that it has power still, omnipotent power, to open the eyes of poor blind sinners, unstop deaf ears, cause the lame to leap, and raise the dead (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10).
December 2, 2018
All of God’s saving operations of grace are wrought in us by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” We have joy and peace in Christ only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” We have joy and peace in believing only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” And believing God, trusting Christ, we abound in hope only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.”
November 25, 2018
“The wicked flee when no man pursueth” (Proverbs 28:1). — Terrified by his own guilty conscience, a wicked man presumes someone is after him. Frightened by his own dark shadow, he strikes out at nothing but his own guilt (Judges 9:36). Like Cain, he presumes somebody is out to get him when, in reality, it is only the torment of a guilty conscience that makes him mad.
November 18, 2018
Spirituality is not just reading the Bible, praying, going to church, and listening to sermons. Spirituality involves living a useful, meaningful life, serving God and his people, making the most of your life as a husband or wife, employee or employer: visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, helping the needy, comforting the disconsolate, living for others rather than for yourself.
November 11, 2018
“A man’s gift maketh room for him.” — God’s servants do not have to tell others they are God’s servants. Their message and God’s use of them does that. And God’s servants never force themselves into light or into a place. God opens the door before them and puts them into their divinely appointed place.
November 4, 2018
Some of God’s elect are, like Saul of Tarsus, suddenly converted in a climactic experience of overwhelming grace. Others, like Lydia, gently have their hearts opened by that same overwhelming grace. It is not our experience of grace that is our hope, but Christ in whom all grace is found and from whom all grace comes.
October 28, 2018
The gospel is not something we live. The gospel is good news from heaven about the person, work, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. News cannot be lived. It must be published.
October 21, 2018
The gospel of Christ is not the ABCs of Christianity. The gospel is the A to Z of Christianity, and everything between A and Z.
October 14, 2018
To preach the gospel is to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to declare that he, by his perfect, complete, finished obedience to God as a man, brought in everlasting righteousness, made an end of sin, and obtained eternal redemption for God’s elect.
October 7, 2018
I would rather be a sinner saved, and saved in such a way as I am saved, by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, than to have never known sin and never have known Christ as m Savior.
September 30, 2018
What horrible evil parents bring on their children when those children learn from their parents to mock God’s messenger to their souls, as the people of Bethel taught their children to mock Elisha (2 Kings 2:23-24).
September 23, 2018
It is hard to hold your tongue, but you will never regret holding it. It is easy to speak your mind, but you will usually regret speaking it.
September 16, 2018
The Lord our God is solitary in his majesty, unique in his excellency, and peerless in his perfections. He sustains all but is himself independent of all. He gives to all and is enriched by none.
September 9, 2018
We worship one God in the trinity of his sacred Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) and adore each as the God of all grace by whom we are saved.
September 2, 2018
God cannot be known by man except as God is pleased to make himself known to man. This he does by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit in the revelation of Christ through the preaching of the gospel.
August 26, 2018
The gospel preacher must be obsessed with one thing — Christ crucified! Once a preacher becomes obsessed with anything else, the gospel of God always takes a back seat to make room for his obsession and those who hear him are robbed of the Bread of heaven
August 19, 2018
Satan is not God’s rival but his servant. He is God’s devil, bound by the long, strong chain of divine omnipotence, under the absolute dominion and control of our all-glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
August 12, 2018
All the dark mysteries and painful experiences of God’s providence will be cleared up for God’s saints in God’s time (John 13: 7).
August 5, 2018
Physical sickness is an instrument by which God makes his saints more healthy. By weakness he makes us strong. By need he teaches us to pray. By great sorrow he opens the door for great comfort.
July 22, 2018
Living for God is living for the benefit of others, and serving God is serving others. — We can serve others without serving God; but we cannot serve God without serving others.
July 8, 2018
It should not be my purpose in life to be happy, but to be useful.
July 1, 2018
In Scripture the word “heart” is commonly used, not in reference to that physical organ that pumps blood through the body, but to the seat of our passions, the source of motivation, the inner self of one’s being. In all our approaches to God, it is the heart that is required. He says, “My son, give me thine heart.” — “With the heart man believeth.” Without the heart all acts of religion, all pretenses of faith, and all assertions of conviction are a vain “show in the flesh.”
June 24, 2018
There is no place in this vast universe, from the throne of God in the highest glory to the lowest pit of hell, where Jesus Christ our Lord does not rule in total, absolute sovereignty.
June 17, 2018
Every Haman seeking to overthrow God’s servant shall be hanged upon his own gallows in God’s time.
June 10, 2018
When Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he used words to express the strongest possible prohibition against glorying in, trusting in, rejoicing in, promoting, or preaching anything except the glorious gospel doctrine of “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
June 3, 2018
How blessed the Church of God would be if those who fill her pulpits were determined to preach and teach nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
May 27, 2018
You can always know a person’s true character by the way he speaks of others. Slandering tongues expose a slanderous man, a gracious tongue a gracious man. A malicious tongue betrays a malicious heart, a kind tongue a kind heart.
May 20, 2018
Every heaven-born soul knows that there are two natures in him, the old man and the new, the carnal and the spiritual, the flesh and the spirit, that “the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary one to the other.”
May 13, 2018
There is not a record in the Bible of a single sinner saved by the grace of God who attributes anything to himself but sin.
May 6, 2018
Salvation was finished for God’s elect in eternity (Hebrews 4:3), finished at Calvary (John 19:30), finished in the new birth (Ephesians 2:1), and shall be finished in resurrection glory (Romans 13:11).
April 29, 2018
Fornication and adultery, like stealing and murder, are never acts of love but only the gratification of raging lusts performed in defiance of God, contempt for their object, and complete disregard for all others.
April 22, 2018
The new birth is not a change of life, but the gift of life. It is not an improvement made upon the old man, but the gift of a new man “created in righteousness and true holiness.” It is not the reformation of our fallen nature but being made “partakers of the divine nature.”
April 15, 2018
Christ is made of God unto us sanctification in the new birth, imparting to chosen, redeemed sinners his holy nature, making us “partakers of the divine nature,” creating in the heaven-born sinner a “a new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
April 8, 2018
God-given holiness improves my behavior; but my behavior can never improve my holiness.
April 1, 2018
There is not a hint of universal redemption in the Book of God. Every text, every prophecy, and every type in Holy Scripture dealing with redemption declares it to be the effectual, accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ for his elect — Limited Atonement.
March 25, 2018
The holy Lord God, by infinite wisdom and grace, has made our sin and misery the occasion of our greatest possible blessedness.
March 18, 2018
When I think of the sin and fall of our race in Adam, I am compelled to say, “O blessed fall! Had it not been for our fall in Adam, we could never have known redemption and grace in and by our Lord Jesus Christ!”
March 11, 2018
Prevenient grace is that grace that precedes and prepares the way for God’s saving grace.
March 4, 2018
Divine sovereignty, unconditional election, eternal predestination, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the certain preservation of God’s elect are gospel doctrine. Like salt and pepper, they are always on the banqueting table in the house of God. These things are the good news of the gospel that meet the needs of poor, desperately needy sinners and are the revelation of the grace and glory of the triune God.
February 25, 2018
The Lord never calls for his people to stay in Babylon, try to preserve Babylon, reform Babylon, or teach Babylon. His call is always, “Come out of her” (Isaiah 48:20; 52:11; Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6, 45; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4).
February 18, 2018
Holiness is not a work performed by sinners, but a gift bestowed upon sinners. It is not something performed by us, but something performed in us by God the Holy Ghost in the new birth. That “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord” is “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Holiness is “the sanctification of the Spirit” by which chosen, redeemed sinners are “made partakers of the divine nature.”
February 11, 2018
There is no excuse for laziness in a preacher. Faithful gospel preachers are men who labor in the Word and doctrine of God, addicting themselves to study and devoting their lives to publishing the gospel to eternity bound sinners.
February 4, 2018
Carping preacher critics are a dime a dozen. They never contribute anything to the cause of Christ, never assist in the building of Christ’s kingdom, but only criticize, gossip, and tear down. Once they’ve done all the damage they can in one place, they move to another. And they are never missed by anyone.
January 28, 2018
In the world and in the church, those who are most critical are always those who are most useless. Those who are quick to tear down, rarely do anything to build.
January 21, 2018
None deny that believers are people with two natures, except those who have just one.
January 14, 2018
When our transgressions were laid on Christ, made his, and borne by him, when he carried them all away in the stream of his precious blood, he made satisfaction for us. Thus, the Christ of God finished our transgressions (Daniel 9:24). They shall never be seen or brought up again!
January 7, 2018
“In the beginning God” — Those four words show us that the Lord our God is the Creator, Ruler, and Disposer of all things.
December 24, 2017
The prophet Isaiah says plainly that the Lord Jesus Christ “shall not fail.” Whatever the Son of God undertakes to accomplish, he shall accomplish. If he prays for a person’s salvation, that sinner must be saved. If he dies to put away a person’s sin, that person’s sin must be put away. If he seeks a sheep, the sheep must be found. If he says to the dead, “Live,” the dead must live. If he comes to save a sinner by the power of his grace, that sinner must be saved. — “He shall not fail!”
December 17, 2017
Every sermon ought to be prepared and preached as if the preacher knew that all who hear him are on the brink of eternity.
December 10, 2017
Believing the gospel is believing that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, that the man Jesus of Nazareth actually accomplished all that the Old Testament prophets said the Christ would accomplish.
December 3, 2017
Matters of no consequence to the glory of God, the needs of immortal souls, or the salvation of God’s elect should never divide God’s elect.
November 26, 2015
Read the 19th Psalm and rejoice to know that the sun, moon, and stars, indeed all things in God’s creation, move in God’s eternally predestined courses in time to accomplish the salvation of God’s elect.
November 19, 2015
God is the source, the means, and the end of all things. By him all things are. Through his wisdom, power and goodness all things are brought to pass, directed, and governed. And to his glory all things shall terminate (Romans 11:36).
November 12, 2015
God is the source, the constantly working cause, and the end of all things (Romans 11:36).
November 5, 2015
Some make “mother earth” their god and their gospel. They have dust for a god and ashes for a gospel. Bowing so low and cramped with pain from such a debasing stoop, it is little wonder that they behave as madmen.
October 29, 2017
Our God sits upon “the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word “circle,” as it is used here is very comprehensive. Our great Savior, the infinite God, sits upon the whole sphere of the earth, encompassing and ruling all creation. We who inhabit this globe are nothing but meaningless “grasshoppers,” “less than nothing, and vanity” (Isaiah 40:17).
October 22, 2017
It is my determination, in everything I preach and write, to glorify God my Savior, the Triune Jehovah, expose sin and leave sinners without excuse before God, call sinners to Christ, comfort, edify, and strengthen God’s saints, and inspire in the hearts of God’s elect devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Any subject that is not useful for these goals is not worth thought, let alone discussion by God’s ambassador.
October 15, 2017
Everything revealed in the Book of God is intended of God to convey a message from God, either a message of judgment or of grace. Nothing is revealed in the Holy Scriptures just to teach a fact.
October 8, 2017
Holy Scripture is not the hiding of truth, but the revelation of truth.
October 1, 2017
Any doctrine that is built by piecing together verses of Scripture is false doctrine. Divine truth is plainly revealed.
September 24, 2017
Either every sinner for whom Christ died shall be with him in eternal glory or he is a frustrated, miserable failure, and there is no salvation for anyone.
September 17, 2017
The doctrine of universal atonement is nothing short of universal blasphemy, asserting that Christ died in vain for the multitudes who perish in hell.
September 10, 2017
Either all for whom the Lord Jesus Christ made atonement at Calvary shall be saved by the merit and efficacy of that atonement, or none will. If any perish for whom Christ died, his death is meaningless and he is a failure.
September 3, 2017
We believe in Limited Atonement. We believe that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world with the intention of saving “a multitude which no man can number,” called “his elect” in the Book of God. We believe that, as the result of our blessed Savior’s finished work upon Calvary’s cursed tree, every person for whom he died must and shall be saved by his grace and stand, washed in his precious blood, holy and without blame, before the throne of God in heaven’s glory.
August 27, 2017
Show me something in the Word of God and I will, as God the Holy Ghost enables me, bow to it, receive it as divinely revealed truth, and believe it; but if you cannot show it to me in the Book of God, I cannot, will not, and must not receive it as the truth of God.
August 20, 2017
All true doctrine rests entirely upon the Word of God, upon the plain statements of Holy Scripture, not upon history, religious creeds, or tradition, and not upon human inferences, logic, or reason of any kind.
August 13, 2017
The most important aspect of a believer’s life is public worship — the worship of God in the assembly of his saints, collectively singing his praise, calling upon him in prayer, and hearing the exposition of his Word by the preaching of the gospel.
August 6, 2017
God our Savior provides everything for the helpless and brings grace to us before we seek it. So, he gets as much glory in the giving as in the gift.
July 30, 2017
The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon an individual, a family, a local church, or a community in this world is to send them a faithful gospel preacher. The greatest curse he can bring upon them is to remove him from them, silence his voice, or remove them from him.
July 23, 2017
The Lord God may use a false prophet to preach the truth, as he did Balaam (Numbers 23:21-23), but he does not use the religious lies of false prophets to save his elect. It is the gospel of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation. God uses gospel truth to bring sinners to believe on him who is the Truth.
July 16, 2017
Men everywhere hate the gospel of God because it abases man and exalts the Triune God, makes man nothing and Christ everything, exposes man’s sin and magnifies Christ’s righteousness, declares man’s guilt and displays the glorious efficacy of Christ’s blood atonement, binds man’s will to his nature and asserts that salvation is by the will of God alone, shows man’s works of righteousness to be sin and proclaims salvation’s accomplishment by the work of God alone.
July 9, 2017
God’s people, sinners saved by the grace of God, are devoted to Christ, devoted to his gospel, and devoted to his church.
July 2, 2017
Only the fear of God will drive away the fear of man.
June 25, 2017
Church hoppers are generally self-centered, petty, judgmental people, ready to abandon commitments and break relationships at the drop of a hat, because someone failed to stroke their pride. Faithful men and women are people united in heart, people whose lives are interwoven, because they are one in Christ.
June 18, 2017
Believers have the Holy Spirit given to them in all his fulness at the new birth. He is given as our Comforter, our Guide, our Teacher, and our Seal. To be full of him is simply to be full of his influence, comforted by his presence, guided by his power, instructed by his wisdom, and assured by his grace, having “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts” by him, by his gift of life and faith in Christ.
June 11, 2017
Being filled with the Spirit is being under the influence, control, and rule of the Spirit of God. It is living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May 28, 2017
Night and day, in labor and in leisure, in religion and in recreation, use your time for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
May 21, 2017
Time is one of the most valuable and precious things in the world. Once it is lost, it can never be regained.
May 14, 2017
To deny the efficacy of Christ’s blood atonement and the certain salvation of all for whom he died is as much a denial of our Savior’s godhood as the denial of his virgin birth; for such a denial asserts that the Christ of God is a failure.
May 7, 2017
The justice of God cannot be set aside; but it has been satisfied for the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ crucified.
April 30, 2017
If you would enter into heaven’s glory and live forever with God, you must be as good as God. You must be perfectly holy (Leviticus 22:21).
April 23, 2017
If Christ is my Savior, I owe God nothing, “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” — If Christ is my Savior, I owe God everything, for I am “bought with a price” that I might live “unto him who died for me and rose again.”
April 16, 2017
There are only two kinds of preachers: those who are used and those who use, those who labor in the Word and doctrine of Christ and those who loiter about, those who are faithful and those who are unfaithful, those who devote their lives to the cause of Christ and those who devote their lives to something else.
April 9, 2017
God, by the wondrous work of his grace, has made heaven-born souls “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), putting a new nature in us, a new man, “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), that cannot sin, a new man that can do nothing but righteousness (1 John 3:9); and that new man is “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
April 2, 2017
Is salvation by the free-will of man, or by the free-grace of God? What does the Bible say? “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy!”
March 26, 2017
Our peace is not in our experience but in our God and Savior, Christ, who is our Peace. We derive peace in experience as we are enabled by God the Holy Spirit to look away from ourselves to our Redeemer, trusting both his righteousness and his rule, his blood and his dominion, his grace and his providence, his satisfaction and his intercession.
March 19, 2017
The revelation of God in his Son was so complete that the apostles, in the books of the New Testament, do not tell us anything new. They simply confirmed and interpreted that which Christ had taught. They set forth that salvation, “which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Hebrews 2:3).
March 12, 2017
Miracles never produce faith in Christ. Pharaoh perished, though he saw all God’s wonders in the Land of Ham. Multitudes crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and went to hell in the wilderness. Thousands ate the loaves and fishes multiplied by our Lord Jesus, and perished in their sins. Faith in Christ is the gift of God the Holy Ghost given to and wrought in sinners by the preaching of the gospel.
March 5, 2017
The faithful exposition of Holy Scripture doesn’t raise questions. It answers them.
February 26, 2017
No one has ever done anything to or against me that can even begin to compare with what I have done to and against my God, both before he saved me and since. If God in heaven has forgiven me, it should be easy for me to forgive you of anything. Spirit of God, give me such grace!
February 19, 2017
Kindness is the honey that takes the edge off another person’s bitterness.
February 12, 2017
Fallen man is body and soul, spiritually dead. God the Holy Spirit does not regenerate the old man in the new birth. In the new birth, he makes fallen, spiritually dead sinners whole, putting a new nature in us, making us “partakers of the divine nature.” With Christ formed in us, we are made whole again — body, soul, and spirit.
February 5, 2017
Enoch’s testimony, “that he pleased God,” was not the testimony of a good reputation received from men, but the testimony of perfect righteousness in, with, and by Christ Jesus, that he received from God by faith in Christ.
January 29, 2017
Find me a sinner, and I will show you one of God’s elect. Find me a sinner, and I will show you one of Christ’s redeemed ones who must and shall be saved.
January 22, 2017
Nothing so quickly exposes the enmity, the bitter hatred, of the heart of man toward God as the declaration of his absolute sovereignty in the exercise of his grace, having mercy on whom he will have mercy and hardening whom he will harden; and nothing more rejoices and humbles the heart of those who are born of God.
January 8, 2017
Our Savior says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). That means that no one else has any power.
January 1, 2017
Nothing is more dangerous to our souls than a barren familiarity with sacred things.
December 25, 2016
The prophet Isaiah says plainly that the Lord Jesus Christ “shall not fail.” Whatever the Son of God undertakes to accomplish, he shall accomplish. If he prays for a person’s salvation, that sinner must be saved. If he dies to put away a person’s sin, that person’s sin must be put away. If he seeks a sheep, the sheep must be found. If he says to the dead, “Live,” the dead must live. If he comes to save a sinner by the power of his grace, that sinner must be saved. — “He shall not fail!”
December 18, 2016
He who is the Christ fully accomplished all that he came here to accomplish. When he had finished all that he came here to do, “with his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption” for God’s elect.
December 11, 2016
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), not all people, but his people. They were his people before he came to save them; and they were all saved by his obedience unto death for them.
December 4, 2016
The Son of God was made flesh that he might be made sin that sinners might be made the righteousness of God in him.
November 27, 2016
There is not one complimentary, dignifying, honorable word between the covers of the Bible about fallen man.
November 20, 2016
Either God made Christ sin for his elect, as the Book of God plainly asserts (2 Corinthians 5:21), or he just pretended to make him sin and punished his Son in a mockery of justice and truth. Either God makes every redeemed sinner the righteousness of God in Christ, as God the Holy Ghost declares, or he merely pretends that they are righteous and rewards them with heavenly glory in a mockery of justice and truth.
November 13, 2016
We are in Christ by the rich, free grace and goodness of God the Father, who put us in him in sovereign election before the world began. In him we were and are preserved and blessed from everlasting. That secret, everlasting union with Christ was made manifest in time, when God the Holy Ghost gave us life and faith in Christ, by the operation of his mighty grace; but the union is from everlasting.
November 6, 2016
That person who is truly and most fully aware of the depravity of his own heart, his own propensity to every evil, and his own liability to fall into any sin, is least likely to judge the faults of others, and most likely to forgive their offenses.
October 30, 2016
It is God who gives us grace to know Christ, to walk with Christ, and to serve the glory of Christ. He gives grace and gifts as he will and to whom he will (Ephesians 4:7). There is no room for pride, envy, or contempt among his saints (Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
October23, 2016
“Christ is the end (termination, finish, completion, fulfillment, accomplishment, period, full stop, stopping point, death) of the law (all the requirement of God, the ceremonial law, the moral law) for righteousness (justification, sanctification, holiness, godliness, obedience) to everyone that believeth” (Romans 10:4).
October 16, 2016
The biblical doctrine of limited atonement is particular, effectual redemption. Christ died for his sheep, God’s elect. The Son of God was stricken by the rod of divine justice for the transgressions of his people (Isaiah 53:8). Having satisfied the justice of God for his elect, the Lord Jesus Christ effectually accomplished and obtained eternal redemption for all for whom he died (Hebrews 9:12).
October 9, 2016
No doctrine hatched in hell is more blasphemous or more brazenly denies the very godhood of our Savior than universal atonement, the teaching that Christ made atonement for sinners who yet suffer the wrath of God in eternity.
October 2, 2016
Arminian infidelity limits the merit, power, efficacy, and worth of Christ’s blood, blasphemously asserting that though Christ died for the whole world, he really accomplished nothing for anyone. The Word of God limits the intent, design, purpose, and scope of the atonement, proclaiming redemption fully accomplished for all God’s elect. — That is to say, redemption accomplished for every sinner who trusts the Son of God.
September 18, 2016
Christ is the center of everything, the object of everything, and the end of everything. If you do not know him, you know nothing of creation, providence, grace, or yourself.
September 11, 2016
By faith in Christ we receive internally that which Christ has accomplished for us externally: redemption, righteousness, justification, forgiveness, holiness, peace, and reconciliation. Faith does not accomplish these boons of grace. Faith receives them and experiences them by grace.
September 4, 2016
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints are vital articles of faith. To deny any of these precious truths of Divine Revelation is to deny the Gospel of God.
August 28, 2016
The preacher’s business is to proclaim the greatness, grace, and glory of the Triune Jehovah as he has revealed himself in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The faithful exposition of Holy Scripture is the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Everything else called preaching is just beating the air.
August 21, 2016
Soon you must die. Soon you will meet God in judgment. Soon you will be forever in hell or forever with Christ in Glory. — How will it be for you in eternity?
August 14, 2016
Assurance is not to be found in something you have done, but in something Christ has done for you.
August 7, 2016
God is not known, trusted, or worshipped by any who despise any of his attributes.
July 31, 2016
No one is saved in time who was not saved before time began; and all who were saved “in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9) shall be saved in time.
July 24, 2016
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth actually accomplished all that the prophets of God in the Old Testament said Messiah would accomplish (Daniel 9:24). All who deny that he did so are antichrists (1 John 2:18-22).
July 17, 2016
God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” He did not pretend to make Christ sin for us. He made him who knew no sin sin for us. And God does not pretend to make sinners righteous in Christ. He made us the righteousness of God in him.
July 10, 2016
Because I preach to you that which God has spoken, I preach with the utmost boldness, dogmatism, and confidence.
July 3, 2016
Everything in this world comes to pass and is ruled according to the sovereign, eternal, unalterable, all-inclusive, and sure purpose of our God for the salvation of his elect (Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; 2 Timothy. 1:9-10).
June 26, 2016
If the congregation is talking and shouting while a man is preaching, they cannot hear the message preached.
June 19, 2016
Where the Spirit of God is obviously absent men and women commonly fake his presence by activity, hand waving, clapping, shouting, and carnal, fleshly music intended to move the body and stir natural emotions. Where the Spirit of God is present there is both silent reverence in the worship of God.
June 12, 2016
Grace experienced in time is the seal of grace bestowed before the world began and the pledge of glory to be enjoyed when time is no more.
June 5, 2016
Godliness is living for God. Godliness is devotion to Christ. It can never be measured, recognized, or understood by the ungodly.
May 29, 2016
Every religion that focuses on man, his works, his power, his goodness, and his will is declared by the Spirit of God to be the very basest form of idolatry — “will-worship.” It is nothing but the practice of religion “to the satisfying of the flesh.”
May 22, 2016
The Triune God is utterly consecrated to his elect. Oh, for grace that we might be utterly consecrated to him!
May 15, 2016
Any sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is taken into a living and everlasting union with the Triune God! — Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now, and you will go home one with God!
May 8, 2016
The child of God, the heaven-born soul, does not expect righteousness from that dead stock called “flesh.”
May 1, 2016
Our Lord Jesus Christ divides the whole human race into two groups. The reprobate he calls “the world.” The elect he calls them “which thou gavest me out of the world.”
April 24, 2016
How poor they are who think themselves rich. How rich they are who know themselves poor!
April 17, 2016
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” — When Christ comes in saving power, he makes ignorant sinners wise, causing us to believe God.
April 10, 2016
Every blessing of grace has its origin in God’s sovereign, eternal, electing love.
April 3, 2016
“The burden of the Word of the LORD” is something about which I fear few, very few preachers know anything. For most who preach, sermon preparation is a regular routine, requiring discipline and study, but little more. I want to hear a man preach who carries in his soul “the burden of the Word of the LORD,” a message fresh from the heart of God, burning in his heart, that he must deliver to me, to lift my heart to God in repentance, faith, worship, and renewed consecration. O my God, make me such a preacher!
April 3, 2016
Those who are in the flesh cannot be pleasing to God. Those who are in the Spirit cannot but be pleasing to God.
March 27, 2016
God’s will is his purpose; and his purpose is his will. His will is never at odds with his purpose; and his purpose is never at odds with his will.
March 20, 2016
“LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am” (Psalm 39:4). — I do not need to know and do not wish to know when or by what appointed means this body of flesh shall be brought into the dust of death. What I do need, what I do want is grace to have a perpetual sense of my frailty, that I may constantly anticipate the immediate termination of this mortal existence, and be ready without notice for my Savior’s call, “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
March 20, 2016
Either we are under the whole law to do it all, or we are not under the law at all.
March 13, 2016
As Jannes and Jambres, the Egyptians of Egypt, withstood Moses by their enchantments, only to have their serpents swallowed up by Aaron’s rod, so the heretical enchantments of hell are always swallowed up by the Gospel of God.
March 6, 2016
As the Church of God marches against the gates of hell, the Dragon of hell throws fireballs of heresy against her, but never prevails. The Gospel of God and the Church of God are never injured, harmed, or even made to pause. Our Lord has promised, “the gates of hell shall not prevail.” No matter how things may appear, his promise is sure.
February 28, 2016
No trial endured by God’s child would ever cause a murmuring thought to rise in his heart if he knew God’s reason for sending it.
February 21, 2016
When he was made sin for us, our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily took upon himself an intimate, infinite acquaintance with human sin and justly suffered all the fury of God’s wrath for his elect to the full satisfaction of divine justice.
February 14, 2016
Within the rough shell of sorrow, we find a sweet kernel of grace.
February 7, 2016
Substitution is the message of the Bible and the very heart of the gospel. And this is the way God the Holy Ghost declares this sweet, gospel doctrine. — “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
January 24, 2016
When he was made sin for us, our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily took upon himself an intimate, infinite acquaintance with human sin and justly suffered all the fury of God’s wrath for his elect to the full satisfaction of divine justice.
January 17, 2016
It is impossible, by any fair reasoning, based on Scripture, to separate salvation from redemption.
January 10, 2016
God’s love is not a passion, but both an attribute and an act of his infinite being. God’s love toward his elect is his sovereign, eternal benevolence toward us, his eternal purpose and determination to deliver, bless, and save us, arising from “the good pleasure of his will.” God’s love is his eternal complacency, delight, approval, and acceptance of his chosen in Christ.
January 3, 2016
O God of all grace, give me the wisdom and grace to live every day as if I knew it were my last, to speak of, speak to, and treat all with whom I come into contact as if I were sure I must meet them before the day’s end at your Great White Throne of Judgment, and to serve my Redeemer as if I were certain it was my last day to serve him who loved me and gave himself for me.
December 27, 2015
What wasted hours, wasted days, wasted opportunities I see as I look back over the past twelve months! O God, my God, be yet more gracious to your servant, and make me faithful to you as you have been, are, and ever shall be faithful to me!
December 20, 2015
Let every man called of God to preach the gospel, every man to whom this sacred trust is given, give himself in the totality of his life to this blessed work for the glory of Christ.
December 13, 2015
The Lord God loves his elect even as he loves his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for we are truly one with Christ.
December 6, 2015
God’s love for his elect is an eternal, immutable, indestructible love of complacency and delight.
November 29, 2015
Sinners saved by the grace of God, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, have no reason ever to be afraid of God and every reason to fear God.
November 8, 2015
There is nothing that will keep you out of heaven but your own will; but there is nothing that will keep you out of hell but God’s will.
November 22, 2015
The Word of God was not written to confirm our thoughts, but to correct them.
November 1, 2015
Faith in Christ is not a leap in the dark, but walking in the light.
October 25, 2015
Grace does not require cooperation from the sinner. Grace creates cooperation in the sinner.
October 18, 2015
Most religious people fit the worship of God into their lives when it is convenient. — God’s people arrange their lives around the worship of God.
October 11, 2015
Only the irresistible call of God the Holy Ghost, by which faith is created in us, identifies God’s elect in this world.
October 4, 2015
God’s elect, like Jesse’s youngest boy, are usually the very last ones we think might be chosen, until the Lord God calls them by his grace. By his call, God says, “This is he!”
September 27, 2015
God’s servants are not men who serve themselves by the people of God, but men who serve the people of God by the sacrifice of themselves, gladly devoting their lives to the cause of Christ.
September 20, 2015
2nd Corinthians 5:21 is the inspired commentary of God the Holy Ghost on Isaiah 53:10. He tells us that in order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be our sin-offering he had to be made sin for us. Justice could never have punished him as a sin-offering had he not been made sin for us. — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!”
September 20, 2015
God’s grace is not an offer, but an operation. It is not a passion in God desiring the salvation of sinners, but the operation of God performing the salvation of sinners.
September 13, 2015
The Scriptures nowhere assert or suggest that the Lord God looked upon and treated Christ as though he had been made sin. The Scriptures do assert that our dear Savior was made sin for us, and was therefore justly punished for our sins made his.
September 6, 2015
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints are vital articles of faith. To deny any of these precious truths of Divine Revelation is to deny the Gospel of God.
August 30, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or his sufferings were not penal sufferings and the justice of God was not satisfied by them.
August 23, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or our sins are still our sins and justice finds them upon us still!
August 16, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not really bear the consequences and effects of them. I mean by that, either he was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear the penalty of them.
August 9, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear our sins in his body on the tree, as the Book of God says he did, but only the consequences and effects of them.
August 2, 2015
It is not possible to overstate anything revealed in Holy Scripture. When the Bible says “God has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth,” that is what it means. When God says “Christ was made sin,” that is what he means. When the Book of God declares “We are made the righteousness of God in Christ,” that is what it means. — These blessed Gospel revelations cannot be overstated. Rather, they are only perverted when understated or altered to mean something else.
July 26, 2015
When you absent yourself from the worship of God, you absent yourself from the means of grace (the preaching of the Gospel) and lead all who are influenced by you to do the same. — What a costly choice!
July 19, 2015
All for whom Christ died shall, at God’s appointed time, be given life and faith in him by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit.
July 5, 2015
A pastor is a man called, gifted, and sent of God to preach the gospel, one who does the work of an evangelist, feeds the Church of God with knowledge of the Scriptures, understanding the needs of immortal souls and the needs of the hour. His work is done in his study, on his knees before God, and in the pulpit, not in going door to door, as “a busybody in other men's matters.”
June 28, 2015
As the first Adam made himself sin and plunged himself into death under the curse of God because of his love for the wife God gave him, so the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, willingly made himself sin and plunged himself into death under the curse of God because of his love for his elect, the Church, the wife God gave to him.
June 21, 2015
It is not my love for God that gives me peace, but the assurance of his love for me. “There is no fear in love; but” God’s “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).
June 14, 2015
Will worship is the religion of antichrist, setting man in the place of God, demanding that he be worshipped as God by making God’s will subservient to man’s will.
May 31, 2015
The Lord Jesus Christ takes hold of us by his grace before we take hold of him by faith.
May 24, 2015
Had not the Son of God offered himself up to God as our Priest, we could never have been redeemed. Had he not opened to us the path of life as our Prophet, we could never have known it. Had he not effectually applied his purchased redemption to us as our King, we could never have possessed it.
May 17, 2015
All that the Lord Jesus revealed as our Prophet, he purchased as our Priest; and all that he revealed and purchased as our Prophet and Priest, he applies as our King.
May 10, 2015
Young man, if you run to preach like Ahimaaz, without being sent of God to do so, you may outrun and outshine many a Cushi, but you will never be used of God for the benefit of immortal souls and the glory of Christ, because, like Ahimaaz, you run without a message from God.
May 3, 2015
Every man who makes himself a preacher, thrusting himself into the pulpit, has not been called of God to the work. Rather the Lord God says, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” It is written, “A man’s gift maketh room for him”
April 26, 2015
We should never be satisfied to come to the house of God alone. Rather, we ought to do whatever we can to bring others to hear the gospel. It is our business in this world to seek the Lord’s sheep. I wonder what God might do with us in this place if, at every service, each one were to bring one to hear the gospel of his dear Son.
April 19, 2015
Forgiveness is ours in exactly the same sense and exactly the same measure that it is Christ’s (1 Peter 4:1-2).
April 5, 2015
Let us ever seek grace to live by the rule of the gospel we preach, honoring God in all things; but do not imagine that you can preach the gospel by the way you live. — You can only preach the gospel by declaring it.
March 29, 2015
The world did not see Christ in Christ and did not see holiness in the Holy One, but crucified him as a vile and wicked man. Don’t ever imagine that the world will see Christ or holiness in you.
March 22, 2015
Don’t ever attempt to show the world that you are a Christian, or that you are righteous, or that you are godly, or even that you are different from others. Lost people cannot see godliness.
March 15, 2015
The works by which Abraham and Rahab showed their faith (James 2:21-25) were works seen by no one except God. Even so, the works by which we show our faith are works seen by God alone. Others may benefit from them, but God alone sees them, and sees them as works of faith.
March 8, 2015
Show your faith by your works, as God the Holy Ghost teaches us to do (James 2:18); but don’t ever attempt show your faith to men. They can’t see it.
March 1, 2015
Let us seek grace to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world, to live as sinners saved by the grace of God, to live for God and to the glory of God; but let us never attempt to show the world that we are Christians. The show of religion our Savior expressly forbids (Matthew 6:5-18).
February 22, 2015
God declares things to be what they are manifestly made to be before he makes them to be what he makes them to be (Romans 4:17).
February 8, 2015
God enriches his saints by poverty, strengthens them by weakness, makes them healthy by sickness, and lifts them up by abasing them.
February 1, 2015
The beginning and end of the faithful pastor’s work is to know Christ and to make him known. To that great work God’s servant must give himself entirely, and delights to do so.
January 25, 2015
God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s works are always right, righteous, just, and good. In all things, it is ours to bow to him, not to question him, but to trust his wisdom, goodness, and grace.
January 18, 2015
We who believe are now “perfect and entire” in Christ; but there is much that we want in our present state. When our days of much tribulation are complete, we shall be “perfect and entire, waning nothing.” — “Wanting nothing!” Imagine that!
January 11, 2015
Godliness is inward, not outward. Anything an unregenerate person can do to show is godliness is not godliness, but only an outward show of godliness.
January 4, 2015
O God of all grace, give me the wisdom and grace to live every day as if I knew it were my last, to speak of, speak to, and treat all with whom I come into contact as if I were sure I must meet them before the day’s end at your Great White Throne of Judgment, and to serve my Redeemer as if I were certain it was my last day to serve him who loved me and gave himself for me.
December 28, 2013
The man who lives only to and for himself is of less worth than the manure in his barn. The man who lives to and for the glory of God and the service of others is of more worth than gold.
December 14, 2013
God never plays pretend. When he declares that something is, it really is. He never pretends that something or someone is what it is not; and never pretends that something or someone is not what it is.
November 30, 2014
Because Christ was made sin for us, because he bore our sins in his own body on the tree and bore them away, the Lord God almighty declares that all who trust him have no sin (Psalms 103:12, Micah 7:18-19; Jeremiah 50:20; 1 John 3:5). Because “He hath made him sin for us” all who believe on the Son of God are made “the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
November 23, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or his sufferings were not penal sufferings and the justice of God was not satisfied by them. An innocent person may suffer, but an innocent person cannot be punished, upon any just ground. And justice will not, indeed cannot, allow an innocent person, considered as innocent, to suffer punishment in the room of the guilty, anymore that it can reward a guilty, sinful, corrupt one with life eternal.
November 16, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or our sins are still our sins and justice finds them upon us still!
November 9, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not really bear the consequences and effects of them. I mean by that, either he was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear the penalty of them.
November 2, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear our sins in his body on the tree, as the Book of God says he did, but only the consequences and effects of them.
October 26, 2014
The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. May God ever make me to know my weakness and give me grace to lean only and always upon Christ my Strength.
October 19, 2014
Anyone can tear things down. It takes determination, work, commitment, sacrifice, and self-denial to build. If we would build the kingdom of God together, these are the things required of us.
October 12, 2014
Numbers 22 demonstrates the fact clearly that while God’s servants believe and preach the gospel as they are taught and led of God, in the place God puts them, self-serving false prophets adjust their doctrine and move from place to place “according to the rewards of divination” put into their hands, all the while trying to convince themselves and others that they seek and follow the direction of God. — God save me from “the deceitfulness of riches” and from being motivated by “the mammon of unrighteousness.”
October 5, 2014
God gives his church pastor-teachers according to his own heart, each uniquely gifted to minister to the church in which God places him, to feed that particular church family with knowledge and understanding. — If God has put you in a gospel church and given you such a pastor, you ought to look to that man as your pastor-teacher, not another, and not twenty others.
September 28, 2014
If there is a sense in which God loves all men, there is a sense in which God’s love is meaningless.
September 21, 2014
Faith in Christ is not an evidence of things not seen, but “THE evidence of things not seen”.
September 14, 2014
How little is written or spoken by preachers and saints about consecration to Christ. Why? Why are people a little embarrassed about using the word “consecration”? — I do not know, but the most likely reason is that we know little, if anything, about it.
September 7, 2014
One of the most loathsome sights in the world is a self-serving preacher.
August 31, 2014
The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon any people in this world is to establish in their midst a faithful Gospel church with a faithful Gospel preacher as his messenger. The greatest curse God can bring upon any people in this world is to take his witness from them. And I cannot think of a greater abuse of a man upon his family than that of taking them away from the worship of God and the preaching of the Gospel.
August 24, 2014
There are three great temptations by which Satan assails preachers: the temptation to shine, the temptation to whine, and the temptation to recline.
August 10, 2014
It is a false humility, the fruit of a legal spirit, that says, “I have no assurance because my sins are so great.” David never spoke so confidently than when he most fully confessed his most glaring iniquity, transgression, and sin (Psalm 51:4).
August 3, 2014
Slanderers are Satan’s bellows, by which the fiend of hell divides and stirs up contention. The best way to stop the slander’s tongue is to refuse to hear his slander. The best answer to slander is silence.
July 27, 2014
In so far as the believer’s acceptance with God is concerned, he has no more confidence in the best work he ever performed, than in the greatest sin he ever committed. — Christ is our Righteousness, our only Righteousness, all our Righteousness!
July 20, 2014
Do any ask, — “Don Fortner, what reason have you to expect that sin shall not have dominion over you, and that you shall live in holiness and true godliness in this world?” I answer without hesitation, I am not under the law, but under grace. — “I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
July 13, 2014
God’s elect are justified by having died under the curse of the law and rising again in our great covenant Head and Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ.
July 6, 2014
Nothing but death can dissolve the law’s hold upon a sinner; and, blessed be God, “I through the law am dead to the law,” for I was crucified with Christ upon the cursed tree.
June 29, 2014
Gospel life flows from a legal death. — “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
June 22, 2014
Many young men, like Elisha, want “a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit; but few are willing to make the sacrifices and do the work of the faithful, committed old prophet. — They wish to be seen as prophets, not used as prophets.
June 15, 2014
I wonder what God might do with a man utterly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, utterly committed to His will, utterly committed to His glory, utterly committed to His Gospel. — I wonder what God might do with a local church utterly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, utterly committed to His will, utterly committed to His glory, utterly committed to His Gospel.
June 8, 2014
“Redeeming the time” means “buying up the opportunity.” The opportunity we have to serve our God and immortal souls is the appointed time of our lives, no more and no less. That makes time more precious than gold. Spirit of God, give me grace to buy up the opportunity set before me, redeeming every day for the glory of Him who redeemed me with His own precious blood!
June 1, 2014
That which usually determines whether a local church is divided or united, strong or weak, useful or a hindrance is the church’s attitude toward the pastor God has given it. Those who highly esteem a faithful pastor for his work’s sake are united in peace, strong in faith, and useful in the cause of Christ. Those who despise God’s messenger to their souls are divided, weak, and a great hindrance (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
May 25, 2014
When you discuss the sermons of faithful men with and/or before family and friends, speak only of the blessed Savior who has been preached to you, his mercy, love, grace, forgiveness, and glory, and the blessings and/or reproofs of the message to you. In doing so you will be of great help to those who hear you. — If you are so little that you choose rather to discuss the preacher’s flaws and your insignificant disagreements with doctrine, you only display your own evil heart and do great harm to all who are influenced by your wicked speech.
May 18, 2014
No greater blessing of God can be bestowed upon any community or congregation than the gift of a faithful pastor, a gospel preacher, a man given according to God’s own heart, to “feed you with knowledge and understanding.” No greater curse can befall a people than for God to remove his prophet from them and send them no other.
May 11, 2014
God’s elect are a blood bought and blood bathed people (Zechariah 13:1; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Titus 3:4-7).
May 4, 2014
Universal atonement is the most hideous blasphemy ever to be spewed from the pit of darkness. Declaring the blood of Christ to be “an unholy thing,” that is to say “a thing common to all,” it tramples under the foot the precious blood of the Son of God and “does despite,” stands as a blasphemous insult, “unto the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).
April 27, 2014
God’s servants do not use God’s people to serve themselves. They give their lives to the service of your soul
April 20, 2014
Adam lives in us by birth. By natural generation we are made partakers of Adam’s nature. Christ lives in us by the new birth. By regeneration we are made” partakers of the divine nature.”
April 13, 2014
There are no prerequisites to faith in Christ. God does not tell sinners they must know this or that doctrine before they can believe. God does not tell us that we must experience certain feelings before we can believe. God does not tell us that we must pass through great times of darkness before we can believe. God does say in his Word, to poor, lost, ruined, doomed, damned sinners, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!”
April 6, 2014
If what you have is what you got from a man, another man can take it away and sell you something else. —— If what you know is something you learned from a man, by the words of man’s wisdom and cunning craftiness, another man can teach you something else directly contrary to what you thought you knew. But if you’ve been taught of God, no one can unteach you what God the Holy Ghost has taught you.
March 30, 2014
I cannot find any man in the Bible who volunteered to be a prophet or a preacher, except a false prophet.
March 23, 2014
We worship the Triune Jehovah: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and we are saved by the work of the Triune Jehovah: the election of God the Father, the redemption of God the Son, and the sanctification of God the Holy Ghost. As all three Divine Persons are essential to the Divine Being, these three works of God are essential to salvation.
March 16, 2014
When God sends good things to the reprobate it is for evil. When God sends evil things to the elect it is for good.
March 9, 2014
When Satan put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ into the hands of the Jews, and the Son of God was nailed to the accursed tree, the fiend of hell was outwitted by his own invention and out-shot by his weapon, for it was by the Savior’s death upon the cursed tree that he crushed the serpent’s head and entered into his glory.
March 2, 2014
People who talk much about their “good works” really have very little to talk about; but they never lack for words to humbly tell us about them.
February 23, 2014
Always think highly and speak honorably of those men who preach the Gospel of the grace of God. — “Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:13).
February 16, 2014
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
February 9, 2014
All true preaching is personal, purposeful, and passionate.
February 2, 2014
How graciously our God, by every providence, inclines our hearts to return to him, our Savior and our God! Oh, how gracious it is of him to visit his people, again and again, with spiritual sustenance, when by sin and disobedience, we call forth a famine upon our souls!
January 26, 2014
Oh, how merciful, how gracious, how wise, how good our God is to his people! How gracious he has been to our souls in hedging up our way, bringing into our lives disappointments, pains, afflictions, and sorrows, by which he has sweetly and irresistibly forced us to return to him, seeking his mercy and grace in Christ!
January 19, 2014
Universal love, universal grace, and universal redemption is meaningless love, meaningless grace, and meaningless redemption. To preach such is to preach a meaningless gospel, a meaningless god, and a meaningless savior.
January 5, 2014
God’s face beams and shines upon his elect with the smile of complete delight, approval and acceptance in Christ! Washed in the blood of Christ and redeemed, justified by the righteousness of God in Christ and accepted, the Lord God looks upon us with pleasure! Imagine that! God’s face shines upon us in his Son!
December 29, 2013
The approach of the New Year ought to inspire in our hearts much grateful reflection upon our God’s bountiful blessings of grace upon us in Christ Jesus: Blessings of Grace! Blessings of Providence! Blessings upon Our Homes! Blessings upon His Church! Blessings upon Our Labors! — “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin!” — “Blessed are they that put their trust in him!”
December 22, 2013
He who made man was made a man that he might be made sin to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
December 15, 2013
Hirelings and false prophets change their doctrine like most men change their shirts, to suit their present place and company.
December 8, 2013
Christ obedience unto death as our Representative is not our hope of glory, but the basis of our hope. Christ in us by the new creation of grace is our “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Until we are made “partakers of the divine nature,” until righteousness is imparted to us in the new birth, we have no hope before God.
December 1, 2013
Humility is living in the conscious awareness of who I am, a sinner saved by grace, and whose I am — God’s.
November 24, 2013
Only the thankful are rich; and all who are thankful are truly rich: rich with grace, rich with life, and rich forever. — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!”
November 17, 2013
Gossip is always evil: evil in spreading it, evil in receiving it, and evil in believing it. Only idle, irresponsible busy-bodies engage in the hellish practice. — “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
November 10, 2013
An unbelieving religious world is occupied with signs, identifying signs of the second coming, signs of the times, signs of the end, etc. — The Word of God teaches us to live upon the tiptoe of expectation, “looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
November 3, 2013
Let nothing be valued more highly today than it will be in that day appointed by God when we must leave all that is temporal and enter into that which shall be eternal.
October 27, 2013
Universal redemption, the notion that the Son of God died to redeem those who are forever lost in hell is the greatest blasphemy hell ever invented. It declares that God is unjust, punishing sin twice, once in His Son and then in the sinner. It asserts that man is his own Savior, declaring that the blood of Christ, the will of God, and the grace of God are made effectual by man’s will. It asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is a frustrated failure, unable to save the people for whom He died. Universal redemption is an utter denial of the very Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ! It must not be tolerated!
October 20, 2013
For the believer there is nothing preferred to death in the arms of the Lord Jesus. It is better to die than to live until the Savior’s glorious second advent, for “the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
October 13, 2013
If two angels were sent from heaven to serve the will of God for His glory, one to sweep the streets and the other to rule the world, it would not matter to either which task was assigned to him. So it should be to us, if our desire is to glorify God in serving Him.
September 29, 2013
The grace of God, which provides, reveals, and effectually applies all the blessings of salvation, teaches, motivates, and sweetly compels saved sinners to devote themselves to Christ. — Believers are not ruled by law, but by grace.
September 22, 2013
Faithful Gospel preachers are men who hazard their lives for the cause of Christ (Acts 15:26), men who willingly forsake all to serve the Savior, refusing to be entangled with the affairs of this life (2 Timothy 2:4).
September 15, 2013
Grace and works cannot be united in God’s salvation at any point. The Word of God is crystal clear in asserting this fact. Salvation is either altogether by grace or altogether by works (Romans 11:6).
September 8, 2013
Even when His providence brings great pain and sorrow, our heavenly Father’s eye is ever watching over us to do us good.
September 1, 2013
Faithful preachers faithfully preach the Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ all the time, and preach it in such clear and distinct terms that no one can mistake their doctrine.
August 25, 2013
Any preacher who tells you how you can make yourself more righteous than Christ has made you knows nothing of the righteousness of God and the Gospel of the grace of God.
August 18, 2013
No greater blasphemy ever spewed from the pit of hell than the blasphemous assertion that Christ died to redeem the multitudes who there suffer the wrath of God.
August 11, 2013
False prophets are hirelings who care not for the sheep. Faithful men are true shepherds who care not for themselves.
August 4, 2013
All who are righteous know themselves utterly unrighteous; and all who are void of righteousness think they are righteous.
July 28, 2013
God’s elect are by God the Holy Ghost declared to have been justified, sanctified, accepted, and saved in Christ before the world began. That means that our works have absolutely nothing to do with our justification, sanctification, acceptance, and salvation. — “Salvation is of the LORD!”
July 21, 2013
The word “impute” is an accounting term, not a legal term. It is not possible to justly account a person something that he is not, or impute to him that which is not true. To do so is both unjust and dishonest. The God of heaven is neither dishonest, nor unjust. He imputed sin to his darling Son, because he “made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We worship, serve, and proclaim him who is and declares himself to be, “a just God and a Savior”
July 14, 2013
Baptism is the believer’s confession of faith in Christ. If God has saved you by his grace, if God the Holy Spirit has given you faith in Christ, — “Why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized.”
July 7, 2013
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Preservation of the Saints are, in this house of worship, the constant themes of all our preaching, all our hymns of praise to our God, and all our conversations. If these things make you uncomfortable, you will be uncomfortable here until God gives you the comfort of his saving grace in Christ Jesus.
June 30, 2013
If you have to guess what a man preaches, if you have to guess what his doctrine is, the reason is unmistakable: his intent is to please men rather than God. Ambiguous preaching is not gospel preaching.
June 23, 2013
No man serves God on his own terms, but in the place where God puts him, with the gifts God gives him, to do the work for which God condescends in great mercy and grace to use him. Being so highly honored of God, God’s servant serves his Master willingly, with all his heart and all his might.
June 19, 2013
Man-centered, works-based, freewill religion -- call it by any name you will -- is the single greatest evil in this world. . . and is the greatest cause of evil in this world. The good works of religion without Christ are the most abominable evils imaginable. . . Man-centered, freewill works-religion robs God of His glory, tramples underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, does despite to the Spirit Of Grace, and gradually abases society to its lowest, most contemptible state. . . 'Evil workers,' as Paul describes them in this context, are Arminians -- freewillers, legalists -- people who teach that God's salvation depends on, or is in some way determined by, man: 'evil workers.'
June 16, 2013
The foolish notion of universal redemption (the doctrine that Christ died for everyone) is as blasphemous as it is foolish. We rejoice to hear God say of our Redeemer, “He shall not fail!” The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. Every sinner for whom the Lord Jesus died shall live forever with him.
June 9, 2013
With regard to the accomplished redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of God’s elect, God the Hoy Ghost says, “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3).
June 2, 2013
Never does the Lord God more strikingly display his sovereignty and grace than when he compels the wicked to promote the purposes of his sovereign will. It is not enough merely to say that Satan and his devices shall do no harm. As Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai and Mordecai was exalted, so Satan’s schemes and assaults upon our God and his Christ and his church shall fall upon his own head (Romans 16:20).
May 26, 2013
Contrary to the opinions of many, God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” The holy, just, and true Lord God did not pretend to make his Son sin for us. He did not pretend to punish his Son in justice to the full satisfaction of justice. He did not pretend to put away the sins of his people. And he does not pretend to make every chosen, redeemed sinner the very righteousness of God in Christ. — God’s works are real. God’s grace is real. And God’s salvation is real. — There’s nothing pretend about it!
May 12, 2013
O, how bitterly must the Christ of the everlasting covenant have suffered, when on Calvary's cross he undertook to bear the guilt of his elect, being made sin for us, to atone for all our sins, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”.
May 5, 2013
Let every saved man desire the work of the ministry, desiring from God a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That is noble and right. But let no man thrust himself into the work. Gospel preachers are called, gifted, and sent of God. If God creates a bird to fly, he gives it wings; and if God calls a man to preach, he gives him the gifts necessary to perform the work.
April 28, 2013
It is very easy and a very common thing to teach false, damning, heretical doctrine using only Bible terms. God’s servants faithfully expound the sense of the Scriptures, giving out the message of God the Holy Spirit conveyed in the text from which they preach.
April 21, 2013
If you are not willing to spend your life in your study, laboring in the Word and in the doctrine of God, go do something less important and meaningful than the most noble of all works — preaching the gospel. This work requires, demands, and deserves our lives! Preparation without inspiration will give meat with no savor; and what many vainly imagine is inspiration, without preparation, serves for meat an empty plate covered with glitter. — If we would preach, we must prepare to preach, laboring by study and prayer in the Word and in the doctrine of Christ.
April 14, 2013
Preaching is not talking to give out the light, frivolous imaginations of our minds. Preaching is proclaiming God’s truth with sound judgment, truth fixed in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit, by diligent labor in study and earnest prayer, to the profit of God’s people. If we would preach, we must labor in the Word and in the doctrine.
April 7, 2013
Every preacher is responsible before God and his hearers to faithfully proclaim the Scriptures, giving the meaning and message intended by God the Holy Spirit in the passage from which he preaches. The Spirit’s meaning and message can be obtained only by the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that gift is bestowed upon faithful men laboring in the Word, studying, praying, and seeking God’s message for his people.
March 31, 2013
Will worshipping Arminians choose the weakest part of man’s nature to be their savior – his will, while trampling underfoot the blood of Christ, the grace of God, and the power of God the Holy Spirit. This they do in direct opposition to the plain declaration of Holy Scripture (Romans 9:16).
March 24, 2013
No man has any business preaching who does not, relentlessly and boldly, preach the doctrine of the gospel as it is plainly revealed in the Book of God: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. — The gospel is not preached if these things are not preached.
March 17, 2013
The Word of God gives us the record of many historical facts; and they are all literally true. But each recorded fact is an allegory. Each was brought to pass by our God and is recorded in Holy Scripture to teach us something spiritual.
March 10, 2013
If a man is called of God to preach the gospel, God’s church will recognize his gifts before he does.
March 3, 2013
Any pastor who is worth his salt could have been successful in any profession he might have chosen. Dependable, faithful, hardworking men are never failures.
February 24, 2013
Just as our God gave the law of the kinsman redeemer in Israel before anyone needed it, our great God found a way to redeem his lost ones by Christ our Kinsman Redeemer long before we fell in our father Adam.
February 17, 2013
The liberty proclaimed in the year of jubilee, the liberty proclaimed in the gospel is the blessed liberty of grace; but it is liberty demanded by God’s holy law (Leviticus 25:1). — Justice satisfied demands the liberty of the justified.
February 10, 2013
Christ abrogated the law by fulfilling it.
February 3, 2013
The law of God, being fulfilled by Christ our Surety, is dead to God’s elect. Our Savior nailed it to his cross. And we are dead to the law.
January 27, 2013
If there is some sense in which you are still under the law, then there is some sense in which you are cursed of God, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
January 13, 2013
Eve was created when God created Adam, but came forth on another day when the Lord God brought her to Adam. So it is with Christ and his church.
January 6, 2013
Believers fulfil the righteousness of the law (Romans 3:31; 8:4) not by offering God our best efforts at obedience to the law (filthy rags righteousness), but by offering him that which he requires and he alone can give — perfect righteousness — perfect satisfaction in the person and work of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
December 30, 2012
Any preacher who is too big to preach to a few is too little to preach to many.
December 16, 2012
Christ was born at Bethlehem that he might do all the will of his Father as the incarnate God, our Mediator, thereby bringing in everlasting righteousness for his elect, and accomplish death at Calvary as our covenant Surety, thereby making an end of our transgressions.
December 9, 2012
Let men denounce me as a base antinomian, curse me as a reprobate sower of licentiousness, and accuse me of the most horrid evils imaginable, I will not attempt to alter what God has declared in his Word or bring Christ’s free men and women under the yoke of the law. God says to all who trust his Son, “Ye are dead to the law!”
December 2, 2012
Nowhere in the New Testament are believers taught to do anything because the law says do it. The reason is simple and clearly stated: — “Ye are not under the law, but under grace.” It is the love of Christ that constrains saved sinners to godliness, not the terrifying whip of the law of Moses. It is written, “The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient.”
November 25, 2012
When a preacher denies limited atonement (denies that all for whom Christ died shall be saved), he announces that he is a lost, unbelieving false prophet, for he has denied that Christ is God, making the Son of God a failure!
November 18, 2012
No one first gets saved and then learns the gospel. Sinners are saved when they are taught of God by the gospel.
November 11, 2012
In the Old Testament Scriptures every time we see idolatry prevailing, Sodomy also prevailed. The Holy Spirit lays the blame for the repugnant evil of Sodomy at the doorstep of idolatrous, freewill/works religion (Romans 1:18-27). When man is elevated as though he were God, when the works of God are attributed to the will, works, and worth of man, when man is worshipped as though he were God, as in all freewill/works religion, antichrist is present, God’s judgment is evident, and Sodomy runs rampant (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17), even as we see it in this reprobate age. — “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: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
November 4, 2012
So long as I have a choice, I will not vote for anyone running for any public office, from Dog-catcher to President, who promotes the murder of unborn children and/or Sodomy. Compared to these two things, no other public policies are even slightly significant.
October 28, 2012
The Word of God never tells me what other people should do, only what I should do. The Scriptures were not written for us to govern the lives of others by them, but for us to govern our own lives by them.
October 21, 2012
All spiritual knowledge is intuitive knowledge, knowledge arising from the experience of God’s saving grace in Christ, knowledge given by the unction of the Holy One.
October 14, 2012
He who “delighteth in mercy” is never niggardly in dispensing mercy.
September 30, 2012
There is no need to be fearful of those glorious revelations of grace revealed in Holy Scripture. Do not be afraid to embrace them, proclaim them, and rejoice in the certainty of them. Do not restrict their meaning, but stretch it as far as possible with this assurance: — Your broadest, fullest understanding of God’s goodness is unimaginably less than the thing revealed by the gospel. — Christ was made sin for us! — We are made the righteousness of God in him. — Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are free from the law! — Go ahead. Stretch out on this bed, wrap yourself in this covering, and rest your soul!
September 23, 2012
It is not the work of Christ outside our experience that gives us hope, but the work of Christ in us. Christ crucified as our sin-atoning Substitute is the basis of “a good hope through grace.” — But Christ in you is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
September 16, 2012
If the public worship of God in His house is not the most important thing in your life, any really big thing that comes up (a ballgame, visiting relatives, a special episode of Gunsmoke, etc.) will supplant the worship of God.
September 9, 2012
Heretics are never pleased. When we use the very words of Scripture to declare the truth of God, they insist that the words of Scripture mean something else. When we use words that give the sense of the plain revelation of Holy Scripture (Trinity, Substitution, etc.), they demand that we use only the precise words of the Bible. God’s servants faithfully expound the Scriptures and leave heretics to their rantings.
September 2, 2012
In this house of worship we spell grace “T.U.L.I.P.” — Total Depravity — Unconditional Election — Limited Atonement — Irresistible Grace — Perseverance of the Saints. No doctrine will be received or tolerated that is not in complete agreement with these plain, unquestionable revelations of the Gospel.
August 26, 2012
Though God is absolutely sovereign, having mercy on whom He will have mercy and hardening whom He will, He is strictly just, both in bestowing His saving mercy upon His elect and in the everlasting damnation of the reprobate.
August 19, 2012
As the God of truth cannot impute sin where there is none (Proverbs 17:15), so He cannot impute righteousness where there is none. Because Christ took away our sins, being made sin for us, and made us the very righteousness of God in union with Himself, all God’s elect have righteousness imputed to them.
August 12, 2012
God who is just and cannot lie cannot impute sin where there is no guilt (Proverbs 17:15). Adam’s sin was imputed to all men because all were guilty. The sins of God’s elect were imputed to our dear Savior because He was made sin for us.
August 5, 2012
Christ gives everything, demands everything, and deserves everything. Let me therefore submit everything to His will and devote everything to His service.
July 15, 2012
“Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:1-15 tells us how we may do so. Read the chapter and do what it says.
July 8, 2012
Men who do not love, provide for, and protect their wives and families, no matter how physically appealing and materially successful, are brute beasts.
July 1, 2012
Women, no matter how physically attractive, who refuse to submit to, obey, and reverence their husbands in the Lord are ugly in the eyes of all.
June 24, 2012
That perfect love which “casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18) is “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Romans 5:5) when he creates faith in his elect, sealing to our hearts all the blessings of his goodness and grace in Christ by the gift of faith in him (Ephesians 1:13-14).
June 17, 2012
When I was a young preacher inclined to foolish debates, Bro. Henry Mahan frequently advised, “Bro. Don, if you get into a spitting contest with a skunk, you may win the contest, but you will always come out smelling like a skunk.” I’ve lived long enough to highly value that wise counsel.
June 10, 2012
“He shall not fail!” — That simply means that the Christ of God must and shall accomplish all that he came to accomplish as the Surety of his people.
June 3, 2012
To deny the absolute efficacy of Christ’s sin-atoning blood is to deny his very deity. If Jesus Christ died to redeem some whom he fails to save by his grace, he is not God.
May 27, 2012
When the Lord God declares that ransomed sinners are righteous and gives them eternal life in Christ, he does not pretend that they are righteous and save them at the sacrifice of his own righteousness, justice, and truth. He makes them righteous, truly righteous in Christ Jesus and justly rewards the righteousness he gives with eternal life.
May 20, 2012
When God made his Son sin for us, he did not pretend that he was sin and punish him unjustly. He made him sin and punished him justly, that he might be just and the Justifier of his people.
May 13, 2012
Sorrow would never afflict us if sin did not infect us.
May 6, 2012
God does not call qualified men to preach the gospel. He qualifies the men he calls.
April 29, 2012
As “antinomian” is hurled against the gospel by those who attempt to turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness (Jude 4), the slander of “schizophrenic” is hurled against the teaching of Scripture with regard to the “new man created in righteousness and true holiness” in the new birth (Ephesians 4:24). When our foes cannot gainsay our doctrine, they stoop to railing accusations and slanderous reports, hoping to make that which is truly pure and beautiful appear evil and ugly.
April 22, 2012
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man Jesus actually did all that the Old Testament Scriptures said the Christ would do, that he made an end of sin, brought in everlasting righteousness, fulfilled all the law, and saved his people from their sins. — “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1).
April 8, 2012
No work is so great, no labor is so noble, no burden is so heavy, no honor is so humbling as preaching the gospel of the grace of God to eternity bound sinners.
April 1, 2012
God’s servants do not promote themselves, their ministry, or their church. They promote Christ, his Gospel, his Kingdom, and others who faithfully serve him. — The man who promotes himself serves no one but himself!
March 18, 2012
Preachers often say, concerning God’s elect, “As God sees us in Christ, we are holy, without sin,” etc. What few fail to understand is this: — However God sees us in Christ that is the way we really are, “holy and without blame before him!”
March 11, 2012
Nothing is more important to the children of God in this world than the public assembly of the saints for worship; and that public assembly of the saints for worship is the local church, the congregation of the Lord, the house of God.
February 26, 2012
If ever God brings you into travail of soul, he will bring forth life in you. Blessed are they who are commanded by God the Holy Spirit, — “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail!”
February 19, 2012
If ever God saves you by his grace, you will seek his Son; and when you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.
February 12, 2012
If God the Holy Spirit ever puts you into the hand of your soul’s enemies, from their hands he will redeem you (Micah 4:1).
February 5, 2012
If the Lord Jesus Christ ever puts you in Babylon, there he will deliver you (Micah 4:10).
January 22, 2012
When Holy Spirit conviction makes a sinner to know his sin, God says, “pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.” Then he says, “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail.” The language is imperative. “You must be in pain. You must labor to bring forth, like a woman in travail” (Micah 4:9-10). Blessed are they who have such pangs of travail. — If ever God brings you into travail of soul, he will bring forth life in you.
January 29, 2012
If ever the God of all grace causes you to be isolated from him, alone, helpless, and hopeless, he will bring you into a life of sweet communion with him (Hosea 2:6-14).
January 8, 2012
God’s elect are the halt, the driven out and the afflicted (Micah 4:6). If you can find your place among them, you will find His grace and find His grace sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).
January 1, 2012
Let every man called of God to preach the Gospel disentangle himself from the affairs of this world with determined consecration to Christ, His Gospel and His Church, addicting himself to prayer, study and preaching.
December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas! — How sad it is that so many of God’s people are incapable of rejoicing in the remembrance of our Savior’s birth because they have been wrongly taught that the joyful remembrance of Christ’s incarnation is connected with the papal mass! Children of God, rejoice! — “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
December 18, 2011
It is as painful as it is disgusting to hear a man preach the Gospel as though he did not believe it, quoting creeds, defending confessions, and displaying knowledge, without heart passion and Divine urgency. The Gospel we preach is itself “the power of God unto salvation.” Any attempts to adorn it only corrupt it.
December 11, 2011
The infant in the womb possesses the same life as the newborn baby coming forth from the womb. When the child is born it manifests and experiences life. So it is with spiritual life. God’s elect had eternal life in union with Christ before ever the earth was made. When the chosen, redeemed sinner is born again, that life is brought to light, made manifest, and experienced in time (2 Timothy 1:9-10).
November, 27 2011
The Lord God did not pretend to make Christ sin for us; and He does not pretend to make His elect the righteousness of God in Him. How we rejoice to know that the work is real, the grace is real, and the salvation that is ours in our great Substitute is real!
December 4, 2011
The work of God the Holy Spirit as the Comforter is to verify in and to God’s elect that which is already true of them and done for them in Christ Jesus (John 15:26; 16:7-14).
November 20, 2011
It was not the supposition of being made sin that broke my Savior’s heart, but the reproach of my sin made His; and it is the revealed knowledge of that great transfer of guilt that God alone could make that both breaks and rejoices my heart.
November 6, 2011
“Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 13:8; 17:8), blood atonement by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the new birth by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, and faith in Christ by the gift of His grace are essential to the salvation of God’s elect.
October 23, 2011
The new nature created in every heaven born soul is that “new man created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), which “doth not commit sin” and “cannot sin” “because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). That new nature is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is this new nature, this “new man” of which the Holy Spirit speaks when He declares that in the new birth we are made “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
October 9, 2011
Perhaps the sweetest, most mysterious, and most comforting revelation of God in Holy Scripture is the real, eternal union of God’s elect with Christ. From that union flows all our salvation, all comfort, all security, and all everlasting blessedness.
October 2, 2011
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
September 25, 2011
The most blasphemous, God dishonoring, Christ denying doctrine ever proclaimed by men who claim to believe the Bible and claim to believe God is the doctrine of universal atonement, the doctrine that Jesus Christ died for, but failed to redeem and save the multitudes of the damned in hell!
September 18, 2011
When the God of all grace permits His own to fall, it is that He might lift us up and, in the lift, reveal Himself the more gracious and glorious.
September 11, 2011
Gospel preaching works. It is always successful. It always accomplishes exactly what God intends for it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). Anything added to it is a distraction from it, not an adornment of it.
September 4, 2011
“The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:17). — All that flows to sinners in time, from the mercy of the Triune Jehovah in the sweet experience of God’s saving grace in Christ, was ours in Christ before the world began and shall be ours when this present evil world has been dissolved and our God makes all things new. All the works of God’s grace, that were finished “from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3; Ephesians 1:3-6), shall be experienced by God’s elect in time and enjoyed eternally, because “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting!”
August 28, 2011
Will worship and Christ worship cannot exist together. Either God’s will controls man’s will, or man’s will controls God’s will. Either God controls the devil, or the devil controls God. Either God rules man, or man rules God. God says, “I will do all my pleasure;” and all who know Him rejoice in knowing that it is so, saying, “It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.”
August 21, 2011
Believer’s baptism (immersion) is not a “Baptist Distinctive,” but a New Testament distinctive. In the New Testament all who believed were buried with Christ in baptism; and none were baptized except those who professed themselves believers.
August 14, 2011
Though there are many Baptist denominations, we are not a part of any denomination, but the Church of Jesus Christ. We adhere to no creed but His Word. We bow to no head but Christ our Head. We have no activity as a body of believers but His worship.
August 7, 2011
Any sermon that does not have Christ crucified for its beginning, its middle, and its end is a waste of time in preparation and a crime in execution.
July 31, 2011
There is not a single verse of Holy Scripture that implies, or even hints in any way, that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood at Calvary for those who are not saved by His blood. To suggest such an absurdity is to fly in the face of God’s Word and blaspheme His very name.
July 24, 2011
The most comforting, soul-cheering revelation of God in Holy Scripture is the blessed Gospel doctrine of particular, effectual redemption by Christ.
July 17, 2011
The Lord Jesus Christ purposefully shed His blood on Golgotha as the Lamb of God and by the shedding of His blood, our dear Savior effectually redeemed all for whom He died.
July 3, 2011
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
June 26, 2011
There is no love except distinguishing love, no redemption except a particular redemption, no atonement except a limited atonement, no deliverance except an effectual deliverance, and no grace except irresistible, omnipotent, saving grace.
June 19, 2011
There are no evidences by which we find assurance of salvation except that faith which works by love, for faith in Christ is “the substance of things hoped for” and “the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1) and the sure fruit of faith is brotherly love (1 John 3:16-19).
June 12, 2011
The very heart of the Gospel is Substitution, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the room and stead of chosen sinners. Substitution means that not one sinner for whom the Son of God suffered the wrath of God shall ever suffer the wrath of God. Substitution means that if Christ was made sin for me, I am made the righteousness of God in Him. Substitution means that if the Lamb of God was made a curse and bore the curse of God’s law for me, I cannot be condemned!
June 5, 2011
Let us never imagine that God’s mighty operations of grace are limited to our awareness of them. Our mighty Savior goes through all the world in His “chariots of salvation” conquering chosen, redeemed sinners by His grace, adding to His Church “daily such as should be saved.”
May 15, 2011
God gave His dear Son up to die in the place of sinners. The Son of God assumed our nature, brought in everlasting righteousness for and willingly laid down His life at Calvary to redeem poor, needy sinners with His precious blood. God the Holy Ghost has been sent by the enthroned Christ to regenerate, call, comfort, and keep sinners by His omnipotent grace. What do those facts tell you? “He delighteth in mercy!”
May 1, 2011
Nowhere in Holy Scripture are we taught to look for signs of Christ’s coming. There are no signs to be given. Scripture teaches us to live on the tiptoe of faith, looking for and expecting the “blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
April 24, 2011
Knowing that nothing could be more dishonoring to God than failure, Moses used that as an argument for Him to save His chosen people (Numbers 14:16). Yet, all the religious world loudly asserts that he whom they call “God” is an utter failure, a god who tries to save the multitudes who are forever damned.
April 17, 2011
True pastoral work, “the work of the ministry,” involves just one thing: preaching, “ Nothing else, just the faithful preaching of the Gospel, not counselling, or entertaining, or even visiting, just faithful Gospel preaching. Any man who gives himself to the faithful preaching of the Gospel has very little time for anything else.
April 10, 2011
The Gospel of God is not “good advice,” but “good news.” In preaching the Gospel we do not tell sinners what they must do, but what God has done.
April 3, 2011
Our preaching should always move the souls of those who hear us Godward.
March 27, 2011
Eternal life, the gift of God, does not begin with our experience of God’s saving grace. Eternal life is eternal. When we are born again, we are made partakers of that eternal life, to use Bible terms, “partakers of the divine nature,” “partakers of Christ!”
February 20, 2011
"Mercy Seatward" - As the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat were made facing "mercy seatward" (Exodus 39:7), so every messenger of God faces "mercy seatward" as he preaches. Every true Gospel sermon directs eternity bound sinners "mercy seatward," setting forth Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
February 13, 2011
Those things that appear to be most grievous in their experience are often most expedient in their end (John 16:7).
February 6, 2011
When thinking about or discussing the atonement, the question of importance is not -- "For whom did Christ die?" The only question of importance is -- "Who died?" Is Jesus Christ God? If He is, all for whom He died are redeemed, and all He intended to accomplish in His death He accomplished. To think or say otherwise is both a denial of the blessed Gospel doctrine of Limited Atonement and the utter repudiation of our Savior's very Godhead!
January 30, 2011
It is written, "with the heart man believeth," but that heart that trusts Christ is not the heart of the old man that is enmity against God. It is the new man "created in righteousness and true holiness," the new creature who believes God.
January 23, 2011
The believer's union with Christ is as real, as old, as complete, and as everlasting as the union of Christ our Mediator and Surety with His Father and our Father.
January 2, 2011
I always try to begin the New Year by remembering "the time is short." Soon this day of grace will be ended. Soon my appointed days will be finished. Soon I will meet God in eternity!
December 26, 2010
Any sermon that does not have Christ crucified for its beginning, its middle, and its end is a mistake in its conception and a crime in its execution.
December 19, 2010
Every sermon ought to be prepared and preached as if the preacher knew that all who hear him are on the brink of eternity.
December 12, 2010
Those who actually do good works never imagine they have done any (Matthew 25:37-39). -- Those who talk about their good works have none (Matthew 25:44).
December 5, 2010
My relationship with God does, in great measure, determine what I do; but what I do does not, in any measure, determine my relationship with God.
November 21, 2010
Growing old and dying is the very best and most wonderful thing that could happen to God's saints. How blessed it is to see your children and your children's children prospering in body and soul by the blessing of God and then, having served your generation for the glory of God, like Jacob of old, to gather your feet up into your bed, peacefully and willingly yield up the ghost and be gathered unto your people! Who could wish for more?
November 14, 2010
Please quit acting spiritual. -- In the privacy of your own closet before God, if you want to raise your hands and waive your palms, roll your eyes up toward heaven, and show by bodily gestures that you are super-spiritual, if you dare do so, go ahead. -- But do not act spiritual before men. Our Lord strictly forbids outward displays of religious devotion. Only self-righteous Pharisees do things to be seen of men (Matthew 6:1-8).
November 7, 2010
Work-mongers take many names to cover their evil intent. Many even claim to believe the gospel of the grace of God; but if a man incessantly talks about works, motivating what he calls "good works" by the threats of punishment or promises of reward, his doctrine is works and he has departed from grace altogether (Galatians 5:1-4).
October 31, 2010
FaceBook and MySpace may be fine websites, useful places for others to communicate with many friends at once; but Gospel preachers demean themselves, their office, and the Gospel of God in the use of such, lowering themselves and the Gospel to trivia. -- Brethren, stay in your studies. Pray, study, and preach the Word. If you will do so with faithfulness, you will have no time for the pursuit of trivia.
October 24, 2010
Was Christ a sinner? Such a question is absurd. The very thought is blasphemous! -- Was sin imparted or infused into our Redeemer's holy nature? Perish the thought! Was the blessed Son of God, our sin-atoning Substitute "made sin for us" as the Scriptures declare? Blessed be his name forever, he was made sin for us, else he could not have suffered the wrath of God in our stead, could not have satisfied the justice of God, and could never have made us the righteousness of God in himself!
October 10, 2010
Baptism is a symbolic burial in a watery grave, by which our Lord Jesus symbolically fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15), showing in the ordinance how he brought in everlasting righteousness for his people by his obedience unto death. His resurrection from the watery grave pictured his resurrection, by which the Triune God declared redemption accomplished by Christ's obedience. Believer's baptism portrays exactly the same thing. It is a symbolic confession of our faith in Christ (Romans 6:4-7).
October 3, 2010
According to the Book of God, those who believe that salvation is accomplished by the will of man are not worshippers of God, but will-worshippers (Colossians 2:23)
September 26, 2010
Divine election is the source and cause of all spiritual blessedness. Without election there would be no redemption, no regeneration, no effectual call and no faith in Christ. All the sons of Adam would forever perish. -- Thank God for sovereign, free, eternal electing love!
September 19, 2010
No sermon should ever be preached that does not tell eternity bound souls how God saves sinners by Christ Jesus.
September 12, 2010
Anyone who vainly imagines that he can distinguish between wheat and tares usually goes about the business of weeding the Lord's garden and pulling up tares with such fervor that the only stalk of wheat left standing in the garden is himself.
September 5, 2010
When a preacher compromises his doctrine, his motive is always evil, and usually involves some form of personal gain. For that gain, he willingly separates himself from brethren of proven faithfulness, and takes for new associates men of proven unfaithfulness.
August 29, 2010
Our blessed Savior bore our sins "in his own body on the tree," not on his body, but in his body. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That is the very language of Holy Scripture; and our hearts rejoice in it.
August 22, 2010
We should never be too quick or dogmatic in asserting what a believer will not do or what doctrinal error he cannot embrace. David committed adultery and murder to cover it. Solomon worshipped idols to pacify his wives. Peter denied the Lord Jesus and forsook him. The disciples on the Emmaus Road thought the Redeemer had failed. Paul took a legal Jewish vow. He and Barnabas had a dispute over John Mark that was never mended while they lived on earth. God's saints today are no greater or stronger than those remarkable men, -- not even you or me!
August 15, 2010
We should be as lenient as possible in our thoughts concerning the sins, failures, and doctrinal errors of our brethren.
August 8, 2010
God the Father chose me. God the Son redeemed me. God the Holy Spirit has sanctified me. Why should I fear closing my eyes in death to awake forever in the presence of the Triune Jehovah?
May 30, 2010
Faith in Christ is not the cause of the new birth, but the result.
May 16, 2010
What is preaching? It is expounding the Scriptures, testifying of our experience of grace in the kingdom of God and persuading sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:23).
May 23, 2010
Our Lord tells us to let the tares grow with the wheat. We are never to attempt to separate them. Why? Because we do not have the ability to know the one from the other. If the task of separating them were ours, we would pull up the wheat and keep the tares every time. None of us knows who is saved and who is lost. Those who pretend to have such knowledge are as arrogant as they are ignorant.
March 21, 2010
Even when he was made to be sin for us, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, our blessed Savior still "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."
March 14, 2010
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
March 7, 2010
A god who does not rule all things absolutely is no God at all, but only a weak, frustrated, defeated idol, carved from one of the trees in the dark forest of man's depraved imagination.
February 28, 2010
The Lord Jesus, our Mediator and Savior, possesses all power and authority over all things. That means no one else has any power or any authority over anything.
February 21, 2010
Always beware of those who, like Diotrephes, love to have pre-eminence. They are easily spotted and identified. Such people promote themselves, discredit others and divide brethren.
February 7, 2010
Either our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was made sin for us, as the Scriptures declare, or substitution is nothing more than a legal transaction, nothing but a transfer of guilt made on paper.
January 31, 2010
Sinners are justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ and sanctified by the imparted righteousness of Christ. Yet, just as we were sanctified judicially by imputed righteousness (Hebrews 10:9-14), so we are justified experimentally by imparted righteousness (Romans 5:1-11; Colossians 1:14). Both blood atonement (the death of Christ for us) and regeneration (the life of Christ in us) are essential to the salvation of our souls.
January 3, 2010
God's servants are not mercenaries. We do not serve our God for gain. And God's servants are not slaves. We do not serve our God because of fear. God's servants are all volunteer, bond-servants, serving the Lord God because they desire to serve him. O my Master, make me a faithful servant!
December 27, 2009
The holy Son of God came into this world as the Son of Man that he might be made sin and die under the wrath of God, and that he might by his obedience unto death give chosen sinners eternal life and make his redeemed the very righteousness of God in him.
December 6, 2009
Obedience to our God is not just our duty. Obedience to our great God and Savior is the desire of our hearts, the joy of our souls and the purpose of our lives.
December 13, 2009
Grace experienced makes people gracious.
November 29, 2009
When preachers start adjusting their message, the reasons are always evil. The man who seeks and obtains a message from God delivers it as it was received. He would never dream of adjusting it for anyone or for any reason.
November 22, 2009
In Romans 8:29 God the Holy Spirit declares that all who are justified in time, (That is to say, all who were justified by the obedience of Christ unto death at Calvary and all who are consciously justified by faith in the sweet experience of grace), were justified when they were predestinated. Yes, God's elect were and are eternally justified in Christ. We were accepted in the Beloved before the world began.
November 15, 2009
He who is God has the incontestable right and the irresistible ability to make, govern, use and dispose of all things according to his own will.
October 18, 2009
If our sin was just pasted on Christ and the sword of justice was just pasted on his heart, then his righteousness is just pasted on us, and salvation is a delusion!
October 4, 2009
Solomon warns, "Meddle not with them that are given to change" (Proverbs 24:21). There are many who change their doctrine to suit their company. Others are carried about with every wind of doctrine. No matter the reason, those who are given to change are not to be trusted. Whether the change is an indication of instability, or of some evil intent, those who are given to change are not to be followed.
September 27, 2009
Treacherous is the word God uses to describe those self-serving men who are supposed to be his messengers, but instead handle the Word of God deceitfully and corrupt needy souls from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.
September 20, 2009
It is not Christ living for you, or dying for you, or risen for you, or interceding for you that is the believer's hope of glory, but "Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27). Until Christ is in you, until you are made "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), you have no hope.
September 13, 2009
Anytime a preacher's methods change, you can be sure his message has changed.
September 6, 2009
Sin cannot be imputed where sin is not; and justice cannot slay the righteous. So our blessed Savior was made sin for us that he might be justly condemned and satisfy justice as our Substitute in his death, and make us the righteousness of God in him (Proverbs 17:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
August 23, 2009
When the dust of division settles, those who are true followers of Christ will be made manifest. They may waver in the confusion; but God's saints will not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. When the sowers of discord have had their last fling, the cause of Christ will not be hindered, and believers will still cling to Christ with stronger faith than ever before.
August 9, 2009
"Christ is the end of the law." He is the point aimed at by the law. He is the conclusion of the law. He is the finality of the law. He is the finish of the law. He is the termination of the law. He is as far as the law can go! "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
June 28, 2009
Holiness is that which God purposed for us (Ephesians 1:4), that which God demands of us (1 Peter 1:15-16, that to which God has called us (1 Thessalonians 4:7), that which God has created in us (Ephesians 4:24), and that in which God will keep us by his grace (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
June 21, 2009
Holiness (sanctification) is not accomplished by human effort, but by sovereign grace.
June 14, 2009
That holiness without which no man shall see the Lord is not a holiness we must perform, but holiness planted in us: "Christ in you, the hope of Glory."
June 7, 2009
Holiness is not something we do for God, but something God does for us by his grace.
May 31, 2009
A friend is someone who steps in when the rest of the world walks out.
May 24, 2009
God's elect are accepted, saved and shall be judged worthy of heaven in the last day because of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May 3, 2009
God's people are one in Christ and one with Christ, even as he and the Father are one. Imagine that!
May 10, 2009
Morality preaching is worse than worthless. It is damning. Instructing people in religious morality teaches lost wretches to act good, and acting good convinces them that they are good, too good to really need an absolute substitute to give them acceptance with God.
April 26, 2009
"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness" in every possible sense of the word "righteousness:" justifying righteousness, sanctifying righteousness, evidentiary righteousness and assuring righteousness.
April 19, 2009
Christ is the END of the law" in every possible sense of the word "end." He is the goal, the purpose, the fulfillment, the accomplishment, the finish, the satisfaction, the termination, the finality and the abrogation of the law.
April 12, 2009
Ishmael is the one baby that must be thrown out with the bath water. There is no room for law in the house of grace!
April 5, 2009
"Will worship" (Col. 2:23) is ascribing to the will of man the work of God. Like all other forms of idolatry, it is damning to all who practice it.
March 22, 2009
Public worship is the most important aspect of the believer's life. The only place under heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to meet with and manifest himself to anyone is in the assembly gathered in his name to worship him (Matthew 18:20).
March 1, 2009
If Christ died to redeem and justify all, and some are in hell, then one of two things must be so: Either Christ is a failure, or there are some in hell who are redeemed and justified!
February 22, 2009
If Christ did not save all for whom he died, he is no Savior, there is no salvation and we have no gospel to preach. How can that be called "gospel" (good news) that declares "Christ died for you, but he has not actually redeemed you, put away your sins, or completely saved you"?
February 15, 2009
If one sinner may be lost for whom Christ died, all for whom he died must be lost, because the sinner has nothing to contribute to Christ's sacrifice by which it might be made satisfactory and effectual.
February 8, 2009
Like the mass of the papists, the blasphemy of universal redemption asserts that Christ's sacrifice at Calvary really accomplished nothing.
January 25, 2009
All who make the will of man a determining factor in salvation worship their own wills, worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, and set man in the place of God; and of all forms of idolatry spawned in hell, will-worship is the most abominable and the most absurd!
January 11, 2009
No sinner can or will turn to God until he has been turned by God. None can or will call upon the name of the Lord until they have been called, effectually and irresistibly called, by the Lord. None can or will come to Christ for grace until Christ has come to him in grace.
December 28, 2008
The Lord Jesus Christ did all our work for us as our Representative, suffered all our punishment in our stead as our Substitute, and obtained eternal life as our reward by the merit of his obedience and blood as our Surety.
December 7, 2008
When people delight in the preaching of works, they either have something evil they wish to hide or they trust in themselves that they are righteous.
November 9, 2008
I would never have voted Cyrus or Artaxerxes into power. Yet, they were the very men our God used to gather his ancient people again in Jerusalem, rebuild the city and the temple, and to revive his worship in a day of great, great darkness. As the Lord God turned the hearts of those ancient pagans for the salvation of his chosen, he may be pleased to so turn the thoughts of President-elect Obama for the furtherance of the gospel and the salvation of his elect in our day. In fact, I am completely confident that he will (Romans 8:28-31; Psalm 76:10).
November 2, 2008
Affliction is a wonderful revealer. It teaches us things we could not know by any other means, and opens windows through which we see, as we never saw before, the mercy, grace, and love of our God.
October 12, 2008
It is no greater blasphemy to deny the virgin birth than to declare that there are some in hell for whom Christ died.
September 28, 2008
The old man, Adam, can never be sanctified; and the new man created in righteousness and true holiness, "Christ in you the hope of glory," cannot sin.
September 21, 2008
Either our Lord Jesus Christ is worth all that might be lost by confessing him, following him and serving him, or he is worth nothing.
September 14, 2008
When Satan accuses me and my conscience is compelled to agree with Satan's accusation, I wrap myself up in the righteousness of Christ and stretch myself upon the bed of God's free grace in him.
August 24, 2008
That "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14), is "Christ in you the Hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In the new birth Christ our Righteousness is imparted to us and formed in us.
August 10, 2008
Christ is our Righteousness, our only righteousness and all our righteousness. His obedience, that which he performed, is the righteousness of God imputed to us in justification. A person cannot be imputed, only his deeds. But Christ's person, his very nature, is the righteousness of God imparted to us in regeneration.
August 3, 2008
No evil could exist in God's universe were it not his determination to use the evil to accomplish some greater good than could be accomplished without the evil.
July 27, 2008
Everything that happens happens because the Lord our God wills it to happen. He willed it to happen before it happened; and willed it to happen exactly as it happened.
July 20, 2008
The gospel is not good advice, but good news. Grace is not an offer, but an operation. Salvation is not by man's decision, but by God's decree.
July 13, 2008
Only one question matters: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" When you first began to believe and who was preaching when you first believed is totally irrelevant. In fact, yesterday is irrelevant. "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
July 6, 2008
With regard to our perfection in Christ, people say, "That is the way God sees us." That is right. And the way God sees us is the way we really are!
June 22, 2008
God's servants never adjust or alter their message for any reason. We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
June 15, 2008
Religion tells sinful man what he ought to do for a holy God. The Gospel proclaims what the holy Lord God has done for sinful man.
June 8, 2008
How very dear the lord Jesus Christ ought to be to sinners bought with his precious blood and made righteous in his perfect righteousness!
June 1, 2008
It is sweet and good to rejoice in God's mercies; but it is far sweeter and far better to rejoice in the God of mercies.
May 25, 2008
Nothing is more painful to a devoted father than the sense that he is not held in honor and esteem by his family. Let us ever ascribe the greatness of our God and hold our Father in the highest honor and esteem as our God.
May 18, 2008
Adversities introduce us to ourselves. Usually, it is a very disappointing introduction.
May 11, 2008
Where God rules there are no accidents, preventable diseases, untimely deaths, stray bullets, or arrows that miss their mark; and God rules everywhere.
May 4, 2008
The "full assurance of faith" by which we draw near to God is not a feeling of assurance, or assurance mustered from within. Our assurance of acceptance with God in Christ is the Revelation of God in Holy Scripture. Believing the Revelation of God, we draw near to him in confident faith through the sacrifice of his dear Son.
April 27, 2008
When God the Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner, giving him faith in Christ, as that sinner looks to Christ alone as his Savior, the blessed Spirit sprinkles the blood of Christ upon the conscience and speaks like a bailiff reading the verdict in court – "Justified!" (Romans 4:25-5:1)
April 20, 2008
Our justification is not conditioned upon our faith in Christ. Our faith in Christ is the fruit of justification by which we experience the blessedness of it, receiving the atonement he accomplished for us in his death (Romans 5:11).
April 13, 2008
I have observed that you can always count on do-nothings to criticize what others do; but you can never count on them for anything else.
April 6, 2008
The gospel of the grace of God declares the Triune God in action, acting from eternity, for the salvation of his elect.
Match 30, 2008
The basis of our hope is the finished work of Christ. The cause of our hope is the Word of God. That for which we hope is righteousness. But that which is our hope is "Christ in you." We have hope before God because we have been made partakers of the divine nature in the new birth, because Christ lives in us and we live in him.
March 23, 2008
Though our salvation was finished in all its details from eternity, though our redemption was fully accomplished at Calvary, the Lord God continually performs it in us and continually assures us that he is doing so by using present tense verbs as simple statements of fact, declaring the reality of every believer's experience of grace. "Choosest" "Redeemeth" "Justifieth" "Forgiveth" "Cleanseth" What sweet terms of grace these are to our souls!
March 16, 2008
Mark this down as a matter of fact. Don't ever forget it. That which God requires of his people, he always provides for his people. What he demands of us he performs for us.
March 9, 2008
Our heavenly Father often sends his tender mercies on the black horse of trouble.
February 24, 2008
Faith is not a leap in the dark, but the reasonable response of the regenerate heart to God's Revelation.
February 17, 2008
Self-righteousness is the root of all sin and the ruin of all that men call Christianity.
February 10, 2008
Salvation is not something God offers; it is something he performs.
January 27, 2008
Man's inability is not his misfortune. It is his sin. Therefore it is written, "He that believeth not shall be damned!"
January 20, 2008
God's way always leads his chosen in this world through a dark, troubling wilderness; but God's way is always "the right way."
January 13, 2008
Beware of any preacher who seeks to draw attention to and promote himself and what he is doing. Faithful men love, support, and promote other faithful men as they serve Christ and his kingdom.
January 6, 2008
It is my earnest prayer that God my Father will give me grace ever to help and never hinder, ever to comfort and never discourage, ever to be used by and never to use his children.
December 23, 2007
In his incarnation the Son of God voluntary took into union with himself all that is inseparable from our humanity!
December 16, 2007
In the incarnate One the immortal God made himself a mortal man, that mortal men might be made immortal sons of God!
December 2, 2007
"The Word was made flesh!" God the Son came into the world in our nature that as the Captain of our salvation he might be made perfect through the things that he suffered. Only as God in our nature could the Bread of Life hunger, the Fountain of Living Water thirst, the Light of the World be compassed with darkness, the Sinless One be made sin, God be made to die, and sinners be made the righteousness of God in him!
November 18, 2007
As winter prepares the earth for spring, our afflictions prepare our souls for glory.
November 11, 2007
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This is a standard before which no hypocrite can stand, a fire that consumes the sparkling tinsel of unregenerate souls.
November 4, 2007
Whatever my need, God's grace is sufficient. I need nothing else.
September 30, 2007
The new birth is more than God the Holy Spirit creating a new principle in us. A Democrat converted to a Republican has new principles. An unbeliever converted to a believer has a new nature!
September 23, 2007
The new birth is a wondrous, mysterious thing. Who can explain "Christ in you"? Who can define what it means to be "partakers of the divine nature"? I repeat: the new birth is a wondrous mystery of grace. But anyone who calls this blessed work of God the Holy Spirit mysticism is a blind, ignorant heretic.
September 9, 2007
The first work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a sinner, in bringing him to Christ, is to make him feel his need of Christ. None of us will ever be saved until we are lost. We will never seek Christ's righteousness until we see our unrighteousness. We will never look to his cleansing blood until we know our filth. Thirsty people seek water. Hungry people look for food. Sick people find a physician. Only lost, needy sinners seek and find the Savior "If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole!
August 12, 2007
Anytime a preacher begins to redefine his doctrine, seeking to distance himself from that which he has taught in the past and from those who remain faithful to the truth of God, no matter what he may say to defend his compromise, his motives are always self-serving and evil. The more he protests, the more apparent his guilt.
August 19, 2007
I never cease to be amazed that those who talk most about the need for brotherly love and unity are the very people who, by gossip and slander, most seek to divide God's people. Those who love the brethren do not need to advertise their love. The deed advertises itself.
July 29, 2007
The light of the gospel, like the light of the sun, causes repulsive creatures of darkness to wiggle frantically, that might otherwise never be noticed; but it is better to deal with those disgusting creatures than it would be for the sun not to rise.
July 1, 2007
Three things are essential to the salvation of a sinner: (1.) the work God the Father accomplished for us in eternity, (2.) the work God the Son accomplished for us at Calvary, and (3.) the work of God the Spirit accomplished in us in time.
May 20, 2007
The Word of God is not the revelation of many things, but of one thing. It is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." The Book of God does not teach many doctrines. It teaches just one doctrine: "The Doctrine of Christ."
May 13, 2007
Does it appear that the "old man" of flesh in you is stronger than the "new man" of spirit created in you by grace? There is a reason for that. The "old man" is full grown. The "new man" is a newborn babe.
May 6, 2007
No man sent of God needs to promote himself.
April 29, 2007
Faith in Christ is not the procuring cause of our justification, but only the instrument by which the righteousness of Christ is received. It is not our believing, but the One we believe, Christ, "who of God is made unto us Righteousness."
April 15, 2007
The violent opposition of will-worshipping Arminians to election and predestination will never alter the fact that our Savior declares, "I have chosen you and ordained you"
April 1, 2007
Nothing is more paralyzing than self-pity.
March 4, 2007
Preachers frequently speak of the way God sees his people in Christ, and then go to great pains to explain that that is not the way we really are. That is a terrible error. -- The way God sees us in Christ is the way we really are and shall forever be.
March 18, 2007
Justice punishes sin only where sin is found. It treats as guilty none but the guilty (Pro. 17:15). The wonder and glory of redemption by Christ is this: When he was made sin for us, when our guilt was made his, justice punished him in our stead. And that same justice forbids the punishment of those for whom the Savior died (Romans 8:1, 33-34).
March 11, 2007
The same glorious God who has fixed us in and accepted us in Christ before the worlds were made, has made him our righteousness; and he did both at the same time. That fact is so plainly written in the Word of God that none can fail to see it, exept those who refuse to see. He who accepted us in Christ, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ from eternity. Who will assert that the accepted and blessed us as unrighteous?
March 4, 2007
Preachers frequently speak of the way God sees his people in Christ, and then go to great pains to explain that that is not the way we really are. That is a terrible error. The way God sees us in Christ is the way we really are and shall forever be.
February 11, 2007
Failure is an impossibility to anyone who is obedient to Christ. All heaven waits to assist God's obedient servant.
February 4, 2007
The salvation accomplished by Christ, the salvation God gives is a salvation that God himself cannot improve and a salvation that all the powers of hell cannot mar.
January 28,2007
With regard to the Book of God, Christ is "the key of knowledge." Without the key, men can never unlock the chest and discover its riches. They just fumble.
January 21, 2007
When the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us, our sins were imputed to him, so that we might have his righteousness imputed to us and be made the righteousness of God in him.
January 7, 2007
Let us seize every opportunity to serve Christ. The smallest opportunity may be the door of great usefulness to the souls of men and the glory of God.
December 17, 2006
The death of this body will be the death of all my sorrows and all my sins. Blessed anticipation!
November 26,2006
Eternal life, the gift of God the Holy Spirit in the new birth, is not the mere gift of life extended forever, but the gift of an entirely new life, spiritual life in Christ that shall never cease, a new, holy nature, by which all who are born of God are graciously made "partakers of the divine nature."ovember 19, 2006
Christ endured and completely exhausted all the hell we must have endured but could never exhaust, had he not suffered and died for us.
November 12, 2006
Though our great shame and sorrow is the constant multiplying of sins, our God's great glory is the constant multiplication of pardons (Isa. 55:7).
September 24, 2006
That which God the Holy Spirit does in us in regeneration is just as necessary as that which God the Son did for us in redemption and God the Father did for us in predestination.
September 17, 2006
Three things are essential to the everlasting salvation of God's elect: (1.) The work of God the Father for us in eternity. (2.) The work of God the Son for us as our Substitute. And (3.) the work of God the Holy Spirit in us.
September 10, 2006
"Thou God seest me" (Gen. 16:13). What a word of comfort that is to my soul! Though men oppress me, though Satan assails me, though sorrows crush me, though my own heart condemns me, "Thou God seest me!" He sees me perfectly. He sees me always. He sees me where I am. He sees me as I am, completely. He sees me with perfect love, approval, and acceptance, for he sees me in his Son!
September 3, 2006
The object of faith is a whom, not a what. The matter that must be settled is not "What do you believe?" or "When did you first believe?" or even "How did you come to believe?" but "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
August 27, 2006
Our God has trusted to us, poor earthen vessels, the great treasure of the gospel. May he give us grace to be faithful to that trust, as stewards in his great house, for Christ's sake.
August 20, 2006
Many years ago, Bro. N. B. Magruder raised this alarming question: "What is going on in churches today that needs God for an explanation?" In such a day as this, our hearts ought to cry, with Elisha, "Where is the God of Elijah?"
August 13, 2006
False prophets are concerned about the goods of men, not about doing good for men. They seek to be served, not to serve.
August 6, 2006
False prophets handle the Word of God with cunning, craftiness and deceit, rather than with honesty, reverence and fear.
July 30, 2006
God's view of things is reality. Ours is only a dim perception. If the Lord God views us in Christ and one with Christ, altogether as Christ is, that is reality; and he tells us to reckon it so, just as he does (Rom. 6:11).
July 16, 2006
There is no difference between what comes to pass in time and what was purposed by our God in eternity.
July 9, 2006
In Romans 8:28 the Apostle Paul tells us what God is doing. In verse 29 he tells us what God is going to do. In verse 30 he tells us it is already done.
June 18, 2006
Judas did not show his true, self-serving, covetous character by the words he preached, but by his cunning, deceit and the betrayer's kiss. So it is with many who preach in Jesus' name, though they care for nothing but what they can gain by that name, while betraying it.
June 11, 2006
Any man who needs to validate what he believes by the writings of other men, by creeds, confessions of faith, or history, doesn't really believe anything.
May 28, 2006
My righteousness before God is not based upon the righteousness of Christ. - My righteousness is the righteousness of Christ.
May 14, 2006
"He that doeth truth cometh to the Light." - How else can we do truth, but by coming to Christ the Light, who is the Truth?
May 7, 2006
Christ crucified is the basis of our hope before God; and "Christ in you the hope of glory" is the sweet, joyful experience of hope.
April 2, 2006
Those who seek to justify themselves before God continually seek to justify themselves before men. Those who are justified before God never need to justify themselves before men.
March 26, 2006
Take away the absolute certainty of God's providence mirroring and fulfilling his purpose, and faith in God is an absolute impossibility. The Word of God and its countless promises could not be trusted. It would become as useless as wastepaper!
March 12, 2006
Here is a cause for great joy. - Our God finds the reason for his mercy to us in himself, and in himself alone!
March 5, 2006
Gospel preaching is not delivering facts, debating issues, and settling points of doctrine. Gospel preaching is presenting the glorious Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and delivering his message.
February 19, 2006
Wicked men are responsible for all the havoc they attempt to wreak upon the kingdom of God , and shall be judged accordingly; but let us never imagine that they have the power to accomplish their evil designs. It is written, "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil- Jerusalem shall dwell safely" (Pro. 1:33 ; Jer. 23:6).
February 12, 2006
The Bible is the word of the living God. Each letter was penned by an Almighty finger. Each word came from the everlasting lips. Each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit. The very words of the Book are God's words, the words of the eternal, the invisible, the almighty God. When I pick it up, I can almost hear it saying, "I am the Book of God; man, Open my pages, read me, and hear God speak!"
December 25, 2005
The surest thing that can be said about good works is this. - Those who think they have them do not; and those who perform them are fully convinced that they haven't (Matt. 25:31-46)
December 4, 2005
All the religions of this world focus on preparing people to live in this world. The gospel of Christ focuses on preparing people to live in the world to come.
November 27, 2005
The God of Glory does not live, and move, and have his being in us. We live, and move, and have our being in him.
November 13, 2005
The single most important aspect of every believer's life is public worship. The only place on this earth where the Son of God promises to meet with, speak to, and instruct his people is in the place his people are gathered in his name.
November 6, 2005
Those whom Jude describes as men who turn "the grace of our God into lasciviousness" are men who teach that preaching the gospel of Christ, salvation by grace alone without any mixture of legal works, leads to lascivious behavior.
October 30, 2005
God always looking upon his people in Christ sees them as saints, speaks of them as saints, and deals with them as saints. May he teach me to do the same!
October 23, 2005
The best day of every believer's life in this world is his last
October 16, 2005
There are just two kinds of preachers: - Givers and Takers - Those who are used and those who use - Those who serve and those who seek to be served.
October 9, 2005
How thankful we ought to be that our God, remembering that we are dust, does not deal with us according to our iniquities, but as we are in Christ! May he give us grace and teach us to remember that our brothers and sisters, like us, are but dust and to deal with them not according to their iniquities, but as they are in Christ
October 2, 2005
Faith never comes by understanding. Understanding comes by faith. When we believe that which God has revealed in his Word, we begin to understand what he has revealed. Until we believe, we understand nothing.
September 11, 2005
An egotist is a person who thinks himself so important that his mind shrinks, while his head swells and his heart hardens. He craves recognition and honor.
September 4, 2005
Christ is made of God unto us both righteousness and sanctification. God declares his elect righteous by imputing the righteous obedience of Christ to us in justification. He makes us righteous by imparting Christ's righteous nature to us in sanctification. Christ is that righteousness, that holiness we must have, without which no man shall see the Lord .
August 28, 2005
Not once in all the Word of God is the word "Trinity" used. Yet, the Scriptures everywhere teach the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Not once in the Inspired Volume is the word "imputed" (or any that might be translated "imputed") used in reference to Christ being made sin for us. Yet, the Book of God everywhere teaches that our sins were imputed to him because he was made sin for us. Even so, not once are the words "imparted righteousness" used in the Book of Divine Revelation to speak of us being made righteous by our God. Yet, the whole testimony of Scripture asserts that the righteousness of Christ is imparted to all in the new birth to whom righteousness has been imputed in justification.
August 14, 2005
Our sin was not pasted on our Savior; and his righteousness is not pasted on the believer. Christ was "made sin for us," and we are "made the righteousness of God in him."
August 7, 2005
The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed. The righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.
June 19, 2005
As Priscilla and Aquila were Paul's "helpers in Christ," gracious God, make me a helper, rather than a hinderer to your people.
June 12, 2005
No man can preach Christ without preaching his doctrine; but many preach his doctrine who never preach Christ.
June 5, 2005
Righteousness imputed is our justification. Righteousness imparted is our sanctification. Righteousness rewarded shall be our glorification.
May 29, 2005
It is a sad and painful fact that brethren here are sometimes incapable of living and working together peaceably, a fact that reveals much about our fallen nature and depraved hearts, horribly dishonoring to our God, but a fact nonetheless. Blessed God, our Savior, hasten the day when every breach in Zion shall be healed.
May 15, 2005
The great danger of Diotrephes is not so much his stated doctrine, but his hidden motive, his insatiable desire for preeminence.
April 3, 2005
Our hope of eternal salvation and acceptance with God is altogether outside our experience. It is totally in the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The great danger of Diotrephes is not so much his stated doctrine, but his hidden motive, his insatiable desire for preeminence.
March 27, 2005
God's forgiveness of our sins in and by Christ is not partial, but complete. He has forgiven all our sins: past, present, and future. So thorough and complete is our heavenly Father's forgiveness that he will never impute sin to us, to any degree or for any reason. So absolute is the forgiveness of our sins that our God will never treat us any the less graciously for having sinned!
March 20, 2005
I have searched the Book of God from cover to cover repeatedly, marking every place where God says something good about humanity with a bold green marker. - There are no green marks in my Bible.
March 13, 2005
"Accepted in the Beloved!" - What a sweet, soul-cheering declaration of grace. Though I am in and of myself nothing but sin, I am accepted in Christ. - Accepted in Christ before the world was made! - Accepted in Christ, though fallen in Adam! - Accepted in Christ before ever I heard his voice! - Accepted in Christ when he called me by his grace! - Accepted in Christ though often in darkness because of my own sin and unbelief! - Accepted in Christ immutably and forever!
March 6, 2005
I never respond to men who attack the gospel I preach or vilify me for preaching it. The best way to refute error is to proclaim truth. And the best thing to do with a mad dog in a man's body is ignore and walk away from him.
February 27, 2005
Ahithophel may slander my name, Shemei may curse me, many may lay snares before me and say, "There is no help for him in God," and in my foolish weakness and unbelief I may even fear that all things are against me, but all are servants to my soul's everlasting good. - "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
February 20, 2005
It is not my business to determine, or even imagine that I can know, the spiritual health of another. It is my business to esteem all who are in Christ as Christ himself, and to love and serve them as I would Christ himself.
February 13, 2005
With the eternal God there is no such thing as past or future, but only a continuous, unbroken present. With him history and prophecy are the same thing.
February 6, 2005
To deny the eternal union of God's elect with Christ and the eternality of our complete acceptance and blessedness in him, as stated in Holy Scripture (Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:3-6), is to deny the immutability of our God.
January 23, 2005
The best answer for slander is silence.
January 16, 2005
Slanderers are the billows Satan uses to stir up fires of contention.
January 2, 2005
The past we can never recall. Tomorrow may never come. This is the day the Lord has made for us. Let us rejoice and serve him in it.
December 26, 2004
The Son of God came out from the Father into the world that he might bring us out of the world unto the Father. He came down to us that he might bring us up to him.
December 19, 2004
The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God!
December 12, 2004
Rejoice, my soul and wonder! - The immortal God became a mortal Man, that fallen, mortal men might live in eternal immortality!
December 5, 2004
The providence of God will never take you where the grace of God will not sustain, keep and bless you.
November 28, 2004
If there is anything in the Book of God with which we should desire to be acquainted it is this upon which our salvation and everlasting consolation depend. - "He hath made him sin for us!" If we would know Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings, if we would look on him whom we have pierced and mourn, if we would die unto sin and bring forth fruit unto God, we must have the gift of God the Holy Spirit to reveal this great mystery to us, that God the Father has laid on Christ the iniquity of us all, that "He hath made him sin for us!"
November 14, 2004
This is the greatest transaction that ever took place upon the earth, the most marvelous sight that men ever saw, and the most stupendous wonder that heaven ever executed. Jesus Christ was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ, the spotless Son of God, was made sin!
November 7, 2004
The Scriptures declare that God's elect were "accepted in the Beloved" and "blessed with all spiritual blessings" in him "before the foundation of the world." Question: Were we accepted and blessed in and with Christ from eternity as righteous or as unrighteous? The obvious answer is the only answer: - as righteous. Blessed, sweet revelation of grace. - Our Lord Jesus Christ is "The Lord Our Righteousness" eternally!
October 24, 2004
The torture of a screaming conscience is the hell of a guilty sinner, both on earth and in eternity. The only way to silence the screams and obtain deliverance is to trust Christ.
October 10, 2004
I would rather play with lightening than speak a slanderous word against one of God's elect.
October 3, 2004
Christ satisfied the justice of God for his elect. And he shall be satisfied by the justice of God with the salvation of his elect. - "He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!"
September 19, 2004
Beware of those preachers who claim to have "new light," especially when their "new light" paints men and churches of proven faithfulness in dark colors. Usually, their "new light" is just old darkness. You will almost always find such men are do-nothings. The only way they can get the attention they crave is by discovering something new and slandering others. In spiritual matters, you can be sure of this fact. - Any new doctrine is false doctrine.
All hell must hoot with laughter while men who profess to be gospel preachers bloviate about theological trivia to immortal souls living but a breath from eternity!
September 12, 2004
Old friends are the best of friends. Old friends have known me in all my frames and are yet friends. I hold them with both hands.
September 5, 2004
There is no grace but free and sovereign grace, no election but eternal and unconditional election, no redemption but particular and effectual redemption, no salvation but by the irresistible grace and omnipotent power of God the Holy Spirit, and no security but by the absolute preservation of God's immutable goodness. And any pretended gospel that does not proclaim these things is, as Paul says, "another gospel" that is damning to the souls of men.
August 22, 2004
A friend is one to whom you never need to explain yourself, one who always puts the best construction possible upon your actions and words, one who is always ready to help. A friend is someone who steps in when everyone else walks out. - I pray for grace to be such a friend.
August 15, 2004
When our doctrine is so "orthodox" that we are fearful of using the very language of Holy Scripture in preaching the gospel, our "orthodoxy" has become utter heresy.
August 8, 2004
That holiness we are urged to pursue, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14), is the righteousness of God in Christ (Phil. 3:7-11).
August 1, 2004
Great people discuss great thoughts. Average people discuss things and events. Little people discuss other people.
July 25, 2004
The publican went down to his house justified because he went down to his house believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would you go home today justified before God, you must do the same. - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
July 18, 2004
No sermon should ever be preached that does not address eternity bound sinners as eternity bound sinners, urgently persuading them to flee to Christ.
July 11, 2004
"It is god that justifieth!" - Does God the Holy Spirit mean for us to understand that there is a present tense in justification? That certainly appears to be the case. That justification which was accomplished for us in the decree of God eternally and at Calvary in time, which we received by faith in Christ, is that which continually speaks peace to believing sinners. The Word of God is not preached, if the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ is not preached (1 Pet. 1:25).
July 4, 2004
As we celebrate Independence Day as a nation, let us remember those before the throne of grace who are this very day hazarding their lives for the independence of others and the rulers of our nation and the other nations of the world - "For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."
June 27, 2004
It is your great and sweet privilege, child of God, to place all your need over against his riches in grace and glory, and lose sight of the former in the light of the latter.
DEATH ? How foolish it is for a believer to dread it! For the believer, there is no such thing as death. We shall never die, but only put off this temporary tabernacle of clay. What is death? It will be taking off a shoe that hurts my foot. It will be putting aside a tool, whose work is done, for which I have no more use. As soon as I close my eyes in death, all my most earnest, constant prayers and longings of heart will be satisfied. Let us live every day as though it were our last. For the believer there is nothing morbid about death or the anticipation of it. For us, preparing to die is preparing for life's greatest adventure. -- "Mortality swallowed up of life!"
June 20, 2004
All that I have, I bring to God. It came from him and belongs to him. And he can take it by force if he chooses.
June 13, 2004
The believer is a mystery to others and a mystery to himself, too. He is sanctified, yet he feels himself to be the chief of sinners. He loves God's law, yet he wrestles with inward rebellion. He loves Christ, yet he weeps over his lack of love for his Redeemer. He believes God, yet his heart aches because of his horrid unbelief. He has great sorrow and heaviness of heart because of his sin, yet he rejoices in the Lord always. His spirit longs to be with Christ, yet his flesh clings to the earth. He knows that he is secure in Christ, yet he examines his faith continually.
June 6, 2004
When Satan harasses you with the blackness and vileness of your sins, resist his fiery darts by pointing him to the redness and efficacy of Christ's precious blood, and the old serpent will slither away in defeat.
May 23, 2004
The believer is a mystery to others and to himself. He is sanctified, yet he feels himself to be the chief of sinners. He loves God's law, yet he wrestles with an inward desire to have his own way. He has great sorrow and heaviness of heart, yet he rejoices in the Lord always. His spirit longs to be with Christ, yet his flesh clings to the earth. He knows that he is secure in Christ, yet he continually examines himself, whether he be in the faith.
April 18, 2004
All who are kept by God are well kept all the time. My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do. But what I do does not in any way, or to any degree determine my relationship with God.
March 7, 2004
We rejoice in the blood and righteousness of Christ and adore his doctrine, but it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself that we trust, love and worship. ? "Unto you that believe, HE is precious."
February 29, 2004
All forms of man-made religion urge its adherents to show their religious devotion (holiness) to others by doing certain things before them. The Lord Jesus (Matt. 6) tells believers never to attempt to show their devotion to him by doing things before men. The only thing he tells us to show is love to others.
February 22, 2004
The physical aspects of our Savior's agony at Calvary are not recorded in Holy Scripture to evoke sympathy for the Lord Jesus Christ, but to display man's hatred of God.
February 15, 2004
Justification is a work of God wrought for us, entirely outside our experience, without our works or experience. We receive the benefits of that accomplished work by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:10-11); but the work itself was accomplished for us by Christ's sacrifice (Heb. 9:13).
February 8, 2004
In 1771 John Berridge wrote to his friend and fellow-laborer in the gospel, Rowland Hill, "Avoid all controversy in preaching, talking, or writing, and wage no war but with the devil. Preach nothing down but the devil and nothing up but Jesus Christ." Happy is the preacher who follows that wise counsel and blessed are those who hear him.
February 1, 2004
Trust the Lord your God, wait upon him, and hope in his Word. That is the best counsel any man can give to another in any circumstance. O for grace to heed that wise counsel!
January 25, 2004
"Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in you heart." (Zech. 7:10)
January 18, 2004
It is not the work of a faithful pastor to fill the pews, but to fill the pulpit.
January 11, 2004
When Satan reminds me of the blackness of my sins, Christ reminds me of the efficacy of his precious blood.
January 4, 2004
Many preach about the gospel, defending, explaining, and guarding it. Many preach about preaching the gospel. It is my determination to preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ every time I preach to eternity bound sinners.
November 30, 2003
It is the preaching of the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, not protecting, defining, defending, and explaining it, but preaching it. The gospel preached is its own best defense and explanation. So let us preach the gospel of Christ incessantly.
November 23, 2003
Faith in Christ does not induce God to bestow his saving grace upon us. Rather, faith in Christ is the evidence that God has bestowed his saving grace upon us.
October 26, 2003
When you are tempted to think things are just too great, that you just can't go on..."Consider Him." Keep looking away to Christ. Because of his great love for you, he refused to give up his race. He refused to quit on you. "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." May God give us grace not to quit on him. The snail, by patient perseverance, finally reached the ark, and we shall too, as we look away to Christ.
October 19, 2003
The only way to live in this world sensibly is "set your affection on things above," to live in the constant, immediate prospect of eternity.
October 12, 2003
Men make plans, plans that may or may not be executed. The Lord our God has a purpose, a purpose of grace, a purpose that shall be executed.
September 28, 2003
The gospel's best defense is itself. Let us simply and boldly proclaim the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. The naked, unadorned gospel of Christ is "the power of God unto salvation." Everything else is a hindrance.
September 21, 2003
Worship is more than an act of devotion and more than a religious ceremony. Worship is the submission and consecration of ourselves and of all things to the will and glory of our God.
September 14, 2003
Self-centered people live in terribly unhappy and bitter company. Believers should never wallow in self-pity. The moment we begin to feel sorry for ourselves, we are paralyzed. We have every reason to "rejoice in the Lord always," counting our blessings, not our woes. But, as John Flavel once wrote, "Our tears so blind our eyes that we cannot see our mercies."
August 24, 2003
Faith in Christ is not the consent of my mind to a proposition, but the commitment of my life to a Person.
August 17, 2003
I sometimes hear sermons and read articles that appear to have been specifically inspired by the great fear that some of the non-elect might get saved. The gospel is so thoroughly fenced and guarded that the preacher or writer has forgotten to put in even a small gate or narrow door. What a pity! What a waste! The gospel of Christ does not need defending, but proclaiming. Let us ever throw the Door open and urge sinners to enter in by Christ the Door, knowing that all who enter in were brought in by God's free, sovereign, irresistible grace.
August 10, 2003
No man is ever more like Christ in behavior than in the exercise of forgiveness.
August 3, 2003
The Word of God never tells me how others ought to treat me, only how I ought to treat others.
April 6, 2003
The best answer that can be given to slander is always the most difficult to give-silence.
July 27, 2003
What our God has done for us and with us in the past is but a foretaste of what he shall do for us and with us in the future.
June 29, 2003
Self-denial is not merely denying yourself of things, but the denial of self. It is indispensable. It is the first lesson in the school of grace. Without it, there is no possibility of living in the blessed joy of peace and contentment before God
June 8, 2003
If you would find freedom from the bondage and misery of self-pity devote yourself to the service of others.
May 25, 2003
Depression is only a pretty word for unbelief. It is not as much a mental disorder as it is a spiritual disorder. For me to be depressed because of my circumstances is for me to look upon my God as either being without care or without the ability to care for me. Either is a horribly shameful degradation of his character.
May 18, 2003
The valley is the place where the ground is richest, to which all the rain and dew of heaven ultimately descends, and trees grow tallest. May our God be pleased to make his SON to shine in your valley.
May 11, 2003
Always presume that evil suspicions about a brother or sister in Christ are completely false and that evil reports are as well. Of that love which our Savior exercises toward us and we are to exercise toward one another, it is written, "Love thinketh no evil."
May 4, 2003
Our worst days are never so bad and plunge us so low that we are beyond the reach of God's grace. Our best days are never so good and lift us so high that we are beyond the need of God's grace.
March , 30 2003
Self-centered people live in a very small world inhabited by only one person. They are motivated in their actions by the lowest of all base motives (self). And they are corrupted by the company they keep. John Newton once wrote, "I have read of many wicked popes, but the worst pope I ever met with is Pope Self."
March 9, 2003
Envy and malice are the quick sighted eyes, slander the sharp tongue, and gossip the communication of self-centered, wicked people.
February 23, 2003
Saul's son, Jonathan, was a remarkable man. Grace had made him a man of much greater character than his father. He was a man of remarkable faith and courage (I Sam. 14:6-14). He was a gentle and gracious man, a man of self-sacrificing generosity and loyalty. And he was a man of magnanimous love (I Sam. 18:1-3). Knowing that David was God's chosen, anointed king, Jonathan wanted him to be king, though the only way David could wear the crown would be for him to die. How I pray for grace to love God's elect as Jonathan loved David, "as his own soul!"
February 9, 2003
Let us ever live in the immediate reality of eternity. Eternity is, for the believer, a day with no sunset and, for the unbeliever, a night with no sunrise. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
January 26, 2003
Mercy and love, kindness and encouragement, forgiveness and patience are things we all constantly want and need from others. Shall we not constantly bestow them upon others?
Our thoughts are never lower and self-righteousness never greater than when we engage in the hellish practice of trying to determine who is saved and who is lost. Our Lord told us plainly that we can never distinguish tares from wheat. That is his business. Our business is to preach the gospel. Let us be taken up with and have our every thought consumed with the glories of Christ, let us expend all our energy in the great work of preaching our all-glorious Christ to eternity bound sinners. Nothing else is of any real value to the needs of men's souls.
January 19, 2003
Disappointments?-That which others look upon as disappointments believers ought to look upon as indications of divine direction, as one of our heavenly Father's means of graciously ordering our steps in his wise, unerring, adorable and good providence.
January 12, 2003
Our only rule of faith and practice is the Word of God. We have no creed to defend, no denomination to maintain, and no confession to bind our minds. "What do the Scriptures teach?" That is and must be our only concern. If the plain teachings of Holy Scripture appear to destroy or contradict our understanding of any doctrine, let us relinquish the doctrine or acknowledge the fact that our minds are both depraved and microscopic and bow to the revelation of God.
January 5, 2003
If we are not faithful in small things, we would never be faithful if trusted with larger things. If we are not faithful in those things which are unseen and unobserved by men, our show of faithfulness in those things that men see and observe, is nothing more than a display of hypocrisy.
December 15, 2002
The strangest thing about the human body is that when you pat a person on the back, the head swells up.
December 8, 2002
There are only two kinds of preachers-Those who use and those who are used-Those who take and those who give-Those who promote their own cause and those who promote the cause of Christ.
November 24, 2002
Thanksgiving to God, like all other aspects of faith and worship is a work of the heart. As John Trapp put it-"Hearty thanks must be given to God: such as cometh not from the roof of the mouth but the root of the heart."
November 17, 2002
Two of the most encouraging, most delightful, most inspiring and most neglected words in the English language are-"Thank you." To use them without sincerity is hypocrisy. To use them sincerely is but common courtesy. To use them sparingly is a reflection of horrible, self-centeredness, and pride.
November 3, 2002
God once forsook his darling Son, when he was made to be sin for us. But, since Christ has put away our sins, God will never forsake any sinner for whom Christ died, because he can never have any reason to do so!
October 27, 2002
All believers acknowledge their sin in all things; but none are content with it. We rejoice to know that we are freed from sin and without sin before God, but we long to be freed from sin and altogether without sin in our persons!
October 20, 2002
Friends are too rare to lose. Fellowship is too sweet to break. We should never make any conditions for our friendship and fellowship with any man or woman which God has not made for their acceptance with him.
October 13, 2002
No sinner will ever come to Christ for salvation until he must, until he finds himself in such desperate need and so utterly helpless that he has no other option and no other hope. And, blessed be our all-glorious Savior, he still heals them that have need of healing (Luke 9:11).
October 6, 2002
Believers love one another. As Shem and Japheth covered their father's sin, believers seek to cover the faults, failures, weaknesses, and sins of their brethren. As Ham exposed his father's sin, so the sons of Ham (all the cursed) delight in uncovering, exposing, and discussing the faults, failures, weaknesses, and sins of others.-"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God."
"The Best Gift"
The Holy Spirit tells us to "covet earnestly the best gift" (1 Cor. 12:31). Then, he proceeds to describe it. The best gift, the gift we ought to covet is not a gift that calls attention to me, but the one gift that turns my attention away from me to others. The best gift is the gift that does the most good and best serves the interest of men's souls. The best gift is the gift that most fully sets forth the person and work of Christ, most promotes the glory of God, and most reflects the Spirit of grace. The best gift God ever put in the heart of a man, the best gift any man ever exercised in this world, (the best, most laborious, disinterested, self-sacrificing, patient, gentle, kind, forgiving, and most beneficial to others) is love. Oh, how I covet that gift!
September 29, 2002
I sometimes hear sermons and read articles that appear to have been specifically inspired by the great fear that some of the non-elect might get saved. The gospel is so thoroughly fenced and guarded that the preacher or writer has forgotten to put in even a small gate or narrow door. What a pity! What a waste! The gospel of Christ does not need defending, but proclaiming. Let us ever throw the Door open and urge sinners to enter in by Christ the Door, knowing that all who enter in were brought in by God's free, sovereign, irresistible grace.
September 15, 2002
Yes, the Son of God has come to save poor sinners. He has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He has provided a fountain for the cleansing of our souls, and bathes us in it. He has provided the garments of salvation, and puts them on us. He has obtained eternal redemption for us, and gives it to us.
September 8, 2002
We rejoice to know that God sees no sin in his people in so far as his law and justice is concerned (Num. 23:21) and that he will not impute sin to his elect (Rom. 4:8), because he imputed our sins to his dear Son and punished them to the full satisfaction of his holy justice. The Lord God ever sees us in Christ, perfect, accepted, and righteous (Eph. 1:6). Yet, we must never imagine that such grace means that it does not matter what we do, or how we live. That which David did in the matter of Uriah the Hittite "displeased the Lord" (2 Sam. 11:27). Let us ever seek to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing" in all things (Col. 1:10) doing that which pleases him (1 Cor. 7:32).
August 25, 2002
Holiness is not a moral virtue acquired by discipline and work, but the devotion and consecration of the believer to his Redeemer that flows from faith in him who so loved us that he devoted himself to us and gave himself for us.
August 18, 2002
Living in holiness is neither more nor less than living as one separated unto the Lord, consecrated to Christ, living in the pursuit of him.
August 4, 2002
God's holiness is the infinite excellence of his being which sets him apart from all his creatures. Our holiness is the boundless gift and work of his matchless grace in Christ which sets us apart from all others.
July 28, 2002
Our God instructs us to treat aging believers with respect. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Old saints may not be able to do what they once did; but they may be more useful in the kingdom of God than ever before by the wisdom they have to give. In their old age they are greatly freed from the illusions of youth and fullest in experience. Be wise, "rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man."
July 21, 2002
Worship is the response of our hearts to the greatness and glory of our God. Let us pray that the Lord our God will reveal his greatness and his glory in Christ that we may worship him today.
July 14, 2002
Nothing is more important to your soul's well being than the worship of God in the assembly of his saints. Nothing is more destructive to your soul's well being than the neglect of public worship.
June 2, 2002
Kind words, thoughtful compliments, and deeds of mercy are always appropriate. Happy are those who are the recipients of them. Happier far are those who bestow them!
May 26, 2002
Christ's claims dominion as King over the lives of his people, not over our hearts and souls alone, but over our entire lives-our time-our possessions-our families-our entire lives. And nothing can be more reasonable than that he should (Rom.12:2; 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 19-20).
May 5, 2002
There are two great fools in the world: Those who take nobody's advice and those who take everybody's advice.
May 12, 2002
The preaching of the gospel of the glory of God is the noblest of all callings. Every man born of God ought to be willing to give himself to the work, regardless of cost, if God calls him to it. But that man who is anxious to be a preacher, who wants to preach, and sets out to be a preacher knows nothing of the "burden of the Word of the Lord," and probably has not been called of God to this great work. He who runs without being sent, runs to ruin.
March 3, 2002
The church of God has many critics, but no rivals. This is the family of God, the kingdom of heaven, the temple of the Holy One, the place where Christ's manifests forth his glory, spreads his table, and meets with his people. Blessed beyond description are those people who are privileged to be a part of this family! Truly, as Paul puts it, this is "a habitation of God through the Spirit!"
February 3, 2002
Let us never forget who we are and whose we are. We are the sons and daughters of God. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Everything we say and do reflects, either positively or negatively, upon the name and honor of God our Savior, the gospel of his grace, and his church.
January 20, 2002
Any altar of religious unity upon which the Word of God is sacrificed is a cursed altar at which immortal souls are slaughtered.
January 13, 2002
The local church exists to do corporately what every believer does individually. - To worship the triune God. - To celebrate the praise of our heavenly Father who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. - To show forth the glories of Christ in redemption. - To honor the blessed Spirit of grace by whom we are born again. - This we do by our songs of praise, our supplications before the throne of grace, and by the preaching and hearing of the Word of the Gospel.
January 6, 2002
The Lord Jesus speaks to his people in the midst of great sorrow, tribulation, poverty, and persecution. Knowing the trials we must face in this world, he gives this one word of exhortation - "BE THOU FAITHFUL!" God requires nothing from us but this - "Be thou faithful!" In your daily conversation, in the place of your calling, in your home, with your property, with your gifts and talents, in the house of God, "Be thou faithful!" Faithfulness is a lifelong thing! "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
December 9, 2001
Poor mortals of earth, still so much blinded by sin, so long as we are encumbered with this body of flesh, we shall never be able to fathom the unfathomable, unveil the veiled, or comprehend the incomprehensible. Yet, proud flesh ever tries to put the incomprehensible God into the microscopic box of human reason! Multitudes dispute about things about which they know less than nothing, thinking they are doing God's service, while the glory of God, the comfort and edification of the saints, and needs of eternity bound sinners are altogether neglected. What a roar of laughter there must be in hell!
December 2, 2001
Many attempt to interpret the Word of God upon the basis of logical consistency, assuming that God is logically consistent with them. They interpret the Scriptures philosophically rather than biblically. Thus, they often add to the Word of God, attempting to make it say what it does not, in fact, say. We must not do such a thing. If we reverence the Book of God, where God is silent we must also be silent. -- "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29). Reason must bow to Divine Revelation.
November 18, 2001
Heaven is a world, a state, a condition of blessed, glorious, eternal, satisfying light. The inheritance of God's saints is called the inheritance of light (Col. 1:12). All the light of heaven's glory is Christ, God's Urim (Rev. 21:23; Isa. 60:19-20). Soon, my brother, my sister, we will safely arrive in our glorious, heavenly, eternal home with Christ. Once we have reached Canaan's fair and happy land, we shall perfectly walk in light forever! All the lingering darkness of infidelity, doubt, and fear that vexes us here will be completely dispelled in the twinkling of an eye! Our very souls will be radiant with the beams of light from Christ, which shall forever strike our hearts with wonder, and joy, and praise!
November 11, 2001
We who have experienced God's free, saving grace in Christ, who are the objects of his eternal love, sovereign election, blood redemption, and immaculate mercy ought to be consecrated entirely to him, constantly devoting ourselves to his will, his glory, and his service. Nothing in all the world could be more reasonably expected (Rom. 12:1-2).
October 28, 2001
If ever it should come to pass that one sinner for whom Christ died, for whom he satisfied the justice of God, whose debt he paid, should perish at last in hell, the very justice and truth of God must perish with that sinner.
October 21, 2001
The Son of God did not merely provide for sinners the possibility of redemption. - He actually obtained eternal redemption by the merits of his blood, and obtained it for a specific people, -- his people whom he came to save.
October 14, 2001
We believe, according to the plainest testimony of Holy Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ actually put away the sins of God's elect when he died as our Substitute upon the cross.
October 7, 2001
The sin-atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most crucial issue of Divine Revelation. Satan's assault has been against this grand, foundational gospel doctrine from the beginning, because the fiend of hell knows that compromise here is fatal to the souls of men. Deny particular, effectual redemption, and you have denied the entire gospel.
September 23, 2001
Let us never question the wisdom, goodness and righteousness of our God in providence. Rather, let us seek grace to submit to his will, learn from the events of time to set our hearts upon Christ and eternity, and seek to glorify our God in all things, trusting him implicitly with and in all things.
September 16, 2001
Justice is God's righteousness giving us what we deserve. Mercy is God's kindness withholding from us what we fully deserve. Grace is God's goodness giving us what we do not deserve.
September 9, 2001
The day of judgment is used by preachers and religious leaders to abuse, terrorize, and manipulate people. It is misunderstood by most; but when that great day is understood in the context of God's character and absolute justice, it is a source of great comfort, hope, and joy for all who trust Christ.
September 2, 2001
The confidence we have in God's promises, the peace we find in his faithfulness, the joy afforded us by his goodness, and the assurance we find in his grace and salvation are either founded upon and arise from God's absolute, universal sovereignty or they are the vain delusions of religious emotionalism and no more.
August 12, 2001
The one true and living God is the absolute sovereign of the universe. He has no rival. That means that he always has his way, does what he pleases, performs what he has purposed, and can, therefore, be trusted to accomplish all that he has promised. His will is as irresistible as it is immutable, infallible, wise and good. -- "This is our God. -- He will save us! This is the Lord. -- We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!"
August 5, 2001
That which is the most vital aspect of gospel truth is the point most commonly assailed by Satan and most readily compromised by religious leaders more interested in the approval of men than the glory of God - Particular and Effectual Redemption. Deny this glorious gospel truth, and the whole gospel is denied, the hope of sinners is destroyed, and the blood of Christ is trampled underfoot!
July 22, 2001
The grace of God that brings salvation does not merely give out the lesson, but effectually teaches all to whom it brings salvation to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world" (Tit. 2:11-12).
Why will you Die when life is to be had freely? Why will you perish under the wrath of God, when he "delighteth in mercy"? Why will you rush headlong to hell, when the Door is open in heaven and God himself bids you "Come up hither"? Why will you go on carrying the guilt of sin, when the Lord God is a God who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin? Will you die for thirst, with the Water of Life before you? Will you perish for want of bread, with the Bread of Life on the table? Will you be forever lost? If so, there is but one reason. The Son of God declares it to be this: -- "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life!" Oh, may God be pleased to save you from yourself, for Christ's sake!
June 10, 2001
When the heart is won, all is won. If the heart is not won, nothing is won. Therefore, the Lord God says, "My son, Give me thine heart."
There is no question that those who are born of God, having experienced the power of his grace, are made his willing servants. Yet, everything in the worship and service of God is voluntary. Nothing will ever be accepted of God that is not given and done with a willing heart. I pity those who profess faith in Christ who yet have not a willing heart to worship him, give to his cause, and serve him. My heart aches for them, because their religion, I fear, is a delusion.
May 27, 2001
If I cannot come to God calling him my Father, I will come to him as one who is fatherless, calling him the Father of the fatherless. If I cannot come to him with grace, I will come for grace. If I cannot come with faith, I will come for it. If I cannot come to him with life, I will come to him for life, suing for mercy at his sovereign throne in the name of his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one name he always honors!
April 15, 2001
Sinners are not saved by believing in the righteousness of Christ, but by believing Christ who is our righteousness.
April 1, 2001
We worship one God in the trinity of his sacred Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as he is revealed and embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man Mediator (1 John 5:7; Col. 2:9).
March 25 , 2001
Those who imagine that they know the will of God for their lives are in for a rude awakening. No one knows the will of God for his entire life! We must daily, (constantly!), lift our hearts to our heavenly Father upon the throne of grace and seek his will. He promises that as we do he will direct our paths in his will (Pro. 3:5-6).
March 18, 2001
I am not my own. I belong to the Son of God. He chose me in everlasting love. He made me for himself. He bought me with his own precious blood. He saved me by his almighty grace. He subdued my heart by his mercy and causes me to surrender myself voluntarily to his dominion. I have nothing of my own. I am his. All that he has put into my hands, my time, my talents, my property, even my family, he has put into my hands to use for him, his kingdom, his people, his glory.
March 11, 2001
Our heavenly Father is too wise to err, too strong to fail, and too good to do wrong. -- Oh, that I might learn to trust him!
Grace is unconditional and free. That is to say, God looks for nothing in the sinner, requires nothing of the sinner, and receives nothing from the sinner, which causes him to be gracious. Nothing in us moved God toward us; and nothing in us can move God away from us. Grace is unconditional and free. All the sin that is in us by nature could not prevent God from being gracious to us; and all the evil that is in us now cannot prevent him from continuing to be gracious. Grace is unconditional and free. Therefore, our Savior says, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall NEVER PERISH."
March 4, 2001
When we at last see all things clearly, God's elect will be made to see that those things we most ardently desired on earth would have been fatal to our souls, had we gotten them; and those we most sought to avoid, those which caused us greatest pain, sorrow, and distress were absolutely necessary to our souls' eternal welfare.
February 25, 2001
In the Book of God, Christ is not merely the center of all. -- He is All! The message of Holy Scripture is one. -- It is "Jesus Christ and him crucified." If Christ is not preached, the Scriptures are not faithfully and truthfully expounded.
February 11, 2001
Nothing in all the world is more reasonable than a saved sinner's willing consecration of himself to Christ. In fact, anything less is utterly irrational (Rom. 12:1-2).
January 7, 2001
Prayer is not wrestling with God, trying to get him to grant mercy and grace, which he is reluctant to bestow. Prayer is bowing before the God of all grace and laying hold of his willingness to freely bestow the mercy and grace we need.
January 21, 2001
That which gives this sinner hope before God is neither the depth of my experience, nor measure of my knowledge, nor the strength of my faith, nor the growth in grace I may have received since God saved me, but the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ as my Surety, Substitute, Representative, Mediator, and Advocate with the Father.
February 4, 2001
Eternal life is not what you know about Christ but knowing Christ, the Christ of God revealed in Holy Scripture (John 17:3).
January 16, 2000
One great difference between believers and lost religionists is this: Lost religionists fit the worship of God into their lives. Believers arrange their lives around the worship of God.
January 23, 2000
Worldliness is not easily observed. It is not to be measured by the style of our clothes, the means of innocent relaxation and entertainment, or the place of our residence. Worldliness is the love of the world, the atmosphere of greed, the spirit of ambition, the passion for pleasure and self gratification which consumes the hearts, lives, thoughts, and deeds of lost souls.
January 30, 2000
Believers are a people who, being saved by grace, ruled by love, and motivated by gratitude, seek the will and glory of God in all things.
February 13, 2000
He who has God for his Father, Christ as his Mediator, the Holy Spirit as his Comforter, and Holy Scripture as his Rule has all that he needs.
February 27, 2000
It is better to be exposed, sharply reproved, sternly rebuked, and stand condemned by the faithful ministry of the Word, than to be flattered and applauded by a deceiver.
March 12, 2000
While we rejoice to declare God's mercy, love, and grace to sinners in Christ, the gospel is first and foremost the grand, glorious revelation of God's righteousness in the salvation of sinners through the obedience of Christ as the sinners Substitute.
March 19, 2000
Salvation comes neither by decision, nor indoctrination, but by revelation, by the revelation of Christ in you.
March 26, 2000
It is not scholasticism, but surrender that gives men understanding in the Word of God. It is not acquired learning, but a willingness to bow before the authority of Holy Scripture that opens the mysteries revealed in the Book.
May 7, 2000
To worship a god whose purpose can be defeated, whose will can be thwarted, whose work can be overturned, and whose grace can be frustrated is to worship an idol. Such a god is no GOD at all.
May 14, 2000
The Word of God in its entirety, and nothing but the Word of God, is the creed of Christ's church and kingdom.
May 21, 2000
Believers err in many things, fall in many ways, and sin is mixed with all they do; but in the tenor of their lives all believers are faithful, seeking the will and glory of God in all things and above all things.
May 28, 2000
The very justice of God demands the everlasting salvation of every redeemed sinner. Justice will not allow the sins of God's elect, imputed to Christ at Calvary and punished in him to the full satisfaction of God's holy law, to be imputed again to those for whom Christ died.
June 4, 2000
A god that wants what he does not have, desires what he does not get, purposes what he does not accomplish, plans what he does not complete, wills what does not happen, or tries to perform what he does in fact perform is no God at all, but only a idol carved from on of the trees in the dark forest of man's depraved mind.
June 11, 2000
When a dead corpse can, by the exercise of its own will, raise itself to life, then, and not until then, can a soul dead in sin raise itself to spiritual life by the exercise of its will.
June 18, 2000
When God the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in a sinner, faith is bestowed, all grace is conferred, and everlasting salvation is granted.
July 2, 2000
Believers are a people who know God, the true and living God, as he is revealed in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, their only, all-sufficient Substitute.
July 9, 2000
The Word of God is not faithfully and truthfully preached, unless the glorious Gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, flowing to needy sinners through Christ crucified, is preached. – The singular message of Holy Scripture is "Jesus Christ and him crucified."
July 16, 2000
There is absolutely no difference between the denial of God's sovereignty and the denial of God's being. Arminianism is neither more nor less than religious atheism.
July 23, 2000
It is God's right as God to do with his own what he will, to be gracious to whom he will be gracious, to have compassion on whom he will have compassion, to save whom he will and to harden whom he will.
July 30, 2000
When the Lord Jesus Christ poured out his life's blood at Calvary, he did not make salvation a possibility, but a reality. He obtained eternal redemption for God's elect.
September 10, 2000
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy tasted makes people merciful. Kindness known makes people kind. Forgiveness enjoyed makes people forgiving. Love felt makes people loving. These are not suggestions about what God's people ought to be, but statements of fact about what all true believers are.
September 17, 2000
Any mixture of works with grace, of merit with mercy, of what man does with what Christ has done in the matter of salvation, at any point, to any degree, is damning to the souls of men. – "Salvation is of the Lord!"
September 24, 2000
Since God has ordained that his people walk in good works (Eph. 2:10), we are assured that God will graciously cause them to do so by the sweet constraint of his grace.
October 15, 2000
In the church and kingdom of God all things are exactly opposite to the world. In spiritual matters, those who are weakest are strongest, those who know the least know the most, those who are poorest are richest, and those who are most useless are most useful.
October 22, 2000
All that is done for the glory of God in the service of his kingdom must be done voluntarily, constrained by no law but love, governed by no principle but gratitude, guided by no standard but Holy Scripture, and hoping for nothing but the glory of the triune God and the good of his people.
October 29, 2000
I have no hope of acceptance with the holy Lord God but Christ, no atonement for sin but his precious blood, and no righteousness before God but his righteousness.
November 5, 2000
Good works, whatever they are, are works performed by God's saints because of his grace working in them. -- Those who perform them never imagine that they have done so. -- The only people who imagine they have performed good works are lost religious hypocrites (Matt. 25:31-46).
November 12, 2000
The believer's Sabbath is Christ. We keep no sabbath but the sabbath of faith. Trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer has ceased from his works, finding acceptance with God in Christ alone.
November 19, 2000
Someone once said, "You're only as old as you feel, but seldom as important." That is much the same as what David wrote in Psalm 39:5 – "Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity."
November 26, 2000
Love seeks only one thing: the good of its object. All other matters are of secondary concern and subservient to that one thing.
December 26, 1999
It is not what I know, or how much, that saves me, but who. Salvation is not a doctrine, but a Person! No one can be saved without God's election; but election is not salvation. Christ is God's Salvation.
December 5, 1999
Evidence based assurance is false assurance. True assurance is the "assurance of faith".
November 28, 1999
The only person who will ever try to convince a lost person he is saved is another lost person.
November 21, 1999
Seek Christ. Pursue Christ. Get Christ. Christ is God's Salvation. Christ is the believer's only and all-sufficient Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. Christ is that Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
November 14, 1999
Sinful man does not secure the grace of God to himself by an act of his imaginary free will. - God, by an act of his sovereign will, has secured his grace, in all its fulness, to chosen men from eternity.
November 7, 1999
Knowledge is not salvation. One can know the doctrines of the gospel and not know Christ. Yet, knowledge is essential to saving faith. There is no salvation without the knowledge of the living God as he is revealed in the person and work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3).
October 24, 1999
All false religion is primarily outward, designed to get the attention the applause of men. All true religion is primarily inward, seeking the will and glory of God alone.
October 17, 1999
Right doctrine is no more capable of saving you than right doing. It is Christ who is our Savior, -- not our doctrine or our deeds, but Christ himself.
September 26, 1999
Anyone who lifts up his tool upon God's altar or puts his hand upon God's ark pollutes it and shall be slain under the wrath of God for presuming to add anything to the finished work of Christ.
September 19, 1999
Nothing will ever satisfy the heart and conscience of a sinner except that which satisfies the law and justice of God - the perfect righteousness and sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
September 12, 1999
Everything that is, has been, and shall hereafter be, necessarily must be, for the glory of God and the salvation of his elect. Otherwise it would not be.
September 5, 1999
Salvation is, in its entirety, the work of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Election, redemption, justification, sanctification, and preservation are all works of grace alone, in no way conditioned upon the will, works, or worth of the sinner.
August 29, 1999
Saints are sinners accepted in the Savior.
August 22, 1999
Religion without Christ is the most damning thing in the world. It is, in every ceremony and service, "eating and drinking damnation" to yourself.
August 15, 1999
Believers are sinners saved by the free grace of God in Christ, saved by mercy, saved because of undeserved mercy, forgiven of all sin by an act of divine goodness. All who have truly experienced such grace are themselves gracious, merciful, forgiving, loving, and good to others.
August 8, 1999
What a person is in his closet, alone before the all-seeing God, that he is and no more.
August 1, 1999
Faithful gospel preachers are described in the Book of God as -- "Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." They are men who count not their lives dear unto themselves. Called of God to be the servants of Jesus Christ, they are separated by God and separate themselves unto the gospel.
July 25 1999
It matters not at what point men attempt to mix works with grace, the two cannot be mixed. Any mixture of grace and works in the affair of salvation (Election, Redemption, Justification, Preservation, Sanctification, or Glorification) is a total denial of grace. Salvation is the work of the triune God alone.
July 18 1999
Christ crucified is not the central message of Scripture, or the dominant message of Scripture, or the most important message of Scripture. Christ crucified is the singular message of Holy Scripture. The doctrine of the Bible is Christ!
July 11, 1999
Without Christ's cleansing blood and covering righteous-ness, religion is but an empty shell. All the doctrines, ceremonies, professions and works of Christless religion are but the empty husks that swine eat. They can never satisfy!
July 4, 1999
On this day, when our nation celebrates its independence and freedom, let us pray that our God may visit our land, -- once so blessed -- now so cursed, with his almighty grace!
June 27, 1999
God commands his servants to speak to the hearts of his people (Isa. 40:1); but no man can speak to the heart of another man, unless God the Holy Spirit speaks through that man. So pray for the man who preaches the gospel to you. Oh, may God speak through his servant!
June 20, 1999
The reason most people feel "unfulfilled" and unhappy is that they spend their lives trying to make themselves happy. Happiness is found in seeking the happiness of others.
June 13, 1999
The legalist lowers the standard of God's law to the level of his obedience (disobedience). The believer refuses to compromise God's holy law, knowing that it can only be fulfilled and established by faith in Christ
June 6, 1999
My relationship with God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with the eternal God. That is a matter of pure, free grace.
May 30, 1999
Free will, works religion is worse than man-centered religion. It is religion that deifies man, putting him in the place of God, and worships him.
May 23, 1999
Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.
May 16, 1999
Godliness is not manifest in the garments with which we adorn our bodies, but in the grace that adorns our souls.
May 9, 1999
Freedom from the law does not mean, nor does it promote licentiousness. Our freedom in Christ is "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." It is liberty to worship and serve the Lord our God without fear.
May 2, 1999
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy enjoyed makes them merciful. Forgiveness received makes them forgiving. And faith bestowed makes them faithful.
April 25, 1999
Everything God requires of and gives to needy sinners is in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
APRIL 18, 1999
No one can be saved without God's election; but election is not salvation. Christ is God's Salvation.
April 11, 1999
The Word of God is not preached, if the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ is not preached (1 Pet. 1:25).
April 4, 1999
As Christ is the believer's all before God, so Christ is God's all to the believer.
September 21, 1986
I can see only one real difference between Peter and Judas: the blood of Christ!
Everything God requires of and gives to needy sinners is in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy enjoyed makes them merciful. Forgiveness received makes them forgiving. And faith bestowed makes them faithful.
Freedom from the law does not mean, nor does it promote licentiousness. Our freedom in Christ is "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." It is liberty to worship and serve the Lord our God without fear.
Free will, works religion is worse than man-centered religion. It is religion that deifies man, putting him in the place of God, and worships him.
My relationship with God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with the eternal God. That is a matter of pure, free grace.
The legalist lowers the standard of God's law to the level of his obedience (disobedience). The believer refuses to compromise God's holy law, knowing that it can only be fulfilled and established by faith in Christ
The reason most people feel "unfulfilled" and unhappy is that they spend their lives trying to make themselves happy. Happiness is found in seeking the happiness of others.
God commands his servants to speak to the hearts of his people (Isa. 40:1); but no man can speak to the heart of another man, unless God the Holy Spirit speaks through that man. So pray for the man who preaches the gospel to you. Oh, may God speak through his servant!
Without Christ's cleansing blood and covering righteous-ness, religion is but an empty shell. All the doctrines, ceremonies, professions and works of Christless religion are but the empty husks that swine eat. They can never satisfy!
Godliness is not manifest in the garments with which we adorn our bodies, but in the grace that adorns our souls.
Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.
Christ is the gospel, not Calvinism. It is not believing the doctrines of grace that obtains God's salvation, but trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christ is the believer's all before God, so Christ is God's all to the believer.
Electing love is in Christ. Adoption is in Christ. Accomplished redemption is in Christ. Forgiveness is in Christ. Acceptance with God is in Christ.
Righteousness is in Christ. Justification is in Christ. Sanctification is in Christ. Preservation is in Christ. Salvation is in Christ.
If you are without Christ, you are without life, without hope, without God.
Any sermon which leaves sinners looking at themselves, their works, their feelings, their achievements, their failures, their sins, or even their faith, rather than looking to Christ, ought never to have been preached. The object of preaching is to turn the eyes of sinners to the sinners' Substitute.
April 19, 2020
In the Book of God we are told repeatedly that God’s judgments are in all the earth. Without question, the present Coronovirus Pandemic is an act of Divine judgment upon the nations of the world. But divine judgment never brings repentance. Repentance is the gift of God’s grace, the work of his Spirit.
April 12, 2020
Either the Lord Jesus Christ obtained eternal salvation for all for whom he died upon the cursed tree or he obtained salvation for no one.
April 5, 2020
Satan has never succeeded at thwarting God’s purpose, harming God’s church, impeding the spread of the gospel or the growth of God’s kingdom, or injuring one of God’s elect. — Satan is God’s devil, not his rival! He is God’s servant, not his error!
March 29, 2020
If the God of Glory declares that his elect are by the new birth made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), all who are born of God are made “partakers of the divine nature.”
March 22, 2020
If the Lord God declares that the holy Christ was made a curse (Galatians 3:13), the Holy One was made a curse for us.
March 15, 2020
God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” If God declares that he who knew no sin was made sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), Christ was made sin.
March 8, 2020
I believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God, the incarnate God, that he fully accomplished everything the Old Testament Scriptures said the Christ would do, and that he has by the infinite power and virtue of his obedience unto death saved his people from their sins.
March 1, 2020
How sweet it is to awake every day knowing that God my Savior is on his throne, that he has purposed all that the day shall bring forth, and that he has purposed it for me, for my everlasting good.
February 23, 2020
Having experienced the first resurrection, I am assured that I shall not be injured by the second death.
February 16, 2020
A few more nights, then everlasting day! A little more pain, then endless pleasure! Just a few more sleepless nights, then eternal rest! Just a little more trouble, then everlasting ease! Just a little more dying, then eternal life!
February 9, 2020
The Lord God our Savior asserts that his rightful claim to our hearts’ affection and utter devotion to him is redemption. That fact alone asserts with clarity that Limited Atonement is gospel doctrine (1 Corinthians 6:19).
February 2, 2020
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the woman’s promised Seed, the incarnate God, and that by his obedience unto death he actually accomplished all that the Old Testament Scriptures prophesied he would accomplish. — He saved his people from their sins!
January 26, 2020
Fallen man is totally depraved, utterly corrupt, spiritually dead, and without desire or ability to even acknowledge, let alone change, what he is.
January 19, 2020
He who alone is God is the absolute sovereign of the universe, determining all things, ruling all things, and disposing of all things as he will.
January 12, 2020
God’s grace is infinite, his works of grace unalterable, his gifts of grace indestructible, and all were done and given to us from eternity!
January 5, 2020
Nothing is sweeter or more comforting than the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, is the Lord God omnipotent who rules the universe.
December 22, 2019
“Jesus wept” at Lazarus’ tomb, not because he was weak, unbelieving, or discontent with divine providence, but because he was and is a real man touched with the feeling of our infirmities, moved by that which moves us. He wept with his weeping friends because he felt and shared their grief and sorrow.
December 15, 2019
God’s saints are not stones. We feel things, just as others do. Faith in Christ does not make us unfeeling stoics. Never proudly presume that weeping eyes indicate an unbelieving heart.
December 8, 2019
Grace is not a helpless passion in God. Grace is an attribute of God’s Being which, like himself, is almighty and effectually, irresistibly, accomplishing the salvation of chosen sinners. — “By grace ye are saved!”
December 1, 2019
The natural man may express thanksgiving for what he has in his hand; but the believer is thankful for what he has in his heart and what he has in Christ, even if he has nothing in his hand.
November 24, 2019
To all who vainly imagine that the grace of God is a license to sin God the Holy Ghost says, “Ye have not so learned Christ.”
November 17, 2019
Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior by your behavior, living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
November 10, 2019
The requirements of the law are the promises of the gospel. And all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus yea and Amen.
November 3, 2019
He who satisfied the justice of God shall be satisfied by the justice of God. — “He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied.”
October 27, 2019
Mine is the highest honor, the most humbling fact, the greatest privilege, the heaviest weight of responsibility, and the most immense burden imaginable. — The God of heaven made me a preacher of the gospel.
October 20, 2019
Christ in you, that new man created in righteousness and true holiness in the new birth, is that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. He who is our Wisdom, Righteousness, and Redemption is our Sanctification (Holiness) too.
October 13, 2019
Faithful pastors are men who “labour in the Word,” seeking by diligent study and prayer to rightly understand the Book of God. And they labor in “doctrine,” teaching and preaching the gospel. They are not loiterers, but laborers.
October 6, 2019
God the Holy Spirit tells us that there is always one specific thing that motivates false prophets — “advantage.” “Having men’s persons in admiration,” they willingly compromise and even utterly deny the truth of God seeking their own “advantage.”
September 29, 2019
I trust Christ because God took everything else away from me. He emptied me, stripped me, beat me down, bowed me, broke me, and slew me. — How wondrously gracious he is!
September 22, 2019
Regeneration, the new birth, is being made a partaker of the divine nature. Only God the Holy Ghost can do that.
September 15, 2019
Salvation, eternal life is nothing less than the life of God in you! It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
September 8, 2019
We believe God only as God the Holy Spirit works faith in us. Initially, moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day, faith in Christ is the gift and operation of God.
September 1, 2019
The name God gives to Babylon, the name God gives to all Arminian, free-will, works religion is “Blasphemy” (Revelation 17:1-3). That is what will-worship is. That is what unbelief is. — Blasphemy!
August 25, 2019
When God has grace to convey to his elect, he always sends a messenger to speak for him. He always sends a preacher to the lost one he will save, the languishing one he will revive, and the fallen one he will restore. — “How shall they hear without a preacher?”
August 18, 2019
No one has ever been saved by walking an aisle, kneeling at an altar, saying “the sinner’s prayer,’ making a decision for Jesus, getting baptized, joining the church, or by anything else they might do. Salvation is God’s work alone. — “By grace ye are saved!”
August 11, 2019
God says of every heaven-born soul, “ye are unleavened,” without corruption, because “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” Believers, though utterly corrupt by nature, are without sin because Christ was made sin for us and took away our sins. And that new man created in us by grace is “created in righteousness and true holiness.”
August 4, 2019
Salvation is not accomplished, in any way determined by, or in any way dependent upon the will of man. Salvation is accomplished, determined by, and dependent upon the will of God alone (Romans 9:16).
July 28, 2019
God does not permit things to happen. He purposed all that comes to pass in time before time began (Romans 11:36; Isaiah 45:7). And all that he ordained from eternity and performs in time is good. Let men think and say what they will, God says concerning all that comes to pass in time, “This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth” (Isaiah 14:26-27).
July 21, 2019
Praying for the dead, as ignorant papists and Mormons do, is an act of idolatry and rebellion under the pretense of worship and reverence. It is asking your god to change his mind, alter his decree, deny his justice, and undo his judgment. Your god might do those things, if he could do anything. — Jehovah will not!
July 14, 2019
Nothing in God’s universe is excessive, unneeded, redundant, insignificant, or superfluous.
June 30, 2019
The scorn of men should mean nothing to those who live under the smile of God.
July 7, 2019
If you feel terribly carnal, unspiritual, and unholy in someone’s presence, you can be sure that that is precisely the way that person intended to make you feel by his or her pretentious show of godliness.
June 23, 2019
Christ’s sheep contribute none of their own wool to their garments of salvation. They wear only the fine linen of Christ’s obedience.
June 16, 2019
When I am comfortable and at ease, I enjoy reading good books, especially books about theology and history. But when I am in trouble, tempted, tried, broken, and heavy laden, I have no interest in them. Then I read no book but the Book of God. Only the light of God’s Word supplies my need in hours of darkness.
June 9, 2019
The old man Adam never did anything but sin and never will. The new man created in righteousness and true holiness never sinned and never can.
June 2, 2019
There is in Christ such infinite merit, efficacy, power, and virtue that he gives it all to every sinner who but touches the hem of his garment by faith and yet retains it all in himself.
May 26, 2019
When sorrow crushes your heart, when trouble overwhelms your soul, when adversity presses you down, bury yourself in Christ, in his person, his work, his Word, and his worship.
May 19, 2019
In Bible language love is not the evidence of faith, but faith is the evidence of love (1 John 5:2; 3:23).
May 12, 2019
In Bible terms faith alone is the evidence of God’s saving grace (Hebrews 11:1). All other imaginary evidences are broken crutches. If you lean on them, they will cause you much pain.
May 5, 2019
Sodomy is distinctly set forth in Holy Scripture as a crime against God and a crime against humanity, signaling the just judgment of God upon an idolatrous, will-worship generation, by which he gives people over to a reprobate mind.
April 28, 2019
Divine sovereignty, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the certain preservation of God’s elect are like salt and pepper and bread and butter on the table. Wherever the gospel feast is spread they are always on table.
April 21, 2019
Atonement is the expiation of sin, the canceling of debt, the pardoning of iniquity, the removal of transgression, the taking away of guilt by the satisfaction of justice. In the Old Testament sacrifices, the atonement was only ceremonial. But the atonement made by our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary was and is effectual. All those for whom the Lamb of God was slain are by his blood freed from all sin, all debt, all iniquity, all transgression, and all guilt before the thrice holy God.
April 14, 2019
Nothing more effectually encourages our faith in our God today as the remembrance of his wondrous works yesterday.
April 7, 2019
The peace God gives is “perfect peace;” but none possess that peace perfectly while living in this body of flesh.
March 31, 2019
When God’s saints are in their very worst condition in this world, having no sweet tokens and evidences of grace, believing Christ they have every reason, their only reason for assurance. Christ is still our Beloved and we are still beloved of him. Read the Song of Solomon 5:2-16, John 13:38-14:1, and John 21:17, and see this for yourself.
March 24, 2019
Gospel preaching is the means by which God saves his elect, nourishes his children, feeds his sheep, comforts his saints, edifies his church, and shows us his will. To neglect the preaching of the gospel is to despise God’s ordinance, destroy your own soul, and lead all those you influence to hell.
March 17, 2019
I have no righteousness but Christ who of God is made unto me righteousness. I have no sanctification but Christ who is made of God unto me sanctification. I have no redemption but Christ who is made of God unto me redemption. I have no holiness but Christ who is made of God unto me holiness.
March 10, 2019
My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with God.
March 3, 2019
The only evidence of grace is faith in Christ. The only basis of assurance is faith in Christ.
February 24, 2019
We all want mountain-top experiences. But nothing grows on the mountain-top. The higher the mountain, the thinner the air and the more likely dizziness is. Far better for us to live here below in the fertile valley, even if here we must deal with darkness, dampness, and dirt.
February 17, 2019
The more vile we are in our own eyes, the more precious the Lord Jesus is to us. If I am, at times, favored with some liberty in prayer, some strength in believing, and some sense of love for God, sadly it leaves me with a higher opinion of myself!
February 10, 2019
Confusion and darkness will not follow us into the eternal world of order and light.
February 3, 2019
Wearisomeness with the warfare in our souls is one means by which our heavenly Father graciously causes his child to calmly and joyfully anticipate entering into the rest that awaits us in Heaven.
January 27, 2019
The distressing, deep-seated evil of the old man in us and the relentless warring of the flesh against the spirit are instruments by which God the Holy Ghost graciously weans from trusting in ourselves, makes Christ more precious, and causes us to look away from self to Christ alone as all our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption.
January 20, 2019
The work of the ministry is the only work there is in which success is measured only by faithfulness.
January 13, 2019
Our Savior tells us that all power has been given to him. If he has all power, no one else has any power.
January 6, 2019
The Lord Jesus presents us to the Father in his own eternal perfection. And the Father delights in us as thus presented in his perfection because we are in him.
December 30, 2018
The natural man cannot be taught spiritual things. He can be taught religion, doctrine, and strict morality, but not the things of God. To learn the things of God he must be born again.
December 23, 2018
All of God’s elect were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary, and only God’s elect. All the redeemed, and only the redeemed, are called by irresistible grace and omnipotent mercy and born again by the mighty operations of his grace. All the called, and only the called, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the gift of his grace. And all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are preserved and kept by his grace and power unto life everlasting.
December 16, 2018
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save his people from their sins. The blessed good news of the gospel is that he did what he came to do. With his own blood he entered once into the holy place, “having obtained eternal redemption for us!”
December 9, 2018
Let the gospel be preached in “the power of the Holy Ghost,” and you will see that it has power still, omnipotent power, to open the eyes of poor blind sinners, unstop deaf ears, cause the lame to leap, and raise the dead (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10).
December 2, 2018
All of God’s saving operations of grace are wrought in us by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” We have joy and peace in Christ only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” We have joy and peace in believing only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.” And believing God, trusting Christ, we abound in hope only by “the power of the Holy Ghost.”
November 25, 2018
“The wicked flee when no man pursueth” (Proverbs 28:1). — Terrified by his own guilty conscience, a wicked man presumes someone is after him. Frightened by his own dark shadow, he strikes out at nothing but his own guilt (Judges 9:36). Like Cain, he presumes somebody is out to get him when, in reality, it is only the torment of a guilty conscience that makes him mad.
November 18, 2018
Spirituality is not just reading the Bible, praying, going to church, and listening to sermons. Spirituality involves living a useful, meaningful life, serving God and his people, making the most of your life as a husband or wife, employee or employer: visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, helping the needy, comforting the disconsolate, living for others rather than for yourself.
November 11, 2018
“A man’s gift maketh room for him.” — God’s servants do not have to tell others they are God’s servants. Their message and God’s use of them does that. And God’s servants never force themselves into light or into a place. God opens the door before them and puts them into their divinely appointed place.
November 4, 2018
Some of God’s elect are, like Saul of Tarsus, suddenly converted in a climactic experience of overwhelming grace. Others, like Lydia, gently have their hearts opened by that same overwhelming grace. It is not our experience of grace that is our hope, but Christ in whom all grace is found and from whom all grace comes.
October 28, 2018
The gospel is not something we live. The gospel is good news from heaven about the person, work, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. News cannot be lived. It must be published.
October 21, 2018
The gospel of Christ is not the ABCs of Christianity. The gospel is the A to Z of Christianity, and everything between A and Z.
October 14, 2018
To preach the gospel is to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to declare that he, by his perfect, complete, finished obedience to God as a man, brought in everlasting righteousness, made an end of sin, and obtained eternal redemption for God’s elect.
October 7, 2018
I would rather be a sinner saved, and saved in such a way as I am saved, by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, than to have never known sin and never have known Christ as m Savior.
September 30, 2018
What horrible evil parents bring on their children when those children learn from their parents to mock God’s messenger to their souls, as the people of Bethel taught their children to mock Elisha (2 Kings 2:23-24).
September 23, 2018
It is hard to hold your tongue, but you will never regret holding it. It is easy to speak your mind, but you will usually regret speaking it.
September 16, 2018
The Lord our God is solitary in his majesty, unique in his excellency, and peerless in his perfections. He sustains all but is himself independent of all. He gives to all and is enriched by none.
September 9, 2018
We worship one God in the trinity of his sacred Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) and adore each as the God of all grace by whom we are saved.
September 2, 2018
God cannot be known by man except as God is pleased to make himself known to man. This he does by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit in the revelation of Christ through the preaching of the gospel.
August 26, 2018
The gospel preacher must be obsessed with one thing — Christ crucified! Once a preacher becomes obsessed with anything else, the gospel of God always takes a back seat to make room for his obsession and those who hear him are robbed of the Bread of heaven
August 19, 2018
Satan is not God’s rival but his servant. He is God’s devil, bound by the long, strong chain of divine omnipotence, under the absolute dominion and control of our all-glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
August 12, 2018
All the dark mysteries and painful experiences of God’s providence will be cleared up for God’s saints in God’s time (John 13: 7).
August 5, 2018
Physical sickness is an instrument by which God makes his saints more healthy. By weakness he makes us strong. By need he teaches us to pray. By great sorrow he opens the door for great comfort.
July 22, 2018
Living for God is living for the benefit of others, and serving God is serving others. — We can serve others without serving God; but we cannot serve God without serving others.
July 8, 2018
It should not be my purpose in life to be happy, but to be useful.
July 1, 2018
In Scripture the word “heart” is commonly used, not in reference to that physical organ that pumps blood through the body, but to the seat of our passions, the source of motivation, the inner self of one’s being. In all our approaches to God, it is the heart that is required. He says, “My son, give me thine heart.” — “With the heart man believeth.” Without the heart all acts of religion, all pretenses of faith, and all assertions of conviction are a vain “show in the flesh.”
June 24, 2018
There is no place in this vast universe, from the throne of God in the highest glory to the lowest pit of hell, where Jesus Christ our Lord does not rule in total, absolute sovereignty.
June 17, 2018
Every Haman seeking to overthrow God’s servant shall be hanged upon his own gallows in God’s time.
June 10, 2018
When Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” he used words to express the strongest possible prohibition against glorying in, trusting in, rejoicing in, promoting, or preaching anything except the glorious gospel doctrine of “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
June 3, 2018
How blessed the Church of God would be if those who fill her pulpits were determined to preach and teach nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
May 27, 2018
You can always know a person’s true character by the way he speaks of others. Slandering tongues expose a slanderous man, a gracious tongue a gracious man. A malicious tongue betrays a malicious heart, a kind tongue a kind heart.
May 20, 2018
Every heaven-born soul knows that there are two natures in him, the old man and the new, the carnal and the spiritual, the flesh and the spirit, that “the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary one to the other.”
May 13, 2018
There is not a record in the Bible of a single sinner saved by the grace of God who attributes anything to himself but sin.
May 6, 2018
Salvation was finished for God’s elect in eternity (Hebrews 4:3), finished at Calvary (John 19:30), finished in the new birth (Ephesians 2:1), and shall be finished in resurrection glory (Romans 13:11).
April 29, 2018
Fornication and adultery, like stealing and murder, are never acts of love but only the gratification of raging lusts performed in defiance of God, contempt for their object, and complete disregard for all others.
April 22, 2018
The new birth is not a change of life, but the gift of life. It is not an improvement made upon the old man, but the gift of a new man “created in righteousness and true holiness.” It is not the reformation of our fallen nature but being made “partakers of the divine nature.”
April 15, 2018
Christ is made of God unto us sanctification in the new birth, imparting to chosen, redeemed sinners his holy nature, making us “partakers of the divine nature,” creating in the heaven-born sinner a “a new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
April 8, 2018
God-given holiness improves my behavior; but my behavior can never improve my holiness.
April 1, 2018
There is not a hint of universal redemption in the Book of God. Every text, every prophecy, and every type in Holy Scripture dealing with redemption declares it to be the effectual, accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ for his elect — Limited Atonement.
March 25, 2018
The holy Lord God, by infinite wisdom and grace, has made our sin and misery the occasion of our greatest possible blessedness.
March 18, 2018
When I think of the sin and fall of our race in Adam, I am compelled to say, “O blessed fall! Had it not been for our fall in Adam, we could never have known redemption and grace in and by our Lord Jesus Christ!”
March 11, 2018
Prevenient grace is that grace that precedes and prepares the way for God’s saving grace.
March 4, 2018
Divine sovereignty, unconditional election, eternal predestination, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the certain preservation of God’s elect are gospel doctrine. Like salt and pepper, they are always on the banqueting table in the house of God. These things are the good news of the gospel that meet the needs of poor, desperately needy sinners and are the revelation of the grace and glory of the triune God.
February 25, 2018
The Lord never calls for his people to stay in Babylon, try to preserve Babylon, reform Babylon, or teach Babylon. His call is always, “Come out of her” (Isaiah 48:20; 52:11; Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6, 45; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Revelation 18:4).
February 18, 2018
Holiness is not a work performed by sinners, but a gift bestowed upon sinners. It is not something performed by us, but something performed in us by God the Holy Ghost in the new birth. That “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord” is “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Holiness is “the sanctification of the Spirit” by which chosen, redeemed sinners are “made partakers of the divine nature.”
February 11, 2018
There is no excuse for laziness in a preacher. Faithful gospel preachers are men who labor in the Word and doctrine of God, addicting themselves to study and devoting their lives to publishing the gospel to eternity bound sinners.
February 4, 2018
Carping preacher critics are a dime a dozen. They never contribute anything to the cause of Christ, never assist in the building of Christ’s kingdom, but only criticize, gossip, and tear down. Once they’ve done all the damage they can in one place, they move to another. And they are never missed by anyone.
January 28, 2018
In the world and in the church, those who are most critical are always those who are most useless. Those who are quick to tear down, rarely do anything to build.
January 21, 2018
None deny that believers are people with two natures, except those who have just one.
January 14, 2018
When our transgressions were laid on Christ, made his, and borne by him, when he carried them all away in the stream of his precious blood, he made satisfaction for us. Thus, the Christ of God finished our transgressions (Daniel 9:24). They shall never be seen or brought up again!
January 7, 2018
“In the beginning God” — Those four words show us that the Lord our God is the Creator, Ruler, and Disposer of all things.
December 24, 2017
The prophet Isaiah says plainly that the Lord Jesus Christ “shall not fail.” Whatever the Son of God undertakes to accomplish, he shall accomplish. If he prays for a person’s salvation, that sinner must be saved. If he dies to put away a person’s sin, that person’s sin must be put away. If he seeks a sheep, the sheep must be found. If he says to the dead, “Live,” the dead must live. If he comes to save a sinner by the power of his grace, that sinner must be saved. — “He shall not fail!”
December 17, 2017
Every sermon ought to be prepared and preached as if the preacher knew that all who hear him are on the brink of eternity.
December 10, 2017
Believing the gospel is believing that the man Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, that the man Jesus of Nazareth actually accomplished all that the Old Testament prophets said the Christ would accomplish.
December 3, 2017
Matters of no consequence to the glory of God, the needs of immortal souls, or the salvation of God’s elect should never divide God’s elect.
November 26, 2015
Read the 19th Psalm and rejoice to know that the sun, moon, and stars, indeed all things in God’s creation, move in God’s eternally predestined courses in time to accomplish the salvation of God’s elect.
November 19, 2015
God is the source, the means, and the end of all things. By him all things are. Through his wisdom, power and goodness all things are brought to pass, directed, and governed. And to his glory all things shall terminate (Romans 11:36).
November 12, 2015
God is the source, the constantly working cause, and the end of all things (Romans 11:36).
November 5, 2015
Some make “mother earth” their god and their gospel. They have dust for a god and ashes for a gospel. Bowing so low and cramped with pain from such a debasing stoop, it is little wonder that they behave as madmen.
October 29, 2017
Our God sits upon “the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word “circle,” as it is used here is very comprehensive. Our great Savior, the infinite God, sits upon the whole sphere of the earth, encompassing and ruling all creation. We who inhabit this globe are nothing but meaningless “grasshoppers,” “less than nothing, and vanity” (Isaiah 40:17).
October 22, 2017
It is my determination, in everything I preach and write, to glorify God my Savior, the Triune Jehovah, expose sin and leave sinners without excuse before God, call sinners to Christ, comfort, edify, and strengthen God’s saints, and inspire in the hearts of God’s elect devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Any subject that is not useful for these goals is not worth thought, let alone discussion by God’s ambassador.
October 15, 2017
Everything revealed in the Book of God is intended of God to convey a message from God, either a message of judgment or of grace. Nothing is revealed in the Holy Scriptures just to teach a fact.
October 8, 2017
Holy Scripture is not the hiding of truth, but the revelation of truth.
October 1, 2017
Any doctrine that is built by piecing together verses of Scripture is false doctrine. Divine truth is plainly revealed.
September 24, 2017
Either every sinner for whom Christ died shall be with him in eternal glory or he is a frustrated, miserable failure, and there is no salvation for anyone.
September 17, 2017
The doctrine of universal atonement is nothing short of universal blasphemy, asserting that Christ died in vain for the multitudes who perish in hell.
September 10, 2017
Either all for whom the Lord Jesus Christ made atonement at Calvary shall be saved by the merit and efficacy of that atonement, or none will. If any perish for whom Christ died, his death is meaningless and he is a failure.
September 3, 2017
We believe in Limited Atonement. We believe that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world with the intention of saving “a multitude which no man can number,” called “his elect” in the Book of God. We believe that, as the result of our blessed Savior’s finished work upon Calvary’s cursed tree, every person for whom he died must and shall be saved by his grace and stand, washed in his precious blood, holy and without blame, before the throne of God in heaven’s glory.
August 27, 2017
Show me something in the Word of God and I will, as God the Holy Ghost enables me, bow to it, receive it as divinely revealed truth, and believe it; but if you cannot show it to me in the Book of God, I cannot, will not, and must not receive it as the truth of God.
August 20, 2017
All true doctrine rests entirely upon the Word of God, upon the plain statements of Holy Scripture, not upon history, religious creeds, or tradition, and not upon human inferences, logic, or reason of any kind.
August 13, 2017
The most important aspect of a believer’s life is public worship — the worship of God in the assembly of his saints, collectively singing his praise, calling upon him in prayer, and hearing the exposition of his Word by the preaching of the gospel.
August 6, 2017
God our Savior provides everything for the helpless and brings grace to us before we seek it. So, he gets as much glory in the giving as in the gift.
July 30, 2017
The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon an individual, a family, a local church, or a community in this world is to send them a faithful gospel preacher. The greatest curse he can bring upon them is to remove him from them, silence his voice, or remove them from him.
July 23, 2017
The Lord God may use a false prophet to preach the truth, as he did Balaam (Numbers 23:21-23), but he does not use the religious lies of false prophets to save his elect. It is the gospel of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation. God uses gospel truth to bring sinners to believe on him who is the Truth.
July 16, 2017
Men everywhere hate the gospel of God because it abases man and exalts the Triune God, makes man nothing and Christ everything, exposes man’s sin and magnifies Christ’s righteousness, declares man’s guilt and displays the glorious efficacy of Christ’s blood atonement, binds man’s will to his nature and asserts that salvation is by the will of God alone, shows man’s works of righteousness to be sin and proclaims salvation’s accomplishment by the work of God alone.
July 9, 2017
God’s people, sinners saved by the grace of God, are devoted to Christ, devoted to his gospel, and devoted to his church.
July 2, 2017
Only the fear of God will drive away the fear of man.
June 25, 2017
Church hoppers are generally self-centered, petty, judgmental people, ready to abandon commitments and break relationships at the drop of a hat, because someone failed to stroke their pride. Faithful men and women are people united in heart, people whose lives are interwoven, because they are one in Christ.
June 18, 2017
Believers have the Holy Spirit given to them in all his fulness at the new birth. He is given as our Comforter, our Guide, our Teacher, and our Seal. To be full of him is simply to be full of his influence, comforted by his presence, guided by his power, instructed by his wisdom, and assured by his grace, having “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts” by him, by his gift of life and faith in Christ.
June 11, 2017
Being filled with the Spirit is being under the influence, control, and rule of the Spirit of God. It is living by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May 28, 2017
Night and day, in labor and in leisure, in religion and in recreation, use your time for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
May 21, 2017
Time is one of the most valuable and precious things in the world. Once it is lost, it can never be regained.
May 14, 2017
To deny the efficacy of Christ’s blood atonement and the certain salvation of all for whom he died is as much a denial of our Savior’s godhood as the denial of his virgin birth; for such a denial asserts that the Christ of God is a failure.
May 7, 2017
The justice of God cannot be set aside; but it has been satisfied for the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ crucified.
April 30, 2017
If you would enter into heaven’s glory and live forever with God, you must be as good as God. You must be perfectly holy (Leviticus 22:21).
April 23, 2017
If Christ is my Savior, I owe God nothing, “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” — If Christ is my Savior, I owe God everything, for I am “bought with a price” that I might live “unto him who died for me and rose again.”
April 16, 2017
There are only two kinds of preachers: those who are used and those who use, those who labor in the Word and doctrine of Christ and those who loiter about, those who are faithful and those who are unfaithful, those who devote their lives to the cause of Christ and those who devote their lives to something else.
April 9, 2017
God, by the wondrous work of his grace, has made heaven-born souls “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), putting a new nature in us, a new man, “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), that cannot sin, a new man that can do nothing but righteousness (1 John 3:9); and that new man is “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
April 2, 2017
Is salvation by the free-will of man, or by the free-grace of God? What does the Bible say? “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy!”
March 26, 2017
Our peace is not in our experience but in our God and Savior, Christ, who is our Peace. We derive peace in experience as we are enabled by God the Holy Spirit to look away from ourselves to our Redeemer, trusting both his righteousness and his rule, his blood and his dominion, his grace and his providence, his satisfaction and his intercession.
March 19, 2017
The revelation of God in his Son was so complete that the apostles, in the books of the New Testament, do not tell us anything new. They simply confirmed and interpreted that which Christ had taught. They set forth that salvation, “which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Hebrews 2:3).
March 12, 2017
Miracles never produce faith in Christ. Pharaoh perished, though he saw all God’s wonders in the Land of Ham. Multitudes crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and went to hell in the wilderness. Thousands ate the loaves and fishes multiplied by our Lord Jesus, and perished in their sins. Faith in Christ is the gift of God the Holy Ghost given to and wrought in sinners by the preaching of the gospel.
March 5, 2017
The faithful exposition of Holy Scripture doesn’t raise questions. It answers them.
February 26, 2017
No one has ever done anything to or against me that can even begin to compare with what I have done to and against my God, both before he saved me and since. If God in heaven has forgiven me, it should be easy for me to forgive you of anything. Spirit of God, give me such grace!
February 19, 2017
Kindness is the honey that takes the edge off another person’s bitterness.
February 12, 2017
Fallen man is body and soul, spiritually dead. God the Holy Spirit does not regenerate the old man in the new birth. In the new birth, he makes fallen, spiritually dead sinners whole, putting a new nature in us, making us “partakers of the divine nature.” With Christ formed in us, we are made whole again — body, soul, and spirit.
February 5, 2017
Enoch’s testimony, “that he pleased God,” was not the testimony of a good reputation received from men, but the testimony of perfect righteousness in, with, and by Christ Jesus, that he received from God by faith in Christ.
January 29, 2017
Find me a sinner, and I will show you one of God’s elect. Find me a sinner, and I will show you one of Christ’s redeemed ones who must and shall be saved.
January 22, 2017
Nothing so quickly exposes the enmity, the bitter hatred, of the heart of man toward God as the declaration of his absolute sovereignty in the exercise of his grace, having mercy on whom he will have mercy and hardening whom he will harden; and nothing more rejoices and humbles the heart of those who are born of God.
January 8, 2017
Our Savior says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). That means that no one else has any power.
January 1, 2017
Nothing is more dangerous to our souls than a barren familiarity with sacred things.
December 25, 2016
The prophet Isaiah says plainly that the Lord Jesus Christ “shall not fail.” Whatever the Son of God undertakes to accomplish, he shall accomplish. If he prays for a person’s salvation, that sinner must be saved. If he dies to put away a person’s sin, that person’s sin must be put away. If he seeks a sheep, the sheep must be found. If he says to the dead, “Live,” the dead must live. If he comes to save a sinner by the power of his grace, that sinner must be saved. — “He shall not fail!”
December 18, 2016
He who is the Christ fully accomplished all that he came here to accomplish. When he had finished all that he came here to do, “with his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption” for God’s elect.
December 11, 2016
The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), not all people, but his people. They were his people before he came to save them; and they were all saved by his obedience unto death for them.
December 4, 2016
The Son of God was made flesh that he might be made sin that sinners might be made the righteousness of God in him.
November 27, 2016
There is not one complimentary, dignifying, honorable word between the covers of the Bible about fallen man.
November 20, 2016
Either God made Christ sin for his elect, as the Book of God plainly asserts (2 Corinthians 5:21), or he just pretended to make him sin and punished his Son in a mockery of justice and truth. Either God makes every redeemed sinner the righteousness of God in Christ, as God the Holy Ghost declares, or he merely pretends that they are righteous and rewards them with heavenly glory in a mockery of justice and truth.
November 13, 2016
We are in Christ by the rich, free grace and goodness of God the Father, who put us in him in sovereign election before the world began. In him we were and are preserved and blessed from everlasting. That secret, everlasting union with Christ was made manifest in time, when God the Holy Ghost gave us life and faith in Christ, by the operation of his mighty grace; but the union is from everlasting.
November 6, 2016
That person who is truly and most fully aware of the depravity of his own heart, his own propensity to every evil, and his own liability to fall into any sin, is least likely to judge the faults of others, and most likely to forgive their offenses.
October 30, 2016
It is God who gives us grace to know Christ, to walk with Christ, and to serve the glory of Christ. He gives grace and gifts as he will and to whom he will (Ephesians 4:7). There is no room for pride, envy, or contempt among his saints (Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
October23, 2016
“Christ is the end (termination, finish, completion, fulfillment, accomplishment, period, full stop, stopping point, death) of the law (all the requirement of God, the ceremonial law, the moral law) for righteousness (justification, sanctification, holiness, godliness, obedience) to everyone that believeth” (Romans 10:4).
October 16, 2016
The biblical doctrine of limited atonement is particular, effectual redemption. Christ died for his sheep, God’s elect. The Son of God was stricken by the rod of divine justice for the transgressions of his people (Isaiah 53:8). Having satisfied the justice of God for his elect, the Lord Jesus Christ effectually accomplished and obtained eternal redemption for all for whom he died (Hebrews 9:12).
October 9, 2016
No doctrine hatched in hell is more blasphemous or more brazenly denies the very godhood of our Savior than universal atonement, the teaching that Christ made atonement for sinners who yet suffer the wrath of God in eternity.
October 2, 2016
Arminian infidelity limits the merit, power, efficacy, and worth of Christ’s blood, blasphemously asserting that though Christ died for the whole world, he really accomplished nothing for anyone. The Word of God limits the intent, design, purpose, and scope of the atonement, proclaiming redemption fully accomplished for all God’s elect. — That is to say, redemption accomplished for every sinner who trusts the Son of God.
September 18, 2016
Christ is the center of everything, the object of everything, and the end of everything. If you do not know him, you know nothing of creation, providence, grace, or yourself.
September 11, 2016
By faith in Christ we receive internally that which Christ has accomplished for us externally: redemption, righteousness, justification, forgiveness, holiness, peace, and reconciliation. Faith does not accomplish these boons of grace. Faith receives them and experiences them by grace.
September 4, 2016
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints are vital articles of faith. To deny any of these precious truths of Divine Revelation is to deny the Gospel of God.
August 28, 2016
The preacher’s business is to proclaim the greatness, grace, and glory of the Triune Jehovah as he has revealed himself in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The faithful exposition of Holy Scripture is the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Everything else called preaching is just beating the air.
August 21, 2016
Soon you must die. Soon you will meet God in judgment. Soon you will be forever in hell or forever with Christ in Glory. — How will it be for you in eternity?
August 14, 2016
Assurance is not to be found in something you have done, but in something Christ has done for you.
August 7, 2016
God is not known, trusted, or worshipped by any who despise any of his attributes.
July 31, 2016
No one is saved in time who was not saved before time began; and all who were saved “in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9) shall be saved in time.
July 24, 2016
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man Jesus of Nazareth actually accomplished all that the prophets of God in the Old Testament said Messiah would accomplish (Daniel 9:24). All who deny that he did so are antichrists (1 John 2:18-22).
July 17, 2016
God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” He did not pretend to make Christ sin for us. He made him who knew no sin sin for us. And God does not pretend to make sinners righteous in Christ. He made us the righteousness of God in him.
July 10, 2016
Because I preach to you that which God has spoken, I preach with the utmost boldness, dogmatism, and confidence.
July 3, 2016
Everything in this world comes to pass and is ruled according to the sovereign, eternal, unalterable, all-inclusive, and sure purpose of our God for the salvation of his elect (Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; 2 Timothy. 1:9-10).
June 26, 2016
If the congregation is talking and shouting while a man is preaching, they cannot hear the message preached.
June 19, 2016
Where the Spirit of God is obviously absent men and women commonly fake his presence by activity, hand waving, clapping, shouting, and carnal, fleshly music intended to move the body and stir natural emotions. Where the Spirit of God is present there is both silent reverence in the worship of God.
June 12, 2016
Grace experienced in time is the seal of grace bestowed before the world began and the pledge of glory to be enjoyed when time is no more.
June 5, 2016
Godliness is living for God. Godliness is devotion to Christ. It can never be measured, recognized, or understood by the ungodly.
May 29, 2016
Every religion that focuses on man, his works, his power, his goodness, and his will is declared by the Spirit of God to be the very basest form of idolatry — “will-worship.” It is nothing but the practice of religion “to the satisfying of the flesh.”
May 22, 2016
The Triune God is utterly consecrated to his elect. Oh, for grace that we might be utterly consecrated to him!
May 15, 2016
Any sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is taken into a living and everlasting union with the Triune God! — Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now, and you will go home one with God!
May 8, 2016
The child of God, the heaven-born soul, does not expect righteousness from that dead stock called “flesh.”
May 1, 2016
Our Lord Jesus Christ divides the whole human race into two groups. The reprobate he calls “the world.” The elect he calls them “which thou gavest me out of the world.”
April 24, 2016
How poor they are who think themselves rich. How rich they are who know themselves poor!
April 17, 2016
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” — When Christ comes in saving power, he makes ignorant sinners wise, causing us to believe God.
April 10, 2016
Every blessing of grace has its origin in God’s sovereign, eternal, electing love.
April 3, 2016
“The burden of the Word of the LORD” is something about which I fear few, very few preachers know anything. For most who preach, sermon preparation is a regular routine, requiring discipline and study, but little more. I want to hear a man preach who carries in his soul “the burden of the Word of the LORD,” a message fresh from the heart of God, burning in his heart, that he must deliver to me, to lift my heart to God in repentance, faith, worship, and renewed consecration. O my God, make me such a preacher!
April 3, 2016
Those who are in the flesh cannot be pleasing to God. Those who are in the Spirit cannot but be pleasing to God.
March 27, 2016
God’s will is his purpose; and his purpose is his will. His will is never at odds with his purpose; and his purpose is never at odds with his will.
March 20, 2016
“LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am” (Psalm 39:4). — I do not need to know and do not wish to know when or by what appointed means this body of flesh shall be brought into the dust of death. What I do need, what I do want is grace to have a perpetual sense of my frailty, that I may constantly anticipate the immediate termination of this mortal existence, and be ready without notice for my Savior’s call, “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
March 20, 2016
Either we are under the whole law to do it all, or we are not under the law at all.
March 13, 2016
As Jannes and Jambres, the Egyptians of Egypt, withstood Moses by their enchantments, only to have their serpents swallowed up by Aaron’s rod, so the heretical enchantments of hell are always swallowed up by the Gospel of God.
March 6, 2016
As the Church of God marches against the gates of hell, the Dragon of hell throws fireballs of heresy against her, but never prevails. The Gospel of God and the Church of God are never injured, harmed, or even made to pause. Our Lord has promised, “the gates of hell shall not prevail.” No matter how things may appear, his promise is sure.
February 28, 2016
No trial endured by God’s child would ever cause a murmuring thought to rise in his heart if he knew God’s reason for sending it.
February 21, 2016
When he was made sin for us, our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily took upon himself an intimate, infinite acquaintance with human sin and justly suffered all the fury of God’s wrath for his elect to the full satisfaction of divine justice.
February 14, 2016
Within the rough shell of sorrow, we find a sweet kernel of grace.
February 7, 2016
Substitution is the message of the Bible and the very heart of the gospel. And this is the way God the Holy Ghost declares this sweet, gospel doctrine. — “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
January 24, 2016
When he was made sin for us, our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily took upon himself an intimate, infinite acquaintance with human sin and justly suffered all the fury of God’s wrath for his elect to the full satisfaction of divine justice.
January 17, 2016
It is impossible, by any fair reasoning, based on Scripture, to separate salvation from redemption.
January 10, 2016
God’s love is not a passion, but both an attribute and an act of his infinite being. God’s love toward his elect is his sovereign, eternal benevolence toward us, his eternal purpose and determination to deliver, bless, and save us, arising from “the good pleasure of his will.” God’s love is his eternal complacency, delight, approval, and acceptance of his chosen in Christ.
January 3, 2016
O God of all grace, give me the wisdom and grace to live every day as if I knew it were my last, to speak of, speak to, and treat all with whom I come into contact as if I were sure I must meet them before the day’s end at your Great White Throne of Judgment, and to serve my Redeemer as if I were certain it was my last day to serve him who loved me and gave himself for me.
December 27, 2015
What wasted hours, wasted days, wasted opportunities I see as I look back over the past twelve months! O God, my God, be yet more gracious to your servant, and make me faithful to you as you have been, are, and ever shall be faithful to me!
December 20, 2015
Let every man called of God to preach the gospel, every man to whom this sacred trust is given, give himself in the totality of his life to this blessed work for the glory of Christ.
December 13, 2015
The Lord God loves his elect even as he loves his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for we are truly one with Christ.
December 6, 2015
God’s love for his elect is an eternal, immutable, indestructible love of complacency and delight.
November 29, 2015
Sinners saved by the grace of God, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, have no reason ever to be afraid of God and every reason to fear God.
November 8, 2015
There is nothing that will keep you out of heaven but your own will; but there is nothing that will keep you out of hell but God’s will.
November 22, 2015
The Word of God was not written to confirm our thoughts, but to correct them.
November 1, 2015
Faith in Christ is not a leap in the dark, but walking in the light.
October 25, 2015
Grace does not require cooperation from the sinner. Grace creates cooperation in the sinner.
October 18, 2015
Most religious people fit the worship of God into their lives when it is convenient. — God’s people arrange their lives around the worship of God.
October 11, 2015
Only the irresistible call of God the Holy Ghost, by which faith is created in us, identifies God’s elect in this world.
October 4, 2015
God’s elect, like Jesse’s youngest boy, are usually the very last ones we think might be chosen, until the Lord God calls them by his grace. By his call, God says, “This is he!”
September 27, 2015
God’s servants are not men who serve themselves by the people of God, but men who serve the people of God by the sacrifice of themselves, gladly devoting their lives to the cause of Christ.
September 20, 2015
2nd Corinthians 5:21 is the inspired commentary of God the Holy Ghost on Isaiah 53:10. He tells us that in order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be our sin-offering he had to be made sin for us. Justice could never have punished him as a sin-offering had he not been made sin for us. — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!”
September 20, 2015
God’s grace is not an offer, but an operation. It is not a passion in God desiring the salvation of sinners, but the operation of God performing the salvation of sinners.
September 13, 2015
The Scriptures nowhere assert or suggest that the Lord God looked upon and treated Christ as though he had been made sin. The Scriptures do assert that our dear Savior was made sin for us, and was therefore justly punished for our sins made his.
September 6, 2015
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints are vital articles of faith. To deny any of these precious truths of Divine Revelation is to deny the Gospel of God.
August 30, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or his sufferings were not penal sufferings and the justice of God was not satisfied by them.
August 23, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or our sins are still our sins and justice finds them upon us still!
August 16, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not really bear the consequences and effects of them. I mean by that, either he was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear the penalty of them.
August 9, 2015
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear our sins in his body on the tree, as the Book of God says he did, but only the consequences and effects of them.
August 2, 2015
It is not possible to overstate anything revealed in Holy Scripture. When the Bible says “God has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth,” that is what it means. When God says “Christ was made sin,” that is what he means. When the Book of God declares “We are made the righteousness of God in Christ,” that is what it means. — These blessed Gospel revelations cannot be overstated. Rather, they are only perverted when understated or altered to mean something else.
July 26, 2015
When you absent yourself from the worship of God, you absent yourself from the means of grace (the preaching of the Gospel) and lead all who are influenced by you to do the same. — What a costly choice!
July 19, 2015
All for whom Christ died shall, at God’s appointed time, be given life and faith in him by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit.
July 5, 2015
A pastor is a man called, gifted, and sent of God to preach the gospel, one who does the work of an evangelist, feeds the Church of God with knowledge of the Scriptures, understanding the needs of immortal souls and the needs of the hour. His work is done in his study, on his knees before God, and in the pulpit, not in going door to door, as “a busybody in other men's matters.”
June 28, 2015
As the first Adam made himself sin and plunged himself into death under the curse of God because of his love for the wife God gave him, so the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, willingly made himself sin and plunged himself into death under the curse of God because of his love for his elect, the Church, the wife God gave to him.
June 21, 2015
It is not my love for God that gives me peace, but the assurance of his love for me. “There is no fear in love; but” God’s “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18).
June 14, 2015
Will worship is the religion of antichrist, setting man in the place of God, demanding that he be worshipped as God by making God’s will subservient to man’s will.
May 31, 2015
The Lord Jesus Christ takes hold of us by his grace before we take hold of him by faith.
May 24, 2015
Had not the Son of God offered himself up to God as our Priest, we could never have been redeemed. Had he not opened to us the path of life as our Prophet, we could never have known it. Had he not effectually applied his purchased redemption to us as our King, we could never have possessed it.
May 17, 2015
All that the Lord Jesus revealed as our Prophet, he purchased as our Priest; and all that he revealed and purchased as our Prophet and Priest, he applies as our King.
May 10, 2015
Young man, if you run to preach like Ahimaaz, without being sent of God to do so, you may outrun and outshine many a Cushi, but you will never be used of God for the benefit of immortal souls and the glory of Christ, because, like Ahimaaz, you run without a message from God.
May 3, 2015
Every man who makes himself a preacher, thrusting himself into the pulpit, has not been called of God to the work. Rather the Lord God says, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” It is written, “A man’s gift maketh room for him”
April 26, 2015
We should never be satisfied to come to the house of God alone. Rather, we ought to do whatever we can to bring others to hear the gospel. It is our business in this world to seek the Lord’s sheep. I wonder what God might do with us in this place if, at every service, each one were to bring one to hear the gospel of his dear Son.
April 19, 2015
Forgiveness is ours in exactly the same sense and exactly the same measure that it is Christ’s (1 Peter 4:1-2).
April 5, 2015
Let us ever seek grace to live by the rule of the gospel we preach, honoring God in all things; but do not imagine that you can preach the gospel by the way you live. — You can only preach the gospel by declaring it.
March 29, 2015
The world did not see Christ in Christ and did not see holiness in the Holy One, but crucified him as a vile and wicked man. Don’t ever imagine that the world will see Christ or holiness in you.
March 22, 2015
Don’t ever attempt to show the world that you are a Christian, or that you are righteous, or that you are godly, or even that you are different from others. Lost people cannot see godliness.
March 15, 2015
The works by which Abraham and Rahab showed their faith (James 2:21-25) were works seen by no one except God. Even so, the works by which we show our faith are works seen by God alone. Others may benefit from them, but God alone sees them, and sees them as works of faith.
March 8, 2015
Show your faith by your works, as God the Holy Ghost teaches us to do (James 2:18); but don’t ever attempt show your faith to men. They can’t see it.
March 1, 2015
Let us seek grace to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world, to live as sinners saved by the grace of God, to live for God and to the glory of God; but let us never attempt to show the world that we are Christians. The show of religion our Savior expressly forbids (Matthew 6:5-18).
February 22, 2015
God declares things to be what they are manifestly made to be before he makes them to be what he makes them to be (Romans 4:17).
February 8, 2015
God enriches his saints by poverty, strengthens them by weakness, makes them healthy by sickness, and lifts them up by abasing them.
February 1, 2015
The beginning and end of the faithful pastor’s work is to know Christ and to make him known. To that great work God’s servant must give himself entirely, and delights to do so.
January 25, 2015
God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s works are always right, righteous, just, and good. In all things, it is ours to bow to him, not to question him, but to trust his wisdom, goodness, and grace.
January 18, 2015
We who believe are now “perfect and entire” in Christ; but there is much that we want in our present state. When our days of much tribulation are complete, we shall be “perfect and entire, waning nothing.” — “Wanting nothing!” Imagine that!
January 11, 2015
Godliness is inward, not outward. Anything an unregenerate person can do to show is godliness is not godliness, but only an outward show of godliness.
January 4, 2015
O God of all grace, give me the wisdom and grace to live every day as if I knew it were my last, to speak of, speak to, and treat all with whom I come into contact as if I were sure I must meet them before the day’s end at your Great White Throne of Judgment, and to serve my Redeemer as if I were certain it was my last day to serve him who loved me and gave himself for me.
December 28, 2013
The man who lives only to and for himself is of less worth than the manure in his barn. The man who lives to and for the glory of God and the service of others is of more worth than gold.
December 14, 2013
God never plays pretend. When he declares that something is, it really is. He never pretends that something or someone is what it is not; and never pretends that something or someone is not what it is.
November 30, 2014
Because Christ was made sin for us, because he bore our sins in his own body on the tree and bore them away, the Lord God almighty declares that all who trust him have no sin (Psalms 103:12, Micah 7:18-19; Jeremiah 50:20; 1 John 3:5). Because “He hath made him sin for us” all who believe on the Son of God are made “the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
November 23, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or his sufferings were not penal sufferings and the justice of God was not satisfied by them. An innocent person may suffer, but an innocent person cannot be punished, upon any just ground. And justice will not, indeed cannot, allow an innocent person, considered as innocent, to suffer punishment in the room of the guilty, anymore that it can reward a guilty, sinful, corrupt one with life eternal.
November 16, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or our sins are still our sins and justice finds them upon us still!
November 9, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not really bear the consequences and effects of them. I mean by that, either he was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear the penalty of them.
November 2, 2014
Either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us and our sins were transferred to him, or he did not bear our sins in his body on the tree, as the Book of God says he did, but only the consequences and effects of them.
October 26, 2014
The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. May God ever make me to know my weakness and give me grace to lean only and always upon Christ my Strength.
October 19, 2014
Anyone can tear things down. It takes determination, work, commitment, sacrifice, and self-denial to build. If we would build the kingdom of God together, these are the things required of us.
October 12, 2014
Numbers 22 demonstrates the fact clearly that while God’s servants believe and preach the gospel as they are taught and led of God, in the place God puts them, self-serving false prophets adjust their doctrine and move from place to place “according to the rewards of divination” put into their hands, all the while trying to convince themselves and others that they seek and follow the direction of God. — God save me from “the deceitfulness of riches” and from being motivated by “the mammon of unrighteousness.”
October 5, 2014
God gives his church pastor-teachers according to his own heart, each uniquely gifted to minister to the church in which God places him, to feed that particular church family with knowledge and understanding. — If God has put you in a gospel church and given you such a pastor, you ought to look to that man as your pastor-teacher, not another, and not twenty others.
September 28, 2014
If there is a sense in which God loves all men, there is a sense in which God’s love is meaningless.
September 21, 2014
Faith in Christ is not an evidence of things not seen, but “THE evidence of things not seen”.
September 14, 2014
How little is written or spoken by preachers and saints about consecration to Christ. Why? Why are people a little embarrassed about using the word “consecration”? — I do not know, but the most likely reason is that we know little, if anything, about it.
September 7, 2014
One of the most loathsome sights in the world is a self-serving preacher.
August 31, 2014
The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon any people in this world is to establish in their midst a faithful Gospel church with a faithful Gospel preacher as his messenger. The greatest curse God can bring upon any people in this world is to take his witness from them. And I cannot think of a greater abuse of a man upon his family than that of taking them away from the worship of God and the preaching of the Gospel.
August 24, 2014
There are three great temptations by which Satan assails preachers: the temptation to shine, the temptation to whine, and the temptation to recline.
August 10, 2014
It is a false humility, the fruit of a legal spirit, that says, “I have no assurance because my sins are so great.” David never spoke so confidently than when he most fully confessed his most glaring iniquity, transgression, and sin (Psalm 51:4).
August 3, 2014
Slanderers are Satan’s bellows, by which the fiend of hell divides and stirs up contention. The best way to stop the slander’s tongue is to refuse to hear his slander. The best answer to slander is silence.
July 27, 2014
In so far as the believer’s acceptance with God is concerned, he has no more confidence in the best work he ever performed, than in the greatest sin he ever committed. — Christ is our Righteousness, our only Righteousness, all our Righteousness!
July 20, 2014
Do any ask, — “Don Fortner, what reason have you to expect that sin shall not have dominion over you, and that you shall live in holiness and true godliness in this world?” I answer without hesitation, I am not under the law, but under grace. — “I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
July 13, 2014
God’s elect are justified by having died under the curse of the law and rising again in our great covenant Head and Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ.
July 6, 2014
Nothing but death can dissolve the law’s hold upon a sinner; and, blessed be God, “I through the law am dead to the law,” for I was crucified with Christ upon the cursed tree.
June 29, 2014
Gospel life flows from a legal death. — “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
June 22, 2014
Many young men, like Elisha, want “a double portion” of Elijah’s spirit; but few are willing to make the sacrifices and do the work of the faithful, committed old prophet. — They wish to be seen as prophets, not used as prophets.
June 15, 2014
I wonder what God might do with a man utterly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, utterly committed to His will, utterly committed to His glory, utterly committed to His Gospel. — I wonder what God might do with a local church utterly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, utterly committed to His will, utterly committed to His glory, utterly committed to His Gospel.
June 8, 2014
“Redeeming the time” means “buying up the opportunity.” The opportunity we have to serve our God and immortal souls is the appointed time of our lives, no more and no less. That makes time more precious than gold. Spirit of God, give me grace to buy up the opportunity set before me, redeeming every day for the glory of Him who redeemed me with His own precious blood!
June 1, 2014
That which usually determines whether a local church is divided or united, strong or weak, useful or a hindrance is the church’s attitude toward the pastor God has given it. Those who highly esteem a faithful pastor for his work’s sake are united in peace, strong in faith, and useful in the cause of Christ. Those who despise God’s messenger to their souls are divided, weak, and a great hindrance (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
May 25, 2014
When you discuss the sermons of faithful men with and/or before family and friends, speak only of the blessed Savior who has been preached to you, his mercy, love, grace, forgiveness, and glory, and the blessings and/or reproofs of the message to you. In doing so you will be of great help to those who hear you. — If you are so little that you choose rather to discuss the preacher’s flaws and your insignificant disagreements with doctrine, you only display your own evil heart and do great harm to all who are influenced by your wicked speech.
May 18, 2014
No greater blessing of God can be bestowed upon any community or congregation than the gift of a faithful pastor, a gospel preacher, a man given according to God’s own heart, to “feed you with knowledge and understanding.” No greater curse can befall a people than for God to remove his prophet from them and send them no other.
May 11, 2014
God’s elect are a blood bought and blood bathed people (Zechariah 13:1; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Titus 3:4-7).
May 4, 2014
Universal atonement is the most hideous blasphemy ever to be spewed from the pit of darkness. Declaring the blood of Christ to be “an unholy thing,” that is to say “a thing common to all,” it tramples under the foot the precious blood of the Son of God and “does despite,” stands as a blasphemous insult, “unto the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).
April 27, 2014
God’s servants do not use God’s people to serve themselves. They give their lives to the service of your soul
April 20, 2014
Adam lives in us by birth. By natural generation we are made partakers of Adam’s nature. Christ lives in us by the new birth. By regeneration we are made” partakers of the divine nature.”
April 13, 2014
There are no prerequisites to faith in Christ. God does not tell sinners they must know this or that doctrine before they can believe. God does not tell us that we must experience certain feelings before we can believe. God does not tell us that we must pass through great times of darkness before we can believe. God does say in his Word, to poor, lost, ruined, doomed, damned sinners, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!”
April 6, 2014
If what you have is what you got from a man, another man can take it away and sell you something else. —— If what you know is something you learned from a man, by the words of man’s wisdom and cunning craftiness, another man can teach you something else directly contrary to what you thought you knew. But if you’ve been taught of God, no one can unteach you what God the Holy Ghost has taught you.
March 30, 2014
I cannot find any man in the Bible who volunteered to be a prophet or a preacher, except a false prophet.
March 23, 2014
We worship the Triune Jehovah: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and we are saved by the work of the Triune Jehovah: the election of God the Father, the redemption of God the Son, and the sanctification of God the Holy Ghost. As all three Divine Persons are essential to the Divine Being, these three works of God are essential to salvation.
March 16, 2014
When God sends good things to the reprobate it is for evil. When God sends evil things to the elect it is for good.
March 9, 2014
When Satan put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ into the hands of the Jews, and the Son of God was nailed to the accursed tree, the fiend of hell was outwitted by his own invention and out-shot by his weapon, for it was by the Savior’s death upon the cursed tree that he crushed the serpent’s head and entered into his glory.
March 2, 2014
People who talk much about their “good works” really have very little to talk about; but they never lack for words to humbly tell us about them.
February 23, 2014
Always think highly and speak honorably of those men who preach the Gospel of the grace of God. — “Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:13).
February 16, 2014
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
February 9, 2014
All true preaching is personal, purposeful, and passionate.
February 2, 2014
How graciously our God, by every providence, inclines our hearts to return to him, our Savior and our God! Oh, how gracious it is of him to visit his people, again and again, with spiritual sustenance, when by sin and disobedience, we call forth a famine upon our souls!
January 26, 2014
Oh, how merciful, how gracious, how wise, how good our God is to his people! How gracious he has been to our souls in hedging up our way, bringing into our lives disappointments, pains, afflictions, and sorrows, by which he has sweetly and irresistibly forced us to return to him, seeking his mercy and grace in Christ!
January 19, 2014
Universal love, universal grace, and universal redemption is meaningless love, meaningless grace, and meaningless redemption. To preach such is to preach a meaningless gospel, a meaningless god, and a meaningless savior.
January 5, 2014
God’s face beams and shines upon his elect with the smile of complete delight, approval and acceptance in Christ! Washed in the blood of Christ and redeemed, justified by the righteousness of God in Christ and accepted, the Lord God looks upon us with pleasure! Imagine that! God’s face shines upon us in his Son!
December 29, 2013
The approach of the New Year ought to inspire in our hearts much grateful reflection upon our God’s bountiful blessings of grace upon us in Christ Jesus: Blessings of Grace! Blessings of Providence! Blessings upon Our Homes! Blessings upon His Church! Blessings upon Our Labors! — “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin!” — “Blessed are they that put their trust in him!”
December 22, 2013
He who made man was made a man that he might be made sin to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
December 15, 2013
Hirelings and false prophets change their doctrine like most men change their shirts, to suit their present place and company.
December 8, 2013
Christ obedience unto death as our Representative is not our hope of glory, but the basis of our hope. Christ in us by the new creation of grace is our “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Until we are made “partakers of the divine nature,” until righteousness is imparted to us in the new birth, we have no hope before God.
December 1, 2013
Humility is living in the conscious awareness of who I am, a sinner saved by grace, and whose I am — God’s.
November 24, 2013
Only the thankful are rich; and all who are thankful are truly rich: rich with grace, rich with life, and rich forever. — “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!”
November 17, 2013
Gossip is always evil: evil in spreading it, evil in receiving it, and evil in believing it. Only idle, irresponsible busy-bodies engage in the hellish practice. — “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
November 10, 2013
An unbelieving religious world is occupied with signs, identifying signs of the second coming, signs of the times, signs of the end, etc. — The Word of God teaches us to live upon the tiptoe of expectation, “looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
November 3, 2013
Let nothing be valued more highly today than it will be in that day appointed by God when we must leave all that is temporal and enter into that which shall be eternal.
October 27, 2013
Universal redemption, the notion that the Son of God died to redeem those who are forever lost in hell is the greatest blasphemy hell ever invented. It declares that God is unjust, punishing sin twice, once in His Son and then in the sinner. It asserts that man is his own Savior, declaring that the blood of Christ, the will of God, and the grace of God are made effectual by man’s will. It asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is a frustrated failure, unable to save the people for whom He died. Universal redemption is an utter denial of the very Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ! It must not be tolerated!
October 20, 2013
For the believer there is nothing preferred to death in the arms of the Lord Jesus. It is better to die than to live until the Savior’s glorious second advent, for “the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
October 13, 2013
If two angels were sent from heaven to serve the will of God for His glory, one to sweep the streets and the other to rule the world, it would not matter to either which task was assigned to him. So it should be to us, if our desire is to glorify God in serving Him.
September 29, 2013
The grace of God, which provides, reveals, and effectually applies all the blessings of salvation, teaches, motivates, and sweetly compels saved sinners to devote themselves to Christ. — Believers are not ruled by law, but by grace.
September 22, 2013
Faithful Gospel preachers are men who hazard their lives for the cause of Christ (Acts 15:26), men who willingly forsake all to serve the Savior, refusing to be entangled with the affairs of this life (2 Timothy 2:4).
September 15, 2013
Grace and works cannot be united in God’s salvation at any point. The Word of God is crystal clear in asserting this fact. Salvation is either altogether by grace or altogether by works (Romans 11:6).
September 8, 2013
Even when His providence brings great pain and sorrow, our heavenly Father’s eye is ever watching over us to do us good.
September 1, 2013
Faithful preachers faithfully preach the Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ all the time, and preach it in such clear and distinct terms that no one can mistake their doctrine.
August 25, 2013
Any preacher who tells you how you can make yourself more righteous than Christ has made you knows nothing of the righteousness of God and the Gospel of the grace of God.
August 18, 2013
No greater blasphemy ever spewed from the pit of hell than the blasphemous assertion that Christ died to redeem the multitudes who there suffer the wrath of God.
August 11, 2013
False prophets are hirelings who care not for the sheep. Faithful men are true shepherds who care not for themselves.
August 4, 2013
All who are righteous know themselves utterly unrighteous; and all who are void of righteousness think they are righteous.
July 28, 2013
God’s elect are by God the Holy Ghost declared to have been justified, sanctified, accepted, and saved in Christ before the world began. That means that our works have absolutely nothing to do with our justification, sanctification, acceptance, and salvation. — “Salvation is of the LORD!”
July 21, 2013
The word “impute” is an accounting term, not a legal term. It is not possible to justly account a person something that he is not, or impute to him that which is not true. To do so is both unjust and dishonest. The God of heaven is neither dishonest, nor unjust. He imputed sin to his darling Son, because he “made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We worship, serve, and proclaim him who is and declares himself to be, “a just God and a Savior”
July 14, 2013
Baptism is the believer’s confession of faith in Christ. If God has saved you by his grace, if God the Holy Spirit has given you faith in Christ, — “Why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized.”
July 7, 2013
Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and the Preservation of the Saints are, in this house of worship, the constant themes of all our preaching, all our hymns of praise to our God, and all our conversations. If these things make you uncomfortable, you will be uncomfortable here until God gives you the comfort of his saving grace in Christ Jesus.
June 30, 2013
If you have to guess what a man preaches, if you have to guess what his doctrine is, the reason is unmistakable: his intent is to please men rather than God. Ambiguous preaching is not gospel preaching.
June 23, 2013
No man serves God on his own terms, but in the place where God puts him, with the gifts God gives him, to do the work for which God condescends in great mercy and grace to use him. Being so highly honored of God, God’s servant serves his Master willingly, with all his heart and all his might.
June 19, 2013
Man-centered, works-based, freewill religion -- call it by any name you will -- is the single greatest evil in this world. . . and is the greatest cause of evil in this world. The good works of religion without Christ are the most abominable evils imaginable. . . Man-centered, freewill works-religion robs God of His glory, tramples underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, does despite to the Spirit Of Grace, and gradually abases society to its lowest, most contemptible state. . . 'Evil workers,' as Paul describes them in this context, are Arminians -- freewillers, legalists -- people who teach that God's salvation depends on, or is in some way determined by, man: 'evil workers.'
June 16, 2013
The foolish notion of universal redemption (the doctrine that Christ died for everyone) is as blasphemous as it is foolish. We rejoice to hear God say of our Redeemer, “He shall not fail!” The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. Every sinner for whom the Lord Jesus died shall live forever with him.
June 9, 2013
With regard to the accomplished redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of God’s elect, God the Hoy Ghost says, “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3).
June 2, 2013
Never does the Lord God more strikingly display his sovereignty and grace than when he compels the wicked to promote the purposes of his sovereign will. It is not enough merely to say that Satan and his devices shall do no harm. As Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai and Mordecai was exalted, so Satan’s schemes and assaults upon our God and his Christ and his church shall fall upon his own head (Romans 16:20).
May 26, 2013
Contrary to the opinions of many, God never plays “Let’s Pretend.” The holy, just, and true Lord God did not pretend to make his Son sin for us. He did not pretend to punish his Son in justice to the full satisfaction of justice. He did not pretend to put away the sins of his people. And he does not pretend to make every chosen, redeemed sinner the very righteousness of God in Christ. — God’s works are real. God’s grace is real. And God’s salvation is real. — There’s nothing pretend about it!
May 12, 2013
O, how bitterly must the Christ of the everlasting covenant have suffered, when on Calvary's cross he undertook to bear the guilt of his elect, being made sin for us, to atone for all our sins, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”.
May 5, 2013
Let every saved man desire the work of the ministry, desiring from God a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That is noble and right. But let no man thrust himself into the work. Gospel preachers are called, gifted, and sent of God. If God creates a bird to fly, he gives it wings; and if God calls a man to preach, he gives him the gifts necessary to perform the work.
April 28, 2013
It is very easy and a very common thing to teach false, damning, heretical doctrine using only Bible terms. God’s servants faithfully expound the sense of the Scriptures, giving out the message of God the Holy Spirit conveyed in the text from which they preach.
April 21, 2013
If you are not willing to spend your life in your study, laboring in the Word and in the doctrine of God, go do something less important and meaningful than the most noble of all works — preaching the gospel. This work requires, demands, and deserves our lives! Preparation without inspiration will give meat with no savor; and what many vainly imagine is inspiration, without preparation, serves for meat an empty plate covered with glitter. — If we would preach, we must prepare to preach, laboring by study and prayer in the Word and in the doctrine of Christ.
April 14, 2013
Preaching is not talking to give out the light, frivolous imaginations of our minds. Preaching is proclaiming God’s truth with sound judgment, truth fixed in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit, by diligent labor in study and earnest prayer, to the profit of God’s people. If we would preach, we must labor in the Word and in the doctrine.
April 7, 2013
Every preacher is responsible before God and his hearers to faithfully proclaim the Scriptures, giving the meaning and message intended by God the Holy Spirit in the passage from which he preaches. The Spirit’s meaning and message can be obtained only by the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that gift is bestowed upon faithful men laboring in the Word, studying, praying, and seeking God’s message for his people.
March 31, 2013
Will worshipping Arminians choose the weakest part of man’s nature to be their savior – his will, while trampling underfoot the blood of Christ, the grace of God, and the power of God the Holy Spirit. This they do in direct opposition to the plain declaration of Holy Scripture (Romans 9:16).
March 24, 2013
No man has any business preaching who does not, relentlessly and boldly, preach the doctrine of the gospel as it is plainly revealed in the Book of God: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. — The gospel is not preached if these things are not preached.
March 17, 2013
The Word of God gives us the record of many historical facts; and they are all literally true. But each recorded fact is an allegory. Each was brought to pass by our God and is recorded in Holy Scripture to teach us something spiritual.
March 10, 2013
If a man is called of God to preach the gospel, God’s church will recognize his gifts before he does.
March 3, 2013
Any pastor who is worth his salt could have been successful in any profession he might have chosen. Dependable, faithful, hardworking men are never failures.
February 24, 2013
Just as our God gave the law of the kinsman redeemer in Israel before anyone needed it, our great God found a way to redeem his lost ones by Christ our Kinsman Redeemer long before we fell in our father Adam.
February 17, 2013
The liberty proclaimed in the year of jubilee, the liberty proclaimed in the gospel is the blessed liberty of grace; but it is liberty demanded by God’s holy law (Leviticus 25:1). — Justice satisfied demands the liberty of the justified.
February 10, 2013
Christ abrogated the law by fulfilling it.
February 3, 2013
The law of God, being fulfilled by Christ our Surety, is dead to God’s elect. Our Savior nailed it to his cross. And we are dead to the law.
January 27, 2013
If there is some sense in which you are still under the law, then there is some sense in which you are cursed of God, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”
January 13, 2013
Eve was created when God created Adam, but came forth on another day when the Lord God brought her to Adam. So it is with Christ and his church.
January 6, 2013
Believers fulfil the righteousness of the law (Romans 3:31; 8:4) not by offering God our best efforts at obedience to the law (filthy rags righteousness), but by offering him that which he requires and he alone can give — perfect righteousness — perfect satisfaction in the person and work of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
December 30, 2012
Any preacher who is too big to preach to a few is too little to preach to many.
December 16, 2012
Christ was born at Bethlehem that he might do all the will of his Father as the incarnate God, our Mediator, thereby bringing in everlasting righteousness for his elect, and accomplish death at Calvary as our covenant Surety, thereby making an end of our transgressions.
December 9, 2012
Let men denounce me as a base antinomian, curse me as a reprobate sower of licentiousness, and accuse me of the most horrid evils imaginable, I will not attempt to alter what God has declared in his Word or bring Christ’s free men and women under the yoke of the law. God says to all who trust his Son, “Ye are dead to the law!”
December 2, 2012
Nowhere in the New Testament are believers taught to do anything because the law says do it. The reason is simple and clearly stated: — “Ye are not under the law, but under grace.” It is the love of Christ that constrains saved sinners to godliness, not the terrifying whip of the law of Moses. It is written, “The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient.”
November 25, 2012
When a preacher denies limited atonement (denies that all for whom Christ died shall be saved), he announces that he is a lost, unbelieving false prophet, for he has denied that Christ is God, making the Son of God a failure!
November 18, 2012
No one first gets saved and then learns the gospel. Sinners are saved when they are taught of God by the gospel.
November 11, 2012
In the Old Testament Scriptures every time we see idolatry prevailing, Sodomy also prevailed. The Holy Spirit lays the blame for the repugnant evil of Sodomy at the doorstep of idolatrous, freewill/works religion (Romans 1:18-27). When man is elevated as though he were God, when the works of God are attributed to the will, works, and worth of man, when man is worshipped as though he were God, as in all freewill/works religion, antichrist is present, God’s judgment is evident, and Sodomy runs rampant (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17), even as we see it in this reprobate age. — “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: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
November 4, 2012
So long as I have a choice, I will not vote for anyone running for any public office, from Dog-catcher to President, who promotes the murder of unborn children and/or Sodomy. Compared to these two things, no other public policies are even slightly significant.
October 28, 2012
The Word of God never tells me what other people should do, only what I should do. The Scriptures were not written for us to govern the lives of others by them, but for us to govern our own lives by them.
October 21, 2012
All spiritual knowledge is intuitive knowledge, knowledge arising from the experience of God’s saving grace in Christ, knowledge given by the unction of the Holy One.
October 14, 2012
He who “delighteth in mercy” is never niggardly in dispensing mercy.
September 30, 2012
There is no need to be fearful of those glorious revelations of grace revealed in Holy Scripture. Do not be afraid to embrace them, proclaim them, and rejoice in the certainty of them. Do not restrict their meaning, but stretch it as far as possible with this assurance: — Your broadest, fullest understanding of God’s goodness is unimaginably less than the thing revealed by the gospel. — Christ was made sin for us! — We are made the righteousness of God in him. — Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are free from the law! — Go ahead. Stretch out on this bed, wrap yourself in this covering, and rest your soul!
September 23, 2012
It is not the work of Christ outside our experience that gives us hope, but the work of Christ in us. Christ crucified as our sin-atoning Substitute is the basis of “a good hope through grace.” — But Christ in you is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
September 16, 2012
If the public worship of God in His house is not the most important thing in your life, any really big thing that comes up (a ballgame, visiting relatives, a special episode of Gunsmoke, etc.) will supplant the worship of God.
September 9, 2012
Heretics are never pleased. When we use the very words of Scripture to declare the truth of God, they insist that the words of Scripture mean something else. When we use words that give the sense of the plain revelation of Holy Scripture (Trinity, Substitution, etc.), they demand that we use only the precise words of the Bible. God’s servants faithfully expound the Scriptures and leave heretics to their rantings.
September 2, 2012
In this house of worship we spell grace “T.U.L.I.P.” — Total Depravity — Unconditional Election — Limited Atonement — Irresistible Grace — Perseverance of the Saints. No doctrine will be received or tolerated that is not in complete agreement with these plain, unquestionable revelations of the Gospel.
August 26, 2012
Though God is absolutely sovereign, having mercy on whom He will have mercy and hardening whom He will, He is strictly just, both in bestowing His saving mercy upon His elect and in the everlasting damnation of the reprobate.
August 19, 2012
As the God of truth cannot impute sin where there is none (Proverbs 17:15), so He cannot impute righteousness where there is none. Because Christ took away our sins, being made sin for us, and made us the very righteousness of God in union with Himself, all God’s elect have righteousness imputed to them.
August 12, 2012
God who is just and cannot lie cannot impute sin where there is no guilt (Proverbs 17:15). Adam’s sin was imputed to all men because all were guilty. The sins of God’s elect were imputed to our dear Savior because He was made sin for us.
August 5, 2012
Christ gives everything, demands everything, and deserves everything. Let me therefore submit everything to His will and devote everything to His service.
July 15, 2012
“Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” Titus 2:1-15 tells us how we may do so. Read the chapter and do what it says.
July 8, 2012
Men who do not love, provide for, and protect their wives and families, no matter how physically appealing and materially successful, are brute beasts.
July 1, 2012
Women, no matter how physically attractive, who refuse to submit to, obey, and reverence their husbands in the Lord are ugly in the eyes of all.
June 24, 2012
That perfect love which “casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18) is “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Romans 5:5) when he creates faith in his elect, sealing to our hearts all the blessings of his goodness and grace in Christ by the gift of faith in him (Ephesians 1:13-14).
June 17, 2012
When I was a young preacher inclined to foolish debates, Bro. Henry Mahan frequently advised, “Bro. Don, if you get into a spitting contest with a skunk, you may win the contest, but you will always come out smelling like a skunk.” I’ve lived long enough to highly value that wise counsel.
June 10, 2012
“He shall not fail!” — That simply means that the Christ of God must and shall accomplish all that he came to accomplish as the Surety of his people.
June 3, 2012
To deny the absolute efficacy of Christ’s sin-atoning blood is to deny his very deity. If Jesus Christ died to redeem some whom he fails to save by his grace, he is not God.
May 27, 2012
When the Lord God declares that ransomed sinners are righteous and gives them eternal life in Christ, he does not pretend that they are righteous and save them at the sacrifice of his own righteousness, justice, and truth. He makes them righteous, truly righteous in Christ Jesus and justly rewards the righteousness he gives with eternal life.
May 20, 2012
When God made his Son sin for us, he did not pretend that he was sin and punish him unjustly. He made him sin and punished him justly, that he might be just and the Justifier of his people.
May 13, 2012
Sorrow would never afflict us if sin did not infect us.
May 6, 2012
God does not call qualified men to preach the gospel. He qualifies the men he calls.
April 29, 2012
As “antinomian” is hurled against the gospel by those who attempt to turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness (Jude 4), the slander of “schizophrenic” is hurled against the teaching of Scripture with regard to the “new man created in righteousness and true holiness” in the new birth (Ephesians 4:24). When our foes cannot gainsay our doctrine, they stoop to railing accusations and slanderous reports, hoping to make that which is truly pure and beautiful appear evil and ugly.
April 22, 2012
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe that the man Jesus actually did all that the Old Testament Scriptures said the Christ would do, that he made an end of sin, brought in everlasting righteousness, fulfilled all the law, and saved his people from their sins. — “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1).
April 8, 2012
No work is so great, no labor is so noble, no burden is so heavy, no honor is so humbling as preaching the gospel of the grace of God to eternity bound sinners.
April 1, 2012
God’s servants do not promote themselves, their ministry, or their church. They promote Christ, his Gospel, his Kingdom, and others who faithfully serve him. — The man who promotes himself serves no one but himself!
March 18, 2012
Preachers often say, concerning God’s elect, “As God sees us in Christ, we are holy, without sin,” etc. What few fail to understand is this: — However God sees us in Christ that is the way we really are, “holy and without blame before him!”
March 11, 2012
Nothing is more important to the children of God in this world than the public assembly of the saints for worship; and that public assembly of the saints for worship is the local church, the congregation of the Lord, the house of God.
February 26, 2012
If ever God brings you into travail of soul, he will bring forth life in you. Blessed are they who are commanded by God the Holy Spirit, — “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail!”
February 19, 2012
If ever God saves you by his grace, you will seek his Son; and when you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.
February 12, 2012
If God the Holy Spirit ever puts you into the hand of your soul’s enemies, from their hands he will redeem you (Micah 4:1).
February 5, 2012
If the Lord Jesus Christ ever puts you in Babylon, there he will deliver you (Micah 4:10).
January 22, 2012
When Holy Spirit conviction makes a sinner to know his sin, God says, “pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.” Then he says, “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail.” The language is imperative. “You must be in pain. You must labor to bring forth, like a woman in travail” (Micah 4:9-10). Blessed are they who have such pangs of travail. — If ever God brings you into travail of soul, he will bring forth life in you.
January 29, 2012
If ever the God of all grace causes you to be isolated from him, alone, helpless, and hopeless, he will bring you into a life of sweet communion with him (Hosea 2:6-14).
January 8, 2012
God’s elect are the halt, the driven out and the afflicted (Micah 4:6). If you can find your place among them, you will find His grace and find His grace sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).
January 1, 2012
Let every man called of God to preach the Gospel disentangle himself from the affairs of this world with determined consecration to Christ, His Gospel and His Church, addicting himself to prayer, study and preaching.
December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas! — How sad it is that so many of God’s people are incapable of rejoicing in the remembrance of our Savior’s birth because they have been wrongly taught that the joyful remembrance of Christ’s incarnation is connected with the papal mass! Children of God, rejoice! — “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
December 18, 2011
It is as painful as it is disgusting to hear a man preach the Gospel as though he did not believe it, quoting creeds, defending confessions, and displaying knowledge, without heart passion and Divine urgency. The Gospel we preach is itself “the power of God unto salvation.” Any attempts to adorn it only corrupt it.
December 11, 2011
The infant in the womb possesses the same life as the newborn baby coming forth from the womb. When the child is born it manifests and experiences life. So it is with spiritual life. God’s elect had eternal life in union with Christ before ever the earth was made. When the chosen, redeemed sinner is born again, that life is brought to light, made manifest, and experienced in time (2 Timothy 1:9-10).
November, 27 2011
The Lord God did not pretend to make Christ sin for us; and He does not pretend to make His elect the righteousness of God in Him. How we rejoice to know that the work is real, the grace is real, and the salvation that is ours in our great Substitute is real!
December 4, 2011
The work of God the Holy Spirit as the Comforter is to verify in and to God’s elect that which is already true of them and done for them in Christ Jesus (John 15:26; 16:7-14).
November 20, 2011
It was not the supposition of being made sin that broke my Savior’s heart, but the reproach of my sin made His; and it is the revealed knowledge of that great transfer of guilt that God alone could make that both breaks and rejoices my heart.
November 6, 2011
“Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 13:8; 17:8), blood atonement by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the new birth by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, and faith in Christ by the gift of His grace are essential to the salvation of God’s elect.
October 23, 2011
The new nature created in every heaven born soul is that “new man created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24), which “doth not commit sin” and “cannot sin” “because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). That new nature is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is this new nature, this “new man” of which the Holy Spirit speaks when He declares that in the new birth we are made “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).
October 9, 2011
Perhaps the sweetest, most mysterious, and most comforting revelation of God in Holy Scripture is the real, eternal union of God’s elect with Christ. From that union flows all our salvation, all comfort, all security, and all everlasting blessedness.
October 2, 2011
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
September 25, 2011
The most blasphemous, God dishonoring, Christ denying doctrine ever proclaimed by men who claim to believe the Bible and claim to believe God is the doctrine of universal atonement, the doctrine that Jesus Christ died for, but failed to redeem and save the multitudes of the damned in hell!
September 18, 2011
When the God of all grace permits His own to fall, it is that He might lift us up and, in the lift, reveal Himself the more gracious and glorious.
September 11, 2011
Gospel preaching works. It is always successful. It always accomplishes exactly what God intends for it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). Anything added to it is a distraction from it, not an adornment of it.
September 4, 2011
“The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him” (Psalm 103:17). — All that flows to sinners in time, from the mercy of the Triune Jehovah in the sweet experience of God’s saving grace in Christ, was ours in Christ before the world began and shall be ours when this present evil world has been dissolved and our God makes all things new. All the works of God’s grace, that were finished “from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3; Ephesians 1:3-6), shall be experienced by God’s elect in time and enjoyed eternally, because “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting!”
August 28, 2011
Will worship and Christ worship cannot exist together. Either God’s will controls man’s will, or man’s will controls God’s will. Either God controls the devil, or the devil controls God. Either God rules man, or man rules God. God says, “I will do all my pleasure;” and all who know Him rejoice in knowing that it is so, saying, “It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.”
August 21, 2011
Believer’s baptism (immersion) is not a “Baptist Distinctive,” but a New Testament distinctive. In the New Testament all who believed were buried with Christ in baptism; and none were baptized except those who professed themselves believers.
August 14, 2011
Though there are many Baptist denominations, we are not a part of any denomination, but the Church of Jesus Christ. We adhere to no creed but His Word. We bow to no head but Christ our Head. We have no activity as a body of believers but His worship.
August 7, 2011
Any sermon that does not have Christ crucified for its beginning, its middle, and its end is a waste of time in preparation and a crime in execution.
July 31, 2011
There is not a single verse of Holy Scripture that implies, or even hints in any way, that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood at Calvary for those who are not saved by His blood. To suggest such an absurdity is to fly in the face of God’s Word and blaspheme His very name.
July 24, 2011
The most comforting, soul-cheering revelation of God in Holy Scripture is the blessed Gospel doctrine of particular, effectual redemption by Christ.
July 17, 2011
The Lord Jesus Christ purposefully shed His blood on Golgotha as the Lamb of God and by the shedding of His blood, our dear Savior effectually redeemed all for whom He died.
July 3, 2011
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
June 26, 2011
There is no love except distinguishing love, no redemption except a particular redemption, no atonement except a limited atonement, no deliverance except an effectual deliverance, and no grace except irresistible, omnipotent, saving grace.
June 19, 2011
There are no evidences by which we find assurance of salvation except that faith which works by love, for faith in Christ is “the substance of things hoped for” and “the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1) and the sure fruit of faith is brotherly love (1 John 3:16-19).
June 12, 2011
The very heart of the Gospel is Substitution, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the room and stead of chosen sinners. Substitution means that not one sinner for whom the Son of God suffered the wrath of God shall ever suffer the wrath of God. Substitution means that if Christ was made sin for me, I am made the righteousness of God in Him. Substitution means that if the Lamb of God was made a curse and bore the curse of God’s law for me, I cannot be condemned!
June 5, 2011
Let us never imagine that God’s mighty operations of grace are limited to our awareness of them. Our mighty Savior goes through all the world in His “chariots of salvation” conquering chosen, redeemed sinners by His grace, adding to His Church “daily such as should be saved.”
May 15, 2011
God gave His dear Son up to die in the place of sinners. The Son of God assumed our nature, brought in everlasting righteousness for and willingly laid down His life at Calvary to redeem poor, needy sinners with His precious blood. God the Holy Ghost has been sent by the enthroned Christ to regenerate, call, comfort, and keep sinners by His omnipotent grace. What do those facts tell you? “He delighteth in mercy!”
May 1, 2011
Nowhere in Holy Scripture are we taught to look for signs of Christ’s coming. There are no signs to be given. Scripture teaches us to live on the tiptoe of faith, looking for and expecting the “blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
April 24, 2011
Knowing that nothing could be more dishonoring to God than failure, Moses used that as an argument for Him to save His chosen people (Numbers 14:16). Yet, all the religious world loudly asserts that he whom they call “God” is an utter failure, a god who tries to save the multitudes who are forever damned.
April 17, 2011
True pastoral work, “the work of the ministry,” involves just one thing: preaching, “ Nothing else, just the faithful preaching of the Gospel, not counselling, or entertaining, or even visiting, just faithful Gospel preaching. Any man who gives himself to the faithful preaching of the Gospel has very little time for anything else.
April 10, 2011
The Gospel of God is not “good advice,” but “good news.” In preaching the Gospel we do not tell sinners what they must do, but what God has done.
April 3, 2011
Our preaching should always move the souls of those who hear us Godward.
March 27, 2011
Eternal life, the gift of God, does not begin with our experience of God’s saving grace. Eternal life is eternal. When we are born again, we are made partakers of that eternal life, to use Bible terms, “partakers of the divine nature,” “partakers of Christ!”
February 20, 2011
"Mercy Seatward" - As the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat were made facing "mercy seatward" (Exodus 39:7), so every messenger of God faces "mercy seatward" as he preaches. Every true Gospel sermon directs eternity bound sinners "mercy seatward," setting forth Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
February 13, 2011
Those things that appear to be most grievous in their experience are often most expedient in their end (John 16:7).
February 6, 2011
When thinking about or discussing the atonement, the question of importance is not -- "For whom did Christ die?" The only question of importance is -- "Who died?" Is Jesus Christ God? If He is, all for whom He died are redeemed, and all He intended to accomplish in His death He accomplished. To think or say otherwise is both a denial of the blessed Gospel doctrine of Limited Atonement and the utter repudiation of our Savior's very Godhead!
January 30, 2011
It is written, "with the heart man believeth," but that heart that trusts Christ is not the heart of the old man that is enmity against God. It is the new man "created in righteousness and true holiness," the new creature who believes God.
January 23, 2011
The believer's union with Christ is as real, as old, as complete, and as everlasting as the union of Christ our Mediator and Surety with His Father and our Father.
January 2, 2011
I always try to begin the New Year by remembering "the time is short." Soon this day of grace will be ended. Soon my appointed days will be finished. Soon I will meet God in eternity!
December 26, 2010
Any sermon that does not have Christ crucified for its beginning, its middle, and its end is a mistake in its conception and a crime in its execution.
December 19, 2010
Every sermon ought to be prepared and preached as if the preacher knew that all who hear him are on the brink of eternity.
December 12, 2010
Those who actually do good works never imagine they have done any (Matthew 25:37-39). -- Those who talk about their good works have none (Matthew 25:44).
December 5, 2010
My relationship with God does, in great measure, determine what I do; but what I do does not, in any measure, determine my relationship with God.
November 21, 2010
Growing old and dying is the very best and most wonderful thing that could happen to God's saints. How blessed it is to see your children and your children's children prospering in body and soul by the blessing of God and then, having served your generation for the glory of God, like Jacob of old, to gather your feet up into your bed, peacefully and willingly yield up the ghost and be gathered unto your people! Who could wish for more?
November 14, 2010
Please quit acting spiritual. -- In the privacy of your own closet before God, if you want to raise your hands and waive your palms, roll your eyes up toward heaven, and show by bodily gestures that you are super-spiritual, if you dare do so, go ahead. -- But do not act spiritual before men. Our Lord strictly forbids outward displays of religious devotion. Only self-righteous Pharisees do things to be seen of men (Matthew 6:1-8).
November 7, 2010
Work-mongers take many names to cover their evil intent. Many even claim to believe the gospel of the grace of God; but if a man incessantly talks about works, motivating what he calls "good works" by the threats of punishment or promises of reward, his doctrine is works and he has departed from grace altogether (Galatians 5:1-4).
October 31, 2010
FaceBook and MySpace may be fine websites, useful places for others to communicate with many friends at once; but Gospel preachers demean themselves, their office, and the Gospel of God in the use of such, lowering themselves and the Gospel to trivia. -- Brethren, stay in your studies. Pray, study, and preach the Word. If you will do so with faithfulness, you will have no time for the pursuit of trivia.
October 24, 2010
Was Christ a sinner? Such a question is absurd. The very thought is blasphemous! -- Was sin imparted or infused into our Redeemer's holy nature? Perish the thought! Was the blessed Son of God, our sin-atoning Substitute "made sin for us" as the Scriptures declare? Blessed be his name forever, he was made sin for us, else he could not have suffered the wrath of God in our stead, could not have satisfied the justice of God, and could never have made us the righteousness of God in himself!
October 10, 2010
Baptism is a symbolic burial in a watery grave, by which our Lord Jesus symbolically fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15), showing in the ordinance how he brought in everlasting righteousness for his people by his obedience unto death. His resurrection from the watery grave pictured his resurrection, by which the Triune God declared redemption accomplished by Christ's obedience. Believer's baptism portrays exactly the same thing. It is a symbolic confession of our faith in Christ (Romans 6:4-7).
October 3, 2010
According to the Book of God, those who believe that salvation is accomplished by the will of man are not worshippers of God, but will-worshippers (Colossians 2:23)
September 26, 2010
Divine election is the source and cause of all spiritual blessedness. Without election there would be no redemption, no regeneration, no effectual call and no faith in Christ. All the sons of Adam would forever perish. -- Thank God for sovereign, free, eternal electing love!
September 19, 2010
No sermon should ever be preached that does not tell eternity bound souls how God saves sinners by Christ Jesus.
September 12, 2010
Anyone who vainly imagines that he can distinguish between wheat and tares usually goes about the business of weeding the Lord's garden and pulling up tares with such fervor that the only stalk of wheat left standing in the garden is himself.
September 5, 2010
When a preacher compromises his doctrine, his motive is always evil, and usually involves some form of personal gain. For that gain, he willingly separates himself from brethren of proven faithfulness, and takes for new associates men of proven unfaithfulness.
August 29, 2010
Our blessed Savior bore our sins "in his own body on the tree," not on his body, but in his body. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That is the very language of Holy Scripture; and our hearts rejoice in it.
August 22, 2010
We should never be too quick or dogmatic in asserting what a believer will not do or what doctrinal error he cannot embrace. David committed adultery and murder to cover it. Solomon worshipped idols to pacify his wives. Peter denied the Lord Jesus and forsook him. The disciples on the Emmaus Road thought the Redeemer had failed. Paul took a legal Jewish vow. He and Barnabas had a dispute over John Mark that was never mended while they lived on earth. God's saints today are no greater or stronger than those remarkable men, -- not even you or me!
August 15, 2010
We should be as lenient as possible in our thoughts concerning the sins, failures, and doctrinal errors of our brethren.
August 8, 2010
God the Father chose me. God the Son redeemed me. God the Holy Spirit has sanctified me. Why should I fear closing my eyes in death to awake forever in the presence of the Triune Jehovah?
May 30, 2010
Faith in Christ is not the cause of the new birth, but the result.
May 16, 2010
What is preaching? It is expounding the Scriptures, testifying of our experience of grace in the kingdom of God and persuading sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:23).
May 23, 2010
Our Lord tells us to let the tares grow with the wheat. We are never to attempt to separate them. Why? Because we do not have the ability to know the one from the other. If the task of separating them were ours, we would pull up the wheat and keep the tares every time. None of us knows who is saved and who is lost. Those who pretend to have such knowledge are as arrogant as they are ignorant.
March 21, 2010
Even when he was made to be sin for us, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, our blessed Savior still "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."
March 14, 2010
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage!
March 7, 2010
A god who does not rule all things absolutely is no God at all, but only a weak, frustrated, defeated idol, carved from one of the trees in the dark forest of man's depraved imagination.
February 28, 2010
The Lord Jesus, our Mediator and Savior, possesses all power and authority over all things. That means no one else has any power or any authority over anything.
February 21, 2010
Always beware of those who, like Diotrephes, love to have pre-eminence. They are easily spotted and identified. Such people promote themselves, discredit others and divide brethren.
February 7, 2010
Either our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was made sin for us, as the Scriptures declare, or substitution is nothing more than a legal transaction, nothing but a transfer of guilt made on paper.
January 31, 2010
Sinners are justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ and sanctified by the imparted righteousness of Christ. Yet, just as we were sanctified judicially by imputed righteousness (Hebrews 10:9-14), so we are justified experimentally by imparted righteousness (Romans 5:1-11; Colossians 1:14). Both blood atonement (the death of Christ for us) and regeneration (the life of Christ in us) are essential to the salvation of our souls.
January 3, 2010
God's servants are not mercenaries. We do not serve our God for gain. And God's servants are not slaves. We do not serve our God because of fear. God's servants are all volunteer, bond-servants, serving the Lord God because they desire to serve him. O my Master, make me a faithful servant!
December 27, 2009
The holy Son of God came into this world as the Son of Man that he might be made sin and die under the wrath of God, and that he might by his obedience unto death give chosen sinners eternal life and make his redeemed the very righteousness of God in him.
December 6, 2009
Obedience to our God is not just our duty. Obedience to our great God and Savior is the desire of our hearts, the joy of our souls and the purpose of our lives.
December 13, 2009
Grace experienced makes people gracious.
November 29, 2009
When preachers start adjusting their message, the reasons are always evil. The man who seeks and obtains a message from God delivers it as it was received. He would never dream of adjusting it for anyone or for any reason.
November 22, 2009
In Romans 8:29 God the Holy Spirit declares that all who are justified in time, (That is to say, all who were justified by the obedience of Christ unto death at Calvary and all who are consciously justified by faith in the sweet experience of grace), were justified when they were predestinated. Yes, God's elect were and are eternally justified in Christ. We were accepted in the Beloved before the world began.
November 15, 2009
He who is God has the incontestable right and the irresistible ability to make, govern, use and dispose of all things according to his own will.
October 18, 2009
If our sin was just pasted on Christ and the sword of justice was just pasted on his heart, then his righteousness is just pasted on us, and salvation is a delusion!
October 4, 2009
Solomon warns, "Meddle not with them that are given to change" (Proverbs 24:21). There are many who change their doctrine to suit their company. Others are carried about with every wind of doctrine. No matter the reason, those who are given to change are not to be trusted. Whether the change is an indication of instability, or of some evil intent, those who are given to change are not to be followed.
September 27, 2009
Treacherous is the word God uses to describe those self-serving men who are supposed to be his messengers, but instead handle the Word of God deceitfully and corrupt needy souls from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.
September 20, 2009
It is not Christ living for you, or dying for you, or risen for you, or interceding for you that is the believer's hope of glory, but "Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27). Until Christ is in you, until you are made "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), you have no hope.
September 13, 2009
Anytime a preacher's methods change, you can be sure his message has changed.
September 6, 2009
Sin cannot be imputed where sin is not; and justice cannot slay the righteous. So our blessed Savior was made sin for us that he might be justly condemned and satisfy justice as our Substitute in his death, and make us the righteousness of God in him (Proverbs 17:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
August 23, 2009
When the dust of division settles, those who are true followers of Christ will be made manifest. They may waver in the confusion; but God's saints will not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. When the sowers of discord have had their last fling, the cause of Christ will not be hindered, and believers will still cling to Christ with stronger faith than ever before.
August 9, 2009
"Christ is the end of the law." He is the point aimed at by the law. He is the conclusion of the law. He is the finality of the law. He is the finish of the law. He is the termination of the law. He is as far as the law can go! "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
June 28, 2009
Holiness is that which God purposed for us (Ephesians 1:4), that which God demands of us (1 Peter 1:15-16, that to which God has called us (1 Thessalonians 4:7), that which God has created in us (Ephesians 4:24), and that in which God will keep us by his grace (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
June 21, 2009
Holiness (sanctification) is not accomplished by human effort, but by sovereign grace.
June 14, 2009
That holiness without which no man shall see the Lord is not a holiness we must perform, but holiness planted in us: "Christ in you, the hope of Glory."
June 7, 2009
Holiness is not something we do for God, but something God does for us by his grace.
May 31, 2009
A friend is someone who steps in when the rest of the world walks out.
May 24, 2009
God's elect are accepted, saved and shall be judged worthy of heaven in the last day because of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May 3, 2009
God's people are one in Christ and one with Christ, even as he and the Father are one. Imagine that!
May 10, 2009
Morality preaching is worse than worthless. It is damning. Instructing people in religious morality teaches lost wretches to act good, and acting good convinces them that they are good, too good to really need an absolute substitute to give them acceptance with God.
April 26, 2009
"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness" in every possible sense of the word "righteousness:" justifying righteousness, sanctifying righteousness, evidentiary righteousness and assuring righteousness.
April 19, 2009
Christ is the END of the law" in every possible sense of the word "end." He is the goal, the purpose, the fulfillment, the accomplishment, the finish, the satisfaction, the termination, the finality and the abrogation of the law.
April 12, 2009
Ishmael is the one baby that must be thrown out with the bath water. There is no room for law in the house of grace!
April 5, 2009
"Will worship" (Col. 2:23) is ascribing to the will of man the work of God. Like all other forms of idolatry, it is damning to all who practice it.
March 22, 2009
Public worship is the most important aspect of the believer's life. The only place under heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to meet with and manifest himself to anyone is in the assembly gathered in his name to worship him (Matthew 18:20).
March 1, 2009
If Christ died to redeem and justify all, and some are in hell, then one of two things must be so: Either Christ is a failure, or there are some in hell who are redeemed and justified!
February 22, 2009
If Christ did not save all for whom he died, he is no Savior, there is no salvation and we have no gospel to preach. How can that be called "gospel" (good news) that declares "Christ died for you, but he has not actually redeemed you, put away your sins, or completely saved you"?
February 15, 2009
If one sinner may be lost for whom Christ died, all for whom he died must be lost, because the sinner has nothing to contribute to Christ's sacrifice by which it might be made satisfactory and effectual.
February 8, 2009
Like the mass of the papists, the blasphemy of universal redemption asserts that Christ's sacrifice at Calvary really accomplished nothing.
January 25, 2009
All who make the will of man a determining factor in salvation worship their own wills, worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, and set man in the place of God; and of all forms of idolatry spawned in hell, will-worship is the most abominable and the most absurd!
January 11, 2009
No sinner can or will turn to God until he has been turned by God. None can or will call upon the name of the Lord until they have been called, effectually and irresistibly called, by the Lord. None can or will come to Christ for grace until Christ has come to him in grace.
December 28, 2008
The Lord Jesus Christ did all our work for us as our Representative, suffered all our punishment in our stead as our Substitute, and obtained eternal life as our reward by the merit of his obedience and blood as our Surety.
December 7, 2008
When people delight in the preaching of works, they either have something evil they wish to hide or they trust in themselves that they are righteous.
November 9, 2008
I would never have voted Cyrus or Artaxerxes into power. Yet, they were the very men our God used to gather his ancient people again in Jerusalem, rebuild the city and the temple, and to revive his worship in a day of great, great darkness. As the Lord God turned the hearts of those ancient pagans for the salvation of his chosen, he may be pleased to so turn the thoughts of President-elect Obama for the furtherance of the gospel and the salvation of his elect in our day. In fact, I am completely confident that he will (Romans 8:28-31; Psalm 76:10).
November 2, 2008
Affliction is a wonderful revealer. It teaches us things we could not know by any other means, and opens windows through which we see, as we never saw before, the mercy, grace, and love of our God.
October 12, 2008
It is no greater blasphemy to deny the virgin birth than to declare that there are some in hell for whom Christ died.
September 28, 2008
The old man, Adam, can never be sanctified; and the new man created in righteousness and true holiness, "Christ in you the hope of glory," cannot sin.
September 21, 2008
Either our Lord Jesus Christ is worth all that might be lost by confessing him, following him and serving him, or he is worth nothing.
September 14, 2008
When Satan accuses me and my conscience is compelled to agree with Satan's accusation, I wrap myself up in the righteousness of Christ and stretch myself upon the bed of God's free grace in him.
August 24, 2008
That "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14), is "Christ in you the Hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In the new birth Christ our Righteousness is imparted to us and formed in us.
August 10, 2008
Christ is our Righteousness, our only righteousness and all our righteousness. His obedience, that which he performed, is the righteousness of God imputed to us in justification. A person cannot be imputed, only his deeds. But Christ's person, his very nature, is the righteousness of God imparted to us in regeneration.
August 3, 2008
No evil could exist in God's universe were it not his determination to use the evil to accomplish some greater good than could be accomplished without the evil.
July 27, 2008
Everything that happens happens because the Lord our God wills it to happen. He willed it to happen before it happened; and willed it to happen exactly as it happened.
July 20, 2008
The gospel is not good advice, but good news. Grace is not an offer, but an operation. Salvation is not by man's decision, but by God's decree.
July 13, 2008
Only one question matters: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" When you first began to believe and who was preaching when you first believed is totally irrelevant. In fact, yesterday is irrelevant. "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
July 6, 2008
With regard to our perfection in Christ, people say, "That is the way God sees us." That is right. And the way God sees us is the way we really are!
June 22, 2008
God's servants never adjust or alter their message for any reason. We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
June 15, 2008
Religion tells sinful man what he ought to do for a holy God. The Gospel proclaims what the holy Lord God has done for sinful man.
June 8, 2008
How very dear the lord Jesus Christ ought to be to sinners bought with his precious blood and made righteous in his perfect righteousness!
June 1, 2008
It is sweet and good to rejoice in God's mercies; but it is far sweeter and far better to rejoice in the God of mercies.
May 25, 2008
Nothing is more painful to a devoted father than the sense that he is not held in honor and esteem by his family. Let us ever ascribe the greatness of our God and hold our Father in the highest honor and esteem as our God.
May 18, 2008
Adversities introduce us to ourselves. Usually, it is a very disappointing introduction.
May 11, 2008
Where God rules there are no accidents, preventable diseases, untimely deaths, stray bullets, or arrows that miss their mark; and God rules everywhere.
May 4, 2008
The "full assurance of faith" by which we draw near to God is not a feeling of assurance, or assurance mustered from within. Our assurance of acceptance with God in Christ is the Revelation of God in Holy Scripture. Believing the Revelation of God, we draw near to him in confident faith through the sacrifice of his dear Son.
April 27, 2008
When God the Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner, giving him faith in Christ, as that sinner looks to Christ alone as his Savior, the blessed Spirit sprinkles the blood of Christ upon the conscience and speaks like a bailiff reading the verdict in court – "Justified!" (Romans 4:25-5:1)
April 20, 2008
Our justification is not conditioned upon our faith in Christ. Our faith in Christ is the fruit of justification by which we experience the blessedness of it, receiving the atonement he accomplished for us in his death (Romans 5:11).
April 13, 2008
I have observed that you can always count on do-nothings to criticize what others do; but you can never count on them for anything else.
April 6, 2008
The gospel of the grace of God declares the Triune God in action, acting from eternity, for the salvation of his elect.
Match 30, 2008
The basis of our hope is the finished work of Christ. The cause of our hope is the Word of God. That for which we hope is righteousness. But that which is our hope is "Christ in you." We have hope before God because we have been made partakers of the divine nature in the new birth, because Christ lives in us and we live in him.
March 23, 2008
Though our salvation was finished in all its details from eternity, though our redemption was fully accomplished at Calvary, the Lord God continually performs it in us and continually assures us that he is doing so by using present tense verbs as simple statements of fact, declaring the reality of every believer's experience of grace. "Choosest" "Redeemeth" "Justifieth" "Forgiveth" "Cleanseth" What sweet terms of grace these are to our souls!
March 16, 2008
Mark this down as a matter of fact. Don't ever forget it. That which God requires of his people, he always provides for his people. What he demands of us he performs for us.
March 9, 2008
Our heavenly Father often sends his tender mercies on the black horse of trouble.
February 24, 2008
Faith is not a leap in the dark, but the reasonable response of the regenerate heart to God's Revelation.
February 17, 2008
Self-righteousness is the root of all sin and the ruin of all that men call Christianity.
February 10, 2008
Salvation is not something God offers; it is something he performs.
January 27, 2008
Man's inability is not his misfortune. It is his sin. Therefore it is written, "He that believeth not shall be damned!"
January 20, 2008
God's way always leads his chosen in this world through a dark, troubling wilderness; but God's way is always "the right way."
January 13, 2008
Beware of any preacher who seeks to draw attention to and promote himself and what he is doing. Faithful men love, support, and promote other faithful men as they serve Christ and his kingdom.
January 6, 2008
It is my earnest prayer that God my Father will give me grace ever to help and never hinder, ever to comfort and never discourage, ever to be used by and never to use his children.
December 23, 2007
In his incarnation the Son of God voluntary took into union with himself all that is inseparable from our humanity!
December 16, 2007
In the incarnate One the immortal God made himself a mortal man, that mortal men might be made immortal sons of God!
December 2, 2007
"The Word was made flesh!" God the Son came into the world in our nature that as the Captain of our salvation he might be made perfect through the things that he suffered. Only as God in our nature could the Bread of Life hunger, the Fountain of Living Water thirst, the Light of the World be compassed with darkness, the Sinless One be made sin, God be made to die, and sinners be made the righteousness of God in him!
November 18, 2007
As winter prepares the earth for spring, our afflictions prepare our souls for glory.
November 11, 2007
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This is a standard before which no hypocrite can stand, a fire that consumes the sparkling tinsel of unregenerate souls.
November 4, 2007
Whatever my need, God's grace is sufficient. I need nothing else.
September 30, 2007
The new birth is more than God the Holy Spirit creating a new principle in us. A Democrat converted to a Republican has new principles. An unbeliever converted to a believer has a new nature!
September 23, 2007
The new birth is a wondrous, mysterious thing. Who can explain "Christ in you"? Who can define what it means to be "partakers of the divine nature"? I repeat: the new birth is a wondrous mystery of grace. But anyone who calls this blessed work of God the Holy Spirit mysticism is a blind, ignorant heretic.
September 9, 2007
The first work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a sinner, in bringing him to Christ, is to make him feel his need of Christ. None of us will ever be saved until we are lost. We will never seek Christ's righteousness until we see our unrighteousness. We will never look to his cleansing blood until we know our filth. Thirsty people seek water. Hungry people look for food. Sick people find a physician. Only lost, needy sinners seek and find the Savior "If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole!
August 12, 2007
Anytime a preacher begins to redefine his doctrine, seeking to distance himself from that which he has taught in the past and from those who remain faithful to the truth of God, no matter what he may say to defend his compromise, his motives are always self-serving and evil. The more he protests, the more apparent his guilt.
August 19, 2007
I never cease to be amazed that those who talk most about the need for brotherly love and unity are the very people who, by gossip and slander, most seek to divide God's people. Those who love the brethren do not need to advertise their love. The deed advertises itself.
July 29, 2007
The light of the gospel, like the light of the sun, causes repulsive creatures of darkness to wiggle frantically, that might otherwise never be noticed; but it is better to deal with those disgusting creatures than it would be for the sun not to rise.
July 1, 2007
Three things are essential to the salvation of a sinner: (1.) the work God the Father accomplished for us in eternity, (2.) the work God the Son accomplished for us at Calvary, and (3.) the work of God the Spirit accomplished in us in time.
May 20, 2007
The Word of God is not the revelation of many things, but of one thing. It is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." The Book of God does not teach many doctrines. It teaches just one doctrine: "The Doctrine of Christ."
May 13, 2007
Does it appear that the "old man" of flesh in you is stronger than the "new man" of spirit created in you by grace? There is a reason for that. The "old man" is full grown. The "new man" is a newborn babe.
May 6, 2007
No man sent of God needs to promote himself.
April 29, 2007
Faith in Christ is not the procuring cause of our justification, but only the instrument by which the righteousness of Christ is received. It is not our believing, but the One we believe, Christ, "who of God is made unto us Righteousness."
April 15, 2007
The violent opposition of will-worshipping Arminians to election and predestination will never alter the fact that our Savior declares, "I have chosen you and ordained you"
April 1, 2007
Nothing is more paralyzing than self-pity.
March 4, 2007
Preachers frequently speak of the way God sees his people in Christ, and then go to great pains to explain that that is not the way we really are. That is a terrible error. -- The way God sees us in Christ is the way we really are and shall forever be.
March 18, 2007
Justice punishes sin only where sin is found. It treats as guilty none but the guilty (Pro. 17:15). The wonder and glory of redemption by Christ is this: When he was made sin for us, when our guilt was made his, justice punished him in our stead. And that same justice forbids the punishment of those for whom the Savior died (Romans 8:1, 33-34).
March 11, 2007
The same glorious God who has fixed us in and accepted us in Christ before the worlds were made, has made him our righteousness; and he did both at the same time. That fact is so plainly written in the Word of God that none can fail to see it, exept those who refuse to see. He who accepted us in Christ, blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ from eternity. Who will assert that the accepted and blessed us as unrighteous?
March 4, 2007
Preachers frequently speak of the way God sees his people in Christ, and then go to great pains to explain that that is not the way we really are. That is a terrible error. The way God sees us in Christ is the way we really are and shall forever be.
February 11, 2007
Failure is an impossibility to anyone who is obedient to Christ. All heaven waits to assist God's obedient servant.
February 4, 2007
The salvation accomplished by Christ, the salvation God gives is a salvation that God himself cannot improve and a salvation that all the powers of hell cannot mar.
January 28,2007
With regard to the Book of God, Christ is "the key of knowledge." Without the key, men can never unlock the chest and discover its riches. They just fumble.
January 21, 2007
When the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for us, our sins were imputed to him, so that we might have his righteousness imputed to us and be made the righteousness of God in him.
January 7, 2007
Let us seize every opportunity to serve Christ. The smallest opportunity may be the door of great usefulness to the souls of men and the glory of God.
December 17, 2006
The death of this body will be the death of all my sorrows and all my sins. Blessed anticipation!
November 26,2006
Eternal life, the gift of God the Holy Spirit in the new birth, is not the mere gift of life extended forever, but the gift of an entirely new life, spiritual life in Christ that shall never cease, a new, holy nature, by which all who are born of God are graciously made "partakers of the divine nature."ovember 19, 2006
Christ endured and completely exhausted all the hell we must have endured but could never exhaust, had he not suffered and died for us.
November 12, 2006
Though our great shame and sorrow is the constant multiplying of sins, our God's great glory is the constant multiplication of pardons (Isa. 55:7).
September 24, 2006
That which God the Holy Spirit does in us in regeneration is just as necessary as that which God the Son did for us in redemption and God the Father did for us in predestination.
September 17, 2006
Three things are essential to the everlasting salvation of God's elect: (1.) The work of God the Father for us in eternity. (2.) The work of God the Son for us as our Substitute. And (3.) the work of God the Holy Spirit in us.
September 10, 2006
"Thou God seest me" (Gen. 16:13). What a word of comfort that is to my soul! Though men oppress me, though Satan assails me, though sorrows crush me, though my own heart condemns me, "Thou God seest me!" He sees me perfectly. He sees me always. He sees me where I am. He sees me as I am, completely. He sees me with perfect love, approval, and acceptance, for he sees me in his Son!
September 3, 2006
The object of faith is a whom, not a what. The matter that must be settled is not "What do you believe?" or "When did you first believe?" or even "How did you come to believe?" but "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
August 27, 2006
Our God has trusted to us, poor earthen vessels, the great treasure of the gospel. May he give us grace to be faithful to that trust, as stewards in his great house, for Christ's sake.
August 20, 2006
Many years ago, Bro. N. B. Magruder raised this alarming question: "What is going on in churches today that needs God for an explanation?" In such a day as this, our hearts ought to cry, with Elisha, "Where is the God of Elijah?"
August 13, 2006
False prophets are concerned about the goods of men, not about doing good for men. They seek to be served, not to serve.
August 6, 2006
False prophets handle the Word of God with cunning, craftiness and deceit, rather than with honesty, reverence and fear.
July 30, 2006
God's view of things is reality. Ours is only a dim perception. If the Lord God views us in Christ and one with Christ, altogether as Christ is, that is reality; and he tells us to reckon it so, just as he does (Rom. 6:11).
July 16, 2006
There is no difference between what comes to pass in time and what was purposed by our God in eternity.
July 9, 2006
In Romans 8:28 the Apostle Paul tells us what God is doing. In verse 29 he tells us what God is going to do. In verse 30 he tells us it is already done.
June 18, 2006
Judas did not show his true, self-serving, covetous character by the words he preached, but by his cunning, deceit and the betrayer's kiss. So it is with many who preach in Jesus' name, though they care for nothing but what they can gain by that name, while betraying it.
June 11, 2006
Any man who needs to validate what he believes by the writings of other men, by creeds, confessions of faith, or history, doesn't really believe anything.
May 28, 2006
My righteousness before God is not based upon the righteousness of Christ. - My righteousness is the righteousness of Christ.
May 14, 2006
"He that doeth truth cometh to the Light." - How else can we do truth, but by coming to Christ the Light, who is the Truth?
May 7, 2006
Christ crucified is the basis of our hope before God; and "Christ in you the hope of glory" is the sweet, joyful experience of hope.
April 2, 2006
Those who seek to justify themselves before God continually seek to justify themselves before men. Those who are justified before God never need to justify themselves before men.
March 26, 2006
Take away the absolute certainty of God's providence mirroring and fulfilling his purpose, and faith in God is an absolute impossibility. The Word of God and its countless promises could not be trusted. It would become as useless as wastepaper!
March 12, 2006
Here is a cause for great joy. - Our God finds the reason for his mercy to us in himself, and in himself alone!
March 5, 2006
Gospel preaching is not delivering facts, debating issues, and settling points of doctrine. Gospel preaching is presenting the glorious Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and delivering his message.
February 19, 2006
Wicked men are responsible for all the havoc they attempt to wreak upon the kingdom of God , and shall be judged accordingly; but let us never imagine that they have the power to accomplish their evil designs. It is written, "Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil- Jerusalem shall dwell safely" (Pro. 1:33 ; Jer. 23:6).
February 12, 2006
The Bible is the word of the living God. Each letter was penned by an Almighty finger. Each word came from the everlasting lips. Each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit. The very words of the Book are God's words, the words of the eternal, the invisible, the almighty God. When I pick it up, I can almost hear it saying, "I am the Book of God; man, Open my pages, read me, and hear God speak!"
December 25, 2005
The surest thing that can be said about good works is this. - Those who think they have them do not; and those who perform them are fully convinced that they haven't (Matt. 25:31-46)
December 4, 2005
All the religions of this world focus on preparing people to live in this world. The gospel of Christ focuses on preparing people to live in the world to come.
November 27, 2005
The God of Glory does not live, and move, and have his being in us. We live, and move, and have our being in him.
November 13, 2005
The single most important aspect of every believer's life is public worship. The only place on this earth where the Son of God promises to meet with, speak to, and instruct his people is in the place his people are gathered in his name.
November 6, 2005
Those whom Jude describes as men who turn "the grace of our God into lasciviousness" are men who teach that preaching the gospel of Christ, salvation by grace alone without any mixture of legal works, leads to lascivious behavior.
October 30, 2005
God always looking upon his people in Christ sees them as saints, speaks of them as saints, and deals with them as saints. May he teach me to do the same!
October 23, 2005
The best day of every believer's life in this world is his last
October 16, 2005
There are just two kinds of preachers: - Givers and Takers - Those who are used and those who use - Those who serve and those who seek to be served.
October 9, 2005
How thankful we ought to be that our God, remembering that we are dust, does not deal with us according to our iniquities, but as we are in Christ! May he give us grace and teach us to remember that our brothers and sisters, like us, are but dust and to deal with them not according to their iniquities, but as they are in Christ
October 2, 2005
Faith never comes by understanding. Understanding comes by faith. When we believe that which God has revealed in his Word, we begin to understand what he has revealed. Until we believe, we understand nothing.
September 11, 2005
An egotist is a person who thinks himself so important that his mind shrinks, while his head swells and his heart hardens. He craves recognition and honor.
September 4, 2005
Christ is made of God unto us both righteousness and sanctification. God declares his elect righteous by imputing the righteous obedience of Christ to us in justification. He makes us righteous by imparting Christ's righteous nature to us in sanctification. Christ is that righteousness, that holiness we must have, without which no man shall see the Lord .
August 28, 2005
Not once in all the Word of God is the word "Trinity" used. Yet, the Scriptures everywhere teach the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Not once in the Inspired Volume is the word "imputed" (or any that might be translated "imputed") used in reference to Christ being made sin for us. Yet, the Book of God everywhere teaches that our sins were imputed to him because he was made sin for us. Even so, not once are the words "imparted righteousness" used in the Book of Divine Revelation to speak of us being made righteous by our God. Yet, the whole testimony of Scripture asserts that the righteousness of Christ is imparted to all in the new birth to whom righteousness has been imputed in justification.
August 14, 2005
Our sin was not pasted on our Savior; and his righteousness is not pasted on the believer. Christ was "made sin for us," and we are "made the righteousness of God in him."
August 7, 2005
The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed. The righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.
June 19, 2005
As Priscilla and Aquila were Paul's "helpers in Christ," gracious God, make me a helper, rather than a hinderer to your people.
June 12, 2005
No man can preach Christ without preaching his doctrine; but many preach his doctrine who never preach Christ.
June 5, 2005
Righteousness imputed is our justification. Righteousness imparted is our sanctification. Righteousness rewarded shall be our glorification.
May 29, 2005
It is a sad and painful fact that brethren here are sometimes incapable of living and working together peaceably, a fact that reveals much about our fallen nature and depraved hearts, horribly dishonoring to our God, but a fact nonetheless. Blessed God, our Savior, hasten the day when every breach in Zion shall be healed.
May 15, 2005
The great danger of Diotrephes is not so much his stated doctrine, but his hidden motive, his insatiable desire for preeminence.
April 3, 2005
Our hope of eternal salvation and acceptance with God is altogether outside our experience. It is totally in the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The great danger of Diotrephes is not so much his stated doctrine, but his hidden motive, his insatiable desire for preeminence.
March 27, 2005
God's forgiveness of our sins in and by Christ is not partial, but complete. He has forgiven all our sins: past, present, and future. So thorough and complete is our heavenly Father's forgiveness that he will never impute sin to us, to any degree or for any reason. So absolute is the forgiveness of our sins that our God will never treat us any the less graciously for having sinned!
March 20, 2005
I have searched the Book of God from cover to cover repeatedly, marking every place where God says something good about humanity with a bold green marker. - There are no green marks in my Bible.
March 13, 2005
"Accepted in the Beloved!" - What a sweet, soul-cheering declaration of grace. Though I am in and of myself nothing but sin, I am accepted in Christ. - Accepted in Christ before the world was made! - Accepted in Christ, though fallen in Adam! - Accepted in Christ before ever I heard his voice! - Accepted in Christ when he called me by his grace! - Accepted in Christ though often in darkness because of my own sin and unbelief! - Accepted in Christ immutably and forever!
March 6, 2005
I never respond to men who attack the gospel I preach or vilify me for preaching it. The best way to refute error is to proclaim truth. And the best thing to do with a mad dog in a man's body is ignore and walk away from him.
February 27, 2005
Ahithophel may slander my name, Shemei may curse me, many may lay snares before me and say, "There is no help for him in God," and in my foolish weakness and unbelief I may even fear that all things are against me, but all are servants to my soul's everlasting good. - "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
February 20, 2005
It is not my business to determine, or even imagine that I can know, the spiritual health of another. It is my business to esteem all who are in Christ as Christ himself, and to love and serve them as I would Christ himself.
February 13, 2005
With the eternal God there is no such thing as past or future, but only a continuous, unbroken present. With him history and prophecy are the same thing.
February 6, 2005
To deny the eternal union of God's elect with Christ and the eternality of our complete acceptance and blessedness in him, as stated in Holy Scripture (Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:3-6), is to deny the immutability of our God.
January 23, 2005
The best answer for slander is silence.
January 16, 2005
Slanderers are the billows Satan uses to stir up fires of contention.
January 2, 2005
The past we can never recall. Tomorrow may never come. This is the day the Lord has made for us. Let us rejoice and serve him in it.
December 26, 2004
The Son of God came out from the Father into the world that he might bring us out of the world unto the Father. He came down to us that he might bring us up to him.
December 19, 2004
The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God!
December 12, 2004
Rejoice, my soul and wonder! - The immortal God became a mortal Man, that fallen, mortal men might live in eternal immortality!
December 5, 2004
The providence of God will never take you where the grace of God will not sustain, keep and bless you.
November 28, 2004
If there is anything in the Book of God with which we should desire to be acquainted it is this upon which our salvation and everlasting consolation depend. - "He hath made him sin for us!" If we would know Christ and the fellowship of his sufferings, if we would look on him whom we have pierced and mourn, if we would die unto sin and bring forth fruit unto God, we must have the gift of God the Holy Spirit to reveal this great mystery to us, that God the Father has laid on Christ the iniquity of us all, that "He hath made him sin for us!"
November 14, 2004
This is the greatest transaction that ever took place upon the earth, the most marvelous sight that men ever saw, and the most stupendous wonder that heaven ever executed. Jesus Christ was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ, the spotless Son of God, was made sin!
November 7, 2004
The Scriptures declare that God's elect were "accepted in the Beloved" and "blessed with all spiritual blessings" in him "before the foundation of the world." Question: Were we accepted and blessed in and with Christ from eternity as righteous or as unrighteous? The obvious answer is the only answer: - as righteous. Blessed, sweet revelation of grace. - Our Lord Jesus Christ is "The Lord Our Righteousness" eternally!
October 24, 2004
The torture of a screaming conscience is the hell of a guilty sinner, both on earth and in eternity. The only way to silence the screams and obtain deliverance is to trust Christ.
October 10, 2004
I would rather play with lightening than speak a slanderous word against one of God's elect.
October 3, 2004
Christ satisfied the justice of God for his elect. And he shall be satisfied by the justice of God with the salvation of his elect. - "He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!"
September 19, 2004
Beware of those preachers who claim to have "new light," especially when their "new light" paints men and churches of proven faithfulness in dark colors. Usually, their "new light" is just old darkness. You will almost always find such men are do-nothings. The only way they can get the attention they crave is by discovering something new and slandering others. In spiritual matters, you can be sure of this fact. - Any new doctrine is false doctrine.
All hell must hoot with laughter while men who profess to be gospel preachers bloviate about theological trivia to immortal souls living but a breath from eternity!
September 12, 2004
Old friends are the best of friends. Old friends have known me in all my frames and are yet friends. I hold them with both hands.
September 5, 2004
There is no grace but free and sovereign grace, no election but eternal and unconditional election, no redemption but particular and effectual redemption, no salvation but by the irresistible grace and omnipotent power of God the Holy Spirit, and no security but by the absolute preservation of God's immutable goodness. And any pretended gospel that does not proclaim these things is, as Paul says, "another gospel" that is damning to the souls of men.
August 22, 2004
A friend is one to whom you never need to explain yourself, one who always puts the best construction possible upon your actions and words, one who is always ready to help. A friend is someone who steps in when everyone else walks out. - I pray for grace to be such a friend.
August 15, 2004
When our doctrine is so "orthodox" that we are fearful of using the very language of Holy Scripture in preaching the gospel, our "orthodoxy" has become utter heresy.
August 8, 2004
That holiness we are urged to pursue, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14), is the righteousness of God in Christ (Phil. 3:7-11).
August 1, 2004
Great people discuss great thoughts. Average people discuss things and events. Little people discuss other people.
July 25, 2004
The publican went down to his house justified because he went down to his house believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would you go home today justified before God, you must do the same. - "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
July 18, 2004
No sermon should ever be preached that does not address eternity bound sinners as eternity bound sinners, urgently persuading them to flee to Christ.
July 11, 2004
"It is god that justifieth!" - Does God the Holy Spirit mean for us to understand that there is a present tense in justification? That certainly appears to be the case. That justification which was accomplished for us in the decree of God eternally and at Calvary in time, which we received by faith in Christ, is that which continually speaks peace to believing sinners. The Word of God is not preached, if the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ is not preached (1 Pet. 1:25).
July 4, 2004
As we celebrate Independence Day as a nation, let us remember those before the throne of grace who are this very day hazarding their lives for the independence of others and the rulers of our nation and the other nations of the world - "For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."
June 27, 2004
It is your great and sweet privilege, child of God, to place all your need over against his riches in grace and glory, and lose sight of the former in the light of the latter.
DEATH ? How foolish it is for a believer to dread it! For the believer, there is no such thing as death. We shall never die, but only put off this temporary tabernacle of clay. What is death? It will be taking off a shoe that hurts my foot. It will be putting aside a tool, whose work is done, for which I have no more use. As soon as I close my eyes in death, all my most earnest, constant prayers and longings of heart will be satisfied. Let us live every day as though it were our last. For the believer there is nothing morbid about death or the anticipation of it. For us, preparing to die is preparing for life's greatest adventure. -- "Mortality swallowed up of life!"
June 20, 2004
All that I have, I bring to God. It came from him and belongs to him. And he can take it by force if he chooses.
June 13, 2004
The believer is a mystery to others and a mystery to himself, too. He is sanctified, yet he feels himself to be the chief of sinners. He loves God's law, yet he wrestles with inward rebellion. He loves Christ, yet he weeps over his lack of love for his Redeemer. He believes God, yet his heart aches because of his horrid unbelief. He has great sorrow and heaviness of heart because of his sin, yet he rejoices in the Lord always. His spirit longs to be with Christ, yet his flesh clings to the earth. He knows that he is secure in Christ, yet he examines his faith continually.
June 6, 2004
When Satan harasses you with the blackness and vileness of your sins, resist his fiery darts by pointing him to the redness and efficacy of Christ's precious blood, and the old serpent will slither away in defeat.
May 23, 2004
The believer is a mystery to others and to himself. He is sanctified, yet he feels himself to be the chief of sinners. He loves God's law, yet he wrestles with an inward desire to have his own way. He has great sorrow and heaviness of heart, yet he rejoices in the Lord always. His spirit longs to be with Christ, yet his flesh clings to the earth. He knows that he is secure in Christ, yet he continually examines himself, whether he be in the faith.
April 18, 2004
All who are kept by God are well kept all the time. My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do. But what I do does not in any way, or to any degree determine my relationship with God.
March 7, 2004
We rejoice in the blood and righteousness of Christ and adore his doctrine, but it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself that we trust, love and worship. ? "Unto you that believe, HE is precious."
February 29, 2004
All forms of man-made religion urge its adherents to show their religious devotion (holiness) to others by doing certain things before them. The Lord Jesus (Matt. 6) tells believers never to attempt to show their devotion to him by doing things before men. The only thing he tells us to show is love to others.
February 22, 2004
The physical aspects of our Savior's agony at Calvary are not recorded in Holy Scripture to evoke sympathy for the Lord Jesus Christ, but to display man's hatred of God.
February 15, 2004
Justification is a work of God wrought for us, entirely outside our experience, without our works or experience. We receive the benefits of that accomplished work by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:10-11); but the work itself was accomplished for us by Christ's sacrifice (Heb. 9:13).
February 8, 2004
In 1771 John Berridge wrote to his friend and fellow-laborer in the gospel, Rowland Hill, "Avoid all controversy in preaching, talking, or writing, and wage no war but with the devil. Preach nothing down but the devil and nothing up but Jesus Christ." Happy is the preacher who follows that wise counsel and blessed are those who hear him.
February 1, 2004
Trust the Lord your God, wait upon him, and hope in his Word. That is the best counsel any man can give to another in any circumstance. O for grace to heed that wise counsel!
January 25, 2004
"Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in you heart." (Zech. 7:10)
January 18, 2004
It is not the work of a faithful pastor to fill the pews, but to fill the pulpit.
January 11, 2004
When Satan reminds me of the blackness of my sins, Christ reminds me of the efficacy of his precious blood.
January 4, 2004
Many preach about the gospel, defending, explaining, and guarding it. Many preach about preaching the gospel. It is my determination to preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ every time I preach to eternity bound sinners.
November 30, 2003
It is the preaching of the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, not protecting, defining, defending, and explaining it, but preaching it. The gospel preached is its own best defense and explanation. So let us preach the gospel of Christ incessantly.
November 23, 2003
Faith in Christ does not induce God to bestow his saving grace upon us. Rather, faith in Christ is the evidence that God has bestowed his saving grace upon us.
October 26, 2003
When you are tempted to think things are just too great, that you just can't go on..."Consider Him." Keep looking away to Christ. Because of his great love for you, he refused to give up his race. He refused to quit on you. "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." May God give us grace not to quit on him. The snail, by patient perseverance, finally reached the ark, and we shall too, as we look away to Christ.
October 19, 2003
The only way to live in this world sensibly is "set your affection on things above," to live in the constant, immediate prospect of eternity.
October 12, 2003
Men make plans, plans that may or may not be executed. The Lord our God has a purpose, a purpose of grace, a purpose that shall be executed.
September 28, 2003
The gospel's best defense is itself. Let us simply and boldly proclaim the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. The naked, unadorned gospel of Christ is "the power of God unto salvation." Everything else is a hindrance.
September 21, 2003
Worship is more than an act of devotion and more than a religious ceremony. Worship is the submission and consecration of ourselves and of all things to the will and glory of our God.
September 14, 2003
Self-centered people live in terribly unhappy and bitter company. Believers should never wallow in self-pity. The moment we begin to feel sorry for ourselves, we are paralyzed. We have every reason to "rejoice in the Lord always," counting our blessings, not our woes. But, as John Flavel once wrote, "Our tears so blind our eyes that we cannot see our mercies."
August 24, 2003
Faith in Christ is not the consent of my mind to a proposition, but the commitment of my life to a Person.
August 17, 2003
I sometimes hear sermons and read articles that appear to have been specifically inspired by the great fear that some of the non-elect might get saved. The gospel is so thoroughly fenced and guarded that the preacher or writer has forgotten to put in even a small gate or narrow door. What a pity! What a waste! The gospel of Christ does not need defending, but proclaiming. Let us ever throw the Door open and urge sinners to enter in by Christ the Door, knowing that all who enter in were brought in by God's free, sovereign, irresistible grace.
August 10, 2003
No man is ever more like Christ in behavior than in the exercise of forgiveness.
August 3, 2003
The Word of God never tells me how others ought to treat me, only how I ought to treat others.
April 6, 2003
The best answer that can be given to slander is always the most difficult to give-silence.
July 27, 2003
What our God has done for us and with us in the past is but a foretaste of what he shall do for us and with us in the future.
June 29, 2003
Self-denial is not merely denying yourself of things, but the denial of self. It is indispensable. It is the first lesson in the school of grace. Without it, there is no possibility of living in the blessed joy of peace and contentment before God
June 8, 2003
If you would find freedom from the bondage and misery of self-pity devote yourself to the service of others.
May 25, 2003
Depression is only a pretty word for unbelief. It is not as much a mental disorder as it is a spiritual disorder. For me to be depressed because of my circumstances is for me to look upon my God as either being without care or without the ability to care for me. Either is a horribly shameful degradation of his character.
May 18, 2003
The valley is the place where the ground is richest, to which all the rain and dew of heaven ultimately descends, and trees grow tallest. May our God be pleased to make his SON to shine in your valley.
May 11, 2003
Always presume that evil suspicions about a brother or sister in Christ are completely false and that evil reports are as well. Of that love which our Savior exercises toward us and we are to exercise toward one another, it is written, "Love thinketh no evil."
May 4, 2003
Our worst days are never so bad and plunge us so low that we are beyond the reach of God's grace. Our best days are never so good and lift us so high that we are beyond the need of God's grace.
March , 30 2003
Self-centered people live in a very small world inhabited by only one person. They are motivated in their actions by the lowest of all base motives (self). And they are corrupted by the company they keep. John Newton once wrote, "I have read of many wicked popes, but the worst pope I ever met with is Pope Self."
March 9, 2003
Envy and malice are the quick sighted eyes, slander the sharp tongue, and gossip the communication of self-centered, wicked people.
February 23, 2003
Saul's son, Jonathan, was a remarkable man. Grace had made him a man of much greater character than his father. He was a man of remarkable faith and courage (I Sam. 14:6-14). He was a gentle and gracious man, a man of self-sacrificing generosity and loyalty. And he was a man of magnanimous love (I Sam. 18:1-3). Knowing that David was God's chosen, anointed king, Jonathan wanted him to be king, though the only way David could wear the crown would be for him to die. How I pray for grace to love God's elect as Jonathan loved David, "as his own soul!"
February 9, 2003
Let us ever live in the immediate reality of eternity. Eternity is, for the believer, a day with no sunset and, for the unbeliever, a night with no sunrise. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
January 26, 2003
Mercy and love, kindness and encouragement, forgiveness and patience are things we all constantly want and need from others. Shall we not constantly bestow them upon others?
Our thoughts are never lower and self-righteousness never greater than when we engage in the hellish practice of trying to determine who is saved and who is lost. Our Lord told us plainly that we can never distinguish tares from wheat. That is his business. Our business is to preach the gospel. Let us be taken up with and have our every thought consumed with the glories of Christ, let us expend all our energy in the great work of preaching our all-glorious Christ to eternity bound sinners. Nothing else is of any real value to the needs of men's souls.
January 19, 2003
Disappointments?-That which others look upon as disappointments believers ought to look upon as indications of divine direction, as one of our heavenly Father's means of graciously ordering our steps in his wise, unerring, adorable and good providence.
January 12, 2003
Our only rule of faith and practice is the Word of God. We have no creed to defend, no denomination to maintain, and no confession to bind our minds. "What do the Scriptures teach?" That is and must be our only concern. If the plain teachings of Holy Scripture appear to destroy or contradict our understanding of any doctrine, let us relinquish the doctrine or acknowledge the fact that our minds are both depraved and microscopic and bow to the revelation of God.
January 5, 2003
If we are not faithful in small things, we would never be faithful if trusted with larger things. If we are not faithful in those things which are unseen and unobserved by men, our show of faithfulness in those things that men see and observe, is nothing more than a display of hypocrisy.
December 15, 2002
The strangest thing about the human body is that when you pat a person on the back, the head swells up.
December 8, 2002
There are only two kinds of preachers-Those who use and those who are used-Those who take and those who give-Those who promote their own cause and those who promote the cause of Christ.
November 24, 2002
Thanksgiving to God, like all other aspects of faith and worship is a work of the heart. As John Trapp put it-"Hearty thanks must be given to God: such as cometh not from the roof of the mouth but the root of the heart."
November 17, 2002
Two of the most encouraging, most delightful, most inspiring and most neglected words in the English language are-"Thank you." To use them without sincerity is hypocrisy. To use them sincerely is but common courtesy. To use them sparingly is a reflection of horrible, self-centeredness, and pride.
November 3, 2002
God once forsook his darling Son, when he was made to be sin for us. But, since Christ has put away our sins, God will never forsake any sinner for whom Christ died, because he can never have any reason to do so!
October 27, 2002
All believers acknowledge their sin in all things; but none are content with it. We rejoice to know that we are freed from sin and without sin before God, but we long to be freed from sin and altogether without sin in our persons!
October 20, 2002
Friends are too rare to lose. Fellowship is too sweet to break. We should never make any conditions for our friendship and fellowship with any man or woman which God has not made for their acceptance with him.
October 13, 2002
No sinner will ever come to Christ for salvation until he must, until he finds himself in such desperate need and so utterly helpless that he has no other option and no other hope. And, blessed be our all-glorious Savior, he still heals them that have need of healing (Luke 9:11).
October 6, 2002
Believers love one another. As Shem and Japheth covered their father's sin, believers seek to cover the faults, failures, weaknesses, and sins of their brethren. As Ham exposed his father's sin, so the sons of Ham (all the cursed) delight in uncovering, exposing, and discussing the faults, failures, weaknesses, and sins of others.-"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God."
"The Best Gift"
The Holy Spirit tells us to "covet earnestly the best gift" (1 Cor. 12:31). Then, he proceeds to describe it. The best gift, the gift we ought to covet is not a gift that calls attention to me, but the one gift that turns my attention away from me to others. The best gift is the gift that does the most good and best serves the interest of men's souls. The best gift is the gift that most fully sets forth the person and work of Christ, most promotes the glory of God, and most reflects the Spirit of grace. The best gift God ever put in the heart of a man, the best gift any man ever exercised in this world, (the best, most laborious, disinterested, self-sacrificing, patient, gentle, kind, forgiving, and most beneficial to others) is love. Oh, how I covet that gift!
September 29, 2002
I sometimes hear sermons and read articles that appear to have been specifically inspired by the great fear that some of the non-elect might get saved. The gospel is so thoroughly fenced and guarded that the preacher or writer has forgotten to put in even a small gate or narrow door. What a pity! What a waste! The gospel of Christ does not need defending, but proclaiming. Let us ever throw the Door open and urge sinners to enter in by Christ the Door, knowing that all who enter in were brought in by God's free, sovereign, irresistible grace.
September 15, 2002
Yes, the Son of God has come to save poor sinners. He has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He has provided a fountain for the cleansing of our souls, and bathes us in it. He has provided the garments of salvation, and puts them on us. He has obtained eternal redemption for us, and gives it to us.
September 8, 2002
We rejoice to know that God sees no sin in his people in so far as his law and justice is concerned (Num. 23:21) and that he will not impute sin to his elect (Rom. 4:8), because he imputed our sins to his dear Son and punished them to the full satisfaction of his holy justice. The Lord God ever sees us in Christ, perfect, accepted, and righteous (Eph. 1:6). Yet, we must never imagine that such grace means that it does not matter what we do, or how we live. That which David did in the matter of Uriah the Hittite "displeased the Lord" (2 Sam. 11:27). Let us ever seek to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing" in all things (Col. 1:10) doing that which pleases him (1 Cor. 7:32).
August 25, 2002
Holiness is not a moral virtue acquired by discipline and work, but the devotion and consecration of the believer to his Redeemer that flows from faith in him who so loved us that he devoted himself to us and gave himself for us.
August 18, 2002
Living in holiness is neither more nor less than living as one separated unto the Lord, consecrated to Christ, living in the pursuit of him.
August 4, 2002
God's holiness is the infinite excellence of his being which sets him apart from all his creatures. Our holiness is the boundless gift and work of his matchless grace in Christ which sets us apart from all others.
July 28, 2002
Our God instructs us to treat aging believers with respect. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." Old saints may not be able to do what they once did; but they may be more useful in the kingdom of God than ever before by the wisdom they have to give. In their old age they are greatly freed from the illusions of youth and fullest in experience. Be wise, "rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man."
July 21, 2002
Worship is the response of our hearts to the greatness and glory of our God. Let us pray that the Lord our God will reveal his greatness and his glory in Christ that we may worship him today.
July 14, 2002
Nothing is more important to your soul's well being than the worship of God in the assembly of his saints. Nothing is more destructive to your soul's well being than the neglect of public worship.
June 2, 2002
Kind words, thoughtful compliments, and deeds of mercy are always appropriate. Happy are those who are the recipients of them. Happier far are those who bestow them!
May 26, 2002
Christ's claims dominion as King over the lives of his people, not over our hearts and souls alone, but over our entire lives-our time-our possessions-our families-our entire lives. And nothing can be more reasonable than that he should (Rom.12:2; 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 19-20).
May 5, 2002
There are two great fools in the world: Those who take nobody's advice and those who take everybody's advice.
May 12, 2002
The preaching of the gospel of the glory of God is the noblest of all callings. Every man born of God ought to be willing to give himself to the work, regardless of cost, if God calls him to it. But that man who is anxious to be a preacher, who wants to preach, and sets out to be a preacher knows nothing of the "burden of the Word of the Lord," and probably has not been called of God to this great work. He who runs without being sent, runs to ruin.
March 3, 2002
The church of God has many critics, but no rivals. This is the family of God, the kingdom of heaven, the temple of the Holy One, the place where Christ's manifests forth his glory, spreads his table, and meets with his people. Blessed beyond description are those people who are privileged to be a part of this family! Truly, as Paul puts it, this is "a habitation of God through the Spirit!"
February 3, 2002
Let us never forget who we are and whose we are. We are the sons and daughters of God. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Everything we say and do reflects, either positively or negatively, upon the name and honor of God our Savior, the gospel of his grace, and his church.
January 20, 2002
Any altar of religious unity upon which the Word of God is sacrificed is a cursed altar at which immortal souls are slaughtered.
January 13, 2002
The local church exists to do corporately what every believer does individually. - To worship the triune God. - To celebrate the praise of our heavenly Father who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. - To show forth the glories of Christ in redemption. - To honor the blessed Spirit of grace by whom we are born again. - This we do by our songs of praise, our supplications before the throne of grace, and by the preaching and hearing of the Word of the Gospel.
January 6, 2002
The Lord Jesus speaks to his people in the midst of great sorrow, tribulation, poverty, and persecution. Knowing the trials we must face in this world, he gives this one word of exhortation - "BE THOU FAITHFUL!" God requires nothing from us but this - "Be thou faithful!" In your daily conversation, in the place of your calling, in your home, with your property, with your gifts and talents, in the house of God, "Be thou faithful!" Faithfulness is a lifelong thing! "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
December 9, 2001
Poor mortals of earth, still so much blinded by sin, so long as we are encumbered with this body of flesh, we shall never be able to fathom the unfathomable, unveil the veiled, or comprehend the incomprehensible. Yet, proud flesh ever tries to put the incomprehensible God into the microscopic box of human reason! Multitudes dispute about things about which they know less than nothing, thinking they are doing God's service, while the glory of God, the comfort and edification of the saints, and needs of eternity bound sinners are altogether neglected. What a roar of laughter there must be in hell!
December 2, 2001
Many attempt to interpret the Word of God upon the basis of logical consistency, assuming that God is logically consistent with them. They interpret the Scriptures philosophically rather than biblically. Thus, they often add to the Word of God, attempting to make it say what it does not, in fact, say. We must not do such a thing. If we reverence the Book of God, where God is silent we must also be silent. -- "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29). Reason must bow to Divine Revelation.
November 18, 2001
Heaven is a world, a state, a condition of blessed, glorious, eternal, satisfying light. The inheritance of God's saints is called the inheritance of light (Col. 1:12). All the light of heaven's glory is Christ, God's Urim (Rev. 21:23; Isa. 60:19-20). Soon, my brother, my sister, we will safely arrive in our glorious, heavenly, eternal home with Christ. Once we have reached Canaan's fair and happy land, we shall perfectly walk in light forever! All the lingering darkness of infidelity, doubt, and fear that vexes us here will be completely dispelled in the twinkling of an eye! Our very souls will be radiant with the beams of light from Christ, which shall forever strike our hearts with wonder, and joy, and praise!
November 11, 2001
We who have experienced God's free, saving grace in Christ, who are the objects of his eternal love, sovereign election, blood redemption, and immaculate mercy ought to be consecrated entirely to him, constantly devoting ourselves to his will, his glory, and his service. Nothing in all the world could be more reasonably expected (Rom. 12:1-2).
October 28, 2001
If ever it should come to pass that one sinner for whom Christ died, for whom he satisfied the justice of God, whose debt he paid, should perish at last in hell, the very justice and truth of God must perish with that sinner.
October 21, 2001
The Son of God did not merely provide for sinners the possibility of redemption. - He actually obtained eternal redemption by the merits of his blood, and obtained it for a specific people, -- his people whom he came to save.
October 14, 2001
We believe, according to the plainest testimony of Holy Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ actually put away the sins of God's elect when he died as our Substitute upon the cross.
October 7, 2001
The sin-atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most crucial issue of Divine Revelation. Satan's assault has been against this grand, foundational gospel doctrine from the beginning, because the fiend of hell knows that compromise here is fatal to the souls of men. Deny particular, effectual redemption, and you have denied the entire gospel.
September 23, 2001
Let us never question the wisdom, goodness and righteousness of our God in providence. Rather, let us seek grace to submit to his will, learn from the events of time to set our hearts upon Christ and eternity, and seek to glorify our God in all things, trusting him implicitly with and in all things.
September 16, 2001
Justice is God's righteousness giving us what we deserve. Mercy is God's kindness withholding from us what we fully deserve. Grace is God's goodness giving us what we do not deserve.
September 9, 2001
The day of judgment is used by preachers and religious leaders to abuse, terrorize, and manipulate people. It is misunderstood by most; but when that great day is understood in the context of God's character and absolute justice, it is a source of great comfort, hope, and joy for all who trust Christ.
September 2, 2001
The confidence we have in God's promises, the peace we find in his faithfulness, the joy afforded us by his goodness, and the assurance we find in his grace and salvation are either founded upon and arise from God's absolute, universal sovereignty or they are the vain delusions of religious emotionalism and no more.
August 12, 2001
The one true and living God is the absolute sovereign of the universe. He has no rival. That means that he always has his way, does what he pleases, performs what he has purposed, and can, therefore, be trusted to accomplish all that he has promised. His will is as irresistible as it is immutable, infallible, wise and good. -- "This is our God. -- He will save us! This is the Lord. -- We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!"
August 5, 2001
That which is the most vital aspect of gospel truth is the point most commonly assailed by Satan and most readily compromised by religious leaders more interested in the approval of men than the glory of God - Particular and Effectual Redemption. Deny this glorious gospel truth, and the whole gospel is denied, the hope of sinners is destroyed, and the blood of Christ is trampled underfoot!
July 22, 2001
The grace of God that brings salvation does not merely give out the lesson, but effectually teaches all to whom it brings salvation to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world" (Tit. 2:11-12).
Why will you Die when life is to be had freely? Why will you perish under the wrath of God, when he "delighteth in mercy"? Why will you rush headlong to hell, when the Door is open in heaven and God himself bids you "Come up hither"? Why will you go on carrying the guilt of sin, when the Lord God is a God who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin? Will you die for thirst, with the Water of Life before you? Will you perish for want of bread, with the Bread of Life on the table? Will you be forever lost? If so, there is but one reason. The Son of God declares it to be this: -- "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life!" Oh, may God be pleased to save you from yourself, for Christ's sake!
June 10, 2001
When the heart is won, all is won. If the heart is not won, nothing is won. Therefore, the Lord God says, "My son, Give me thine heart."
There is no question that those who are born of God, having experienced the power of his grace, are made his willing servants. Yet, everything in the worship and service of God is voluntary. Nothing will ever be accepted of God that is not given and done with a willing heart. I pity those who profess faith in Christ who yet have not a willing heart to worship him, give to his cause, and serve him. My heart aches for them, because their religion, I fear, is a delusion.
May 27, 2001
If I cannot come to God calling him my Father, I will come to him as one who is fatherless, calling him the Father of the fatherless. If I cannot come to him with grace, I will come for grace. If I cannot come with faith, I will come for it. If I cannot come to him with life, I will come to him for life, suing for mercy at his sovereign throne in the name of his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one name he always honors!
April 15, 2001
Sinners are not saved by believing in the righteousness of Christ, but by believing Christ who is our righteousness.
April 1, 2001
We worship one God in the trinity of his sacred Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as he is revealed and embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man Mediator (1 John 5:7; Col. 2:9).
March 25 , 2001
Those who imagine that they know the will of God for their lives are in for a rude awakening. No one knows the will of God for his entire life! We must daily, (constantly!), lift our hearts to our heavenly Father upon the throne of grace and seek his will. He promises that as we do he will direct our paths in his will (Pro. 3:5-6).
March 18, 2001
I am not my own. I belong to the Son of God. He chose me in everlasting love. He made me for himself. He bought me with his own precious blood. He saved me by his almighty grace. He subdued my heart by his mercy and causes me to surrender myself voluntarily to his dominion. I have nothing of my own. I am his. All that he has put into my hands, my time, my talents, my property, even my family, he has put into my hands to use for him, his kingdom, his people, his glory.
March 11, 2001
Our heavenly Father is too wise to err, too strong to fail, and too good to do wrong. -- Oh, that I might learn to trust him!
Grace is unconditional and free. That is to say, God looks for nothing in the sinner, requires nothing of the sinner, and receives nothing from the sinner, which causes him to be gracious. Nothing in us moved God toward us; and nothing in us can move God away from us. Grace is unconditional and free. All the sin that is in us by nature could not prevent God from being gracious to us; and all the evil that is in us now cannot prevent him from continuing to be gracious. Grace is unconditional and free. Therefore, our Savior says, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall NEVER PERISH."
March 4, 2001
When we at last see all things clearly, God's elect will be made to see that those things we most ardently desired on earth would have been fatal to our souls, had we gotten them; and those we most sought to avoid, those which caused us greatest pain, sorrow, and distress were absolutely necessary to our souls' eternal welfare.
February 25, 2001
In the Book of God, Christ is not merely the center of all. -- He is All! The message of Holy Scripture is one. -- It is "Jesus Christ and him crucified." If Christ is not preached, the Scriptures are not faithfully and truthfully expounded.
February 11, 2001
Nothing in all the world is more reasonable than a saved sinner's willing consecration of himself to Christ. In fact, anything less is utterly irrational (Rom. 12:1-2).
January 7, 2001
Prayer is not wrestling with God, trying to get him to grant mercy and grace, which he is reluctant to bestow. Prayer is bowing before the God of all grace and laying hold of his willingness to freely bestow the mercy and grace we need.
January 21, 2001
That which gives this sinner hope before God is neither the depth of my experience, nor measure of my knowledge, nor the strength of my faith, nor the growth in grace I may have received since God saved me, but the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ as my Surety, Substitute, Representative, Mediator, and Advocate with the Father.
February 4, 2001
Eternal life is not what you know about Christ but knowing Christ, the Christ of God revealed in Holy Scripture (John 17:3).
January 16, 2000
One great difference between believers and lost religionists is this: Lost religionists fit the worship of God into their lives. Believers arrange their lives around the worship of God.
January 23, 2000
Worldliness is not easily observed. It is not to be measured by the style of our clothes, the means of innocent relaxation and entertainment, or the place of our residence. Worldliness is the love of the world, the atmosphere of greed, the spirit of ambition, the passion for pleasure and self gratification which consumes the hearts, lives, thoughts, and deeds of lost souls.
January 30, 2000
Believers are a people who, being saved by grace, ruled by love, and motivated by gratitude, seek the will and glory of God in all things.
February 13, 2000
He who has God for his Father, Christ as his Mediator, the Holy Spirit as his Comforter, and Holy Scripture as his Rule has all that he needs.
February 27, 2000
It is better to be exposed, sharply reproved, sternly rebuked, and stand condemned by the faithful ministry of the Word, than to be flattered and applauded by a deceiver.
March 12, 2000
While we rejoice to declare God's mercy, love, and grace to sinners in Christ, the gospel is first and foremost the grand, glorious revelation of God's righteousness in the salvation of sinners through the obedience of Christ as the sinners Substitute.
March 19, 2000
Salvation comes neither by decision, nor indoctrination, but by revelation, by the revelation of Christ in you.
March 26, 2000
It is not scholasticism, but surrender that gives men understanding in the Word of God. It is not acquired learning, but a willingness to bow before the authority of Holy Scripture that opens the mysteries revealed in the Book.
May 7, 2000
To worship a god whose purpose can be defeated, whose will can be thwarted, whose work can be overturned, and whose grace can be frustrated is to worship an idol. Such a god is no GOD at all.
May 14, 2000
The Word of God in its entirety, and nothing but the Word of God, is the creed of Christ's church and kingdom.
May 21, 2000
Believers err in many things, fall in many ways, and sin is mixed with all they do; but in the tenor of their lives all believers are faithful, seeking the will and glory of God in all things and above all things.
May 28, 2000
The very justice of God demands the everlasting salvation of every redeemed sinner. Justice will not allow the sins of God's elect, imputed to Christ at Calvary and punished in him to the full satisfaction of God's holy law, to be imputed again to those for whom Christ died.
June 4, 2000
A god that wants what he does not have, desires what he does not get, purposes what he does not accomplish, plans what he does not complete, wills what does not happen, or tries to perform what he does in fact perform is no God at all, but only a idol carved from on of the trees in the dark forest of man's depraved mind.
June 11, 2000
When a dead corpse can, by the exercise of its own will, raise itself to life, then, and not until then, can a soul dead in sin raise itself to spiritual life by the exercise of its will.
June 18, 2000
When God the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in a sinner, faith is bestowed, all grace is conferred, and everlasting salvation is granted.
July 2, 2000
Believers are a people who know God, the true and living God, as he is revealed in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, their only, all-sufficient Substitute.
July 9, 2000
The Word of God is not faithfully and truthfully preached, unless the glorious Gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, flowing to needy sinners through Christ crucified, is preached. – The singular message of Holy Scripture is "Jesus Christ and him crucified."
July 16, 2000
There is absolutely no difference between the denial of God's sovereignty and the denial of God's being. Arminianism is neither more nor less than religious atheism.
July 23, 2000
It is God's right as God to do with his own what he will, to be gracious to whom he will be gracious, to have compassion on whom he will have compassion, to save whom he will and to harden whom he will.
July 30, 2000
When the Lord Jesus Christ poured out his life's blood at Calvary, he did not make salvation a possibility, but a reality. He obtained eternal redemption for God's elect.
September 10, 2000
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy tasted makes people merciful. Kindness known makes people kind. Forgiveness enjoyed makes people forgiving. Love felt makes people loving. These are not suggestions about what God's people ought to be, but statements of fact about what all true believers are.
September 17, 2000
Any mixture of works with grace, of merit with mercy, of what man does with what Christ has done in the matter of salvation, at any point, to any degree, is damning to the souls of men. – "Salvation is of the Lord!"
September 24, 2000
Since God has ordained that his people walk in good works (Eph. 2:10), we are assured that God will graciously cause them to do so by the sweet constraint of his grace.
October 15, 2000
In the church and kingdom of God all things are exactly opposite to the world. In spiritual matters, those who are weakest are strongest, those who know the least know the most, those who are poorest are richest, and those who are most useless are most useful.
October 22, 2000
All that is done for the glory of God in the service of his kingdom must be done voluntarily, constrained by no law but love, governed by no principle but gratitude, guided by no standard but Holy Scripture, and hoping for nothing but the glory of the triune God and the good of his people.
October 29, 2000
I have no hope of acceptance with the holy Lord God but Christ, no atonement for sin but his precious blood, and no righteousness before God but his righteousness.
November 5, 2000
Good works, whatever they are, are works performed by God's saints because of his grace working in them. -- Those who perform them never imagine that they have done so. -- The only people who imagine they have performed good works are lost religious hypocrites (Matt. 25:31-46).
November 12, 2000
The believer's Sabbath is Christ. We keep no sabbath but the sabbath of faith. Trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer has ceased from his works, finding acceptance with God in Christ alone.
November 19, 2000
Someone once said, "You're only as old as you feel, but seldom as important." That is much the same as what David wrote in Psalm 39:5 – "Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity."
November 26, 2000
Love seeks only one thing: the good of its object. All other matters are of secondary concern and subservient to that one thing.
December 26, 1999
It is not what I know, or how much, that saves me, but who. Salvation is not a doctrine, but a Person! No one can be saved without God's election; but election is not salvation. Christ is God's Salvation.
December 5, 1999
Evidence based assurance is false assurance. True assurance is the "assurance of faith".
November 28, 1999
The only person who will ever try to convince a lost person he is saved is another lost person.
November 21, 1999
Seek Christ. Pursue Christ. Get Christ. Christ is God's Salvation. Christ is the believer's only and all-sufficient Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption. Christ is that Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
November 14, 1999
Sinful man does not secure the grace of God to himself by an act of his imaginary free will. - God, by an act of his sovereign will, has secured his grace, in all its fulness, to chosen men from eternity.
November 7, 1999
Knowledge is not salvation. One can know the doctrines of the gospel and not know Christ. Yet, knowledge is essential to saving faith. There is no salvation without the knowledge of the living God as he is revealed in the person and work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3).
October 24, 1999
All false religion is primarily outward, designed to get the attention the applause of men. All true religion is primarily inward, seeking the will and glory of God alone.
October 17, 1999
Right doctrine is no more capable of saving you than right doing. It is Christ who is our Savior, -- not our doctrine or our deeds, but Christ himself.
September 26, 1999
Anyone who lifts up his tool upon God's altar or puts his hand upon God's ark pollutes it and shall be slain under the wrath of God for presuming to add anything to the finished work of Christ.
September 19, 1999
Nothing will ever satisfy the heart and conscience of a sinner except that which satisfies the law and justice of God - the perfect righteousness and sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
September 12, 1999
Everything that is, has been, and shall hereafter be, necessarily must be, for the glory of God and the salvation of his elect. Otherwise it would not be.
September 5, 1999
Salvation is, in its entirety, the work of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ. Election, redemption, justification, sanctification, and preservation are all works of grace alone, in no way conditioned upon the will, works, or worth of the sinner.
August 29, 1999
Saints are sinners accepted in the Savior.
August 22, 1999
Religion without Christ is the most damning thing in the world. It is, in every ceremony and service, "eating and drinking damnation" to yourself.
August 15, 1999
Believers are sinners saved by the free grace of God in Christ, saved by mercy, saved because of undeserved mercy, forgiven of all sin by an act of divine goodness. All who have truly experienced such grace are themselves gracious, merciful, forgiving, loving, and good to others.
August 8, 1999
What a person is in his closet, alone before the all-seeing God, that he is and no more.
August 1, 1999
Faithful gospel preachers are described in the Book of God as -- "Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." They are men who count not their lives dear unto themselves. Called of God to be the servants of Jesus Christ, they are separated by God and separate themselves unto the gospel.
July 25 1999
It matters not at what point men attempt to mix works with grace, the two cannot be mixed. Any mixture of grace and works in the affair of salvation (Election, Redemption, Justification, Preservation, Sanctification, or Glorification) is a total denial of grace. Salvation is the work of the triune God alone.
July 18 1999
Christ crucified is not the central message of Scripture, or the dominant message of Scripture, or the most important message of Scripture. Christ crucified is the singular message of Holy Scripture. The doctrine of the Bible is Christ!
July 11, 1999
Without Christ's cleansing blood and covering righteous-ness, religion is but an empty shell. All the doctrines, ceremonies, professions and works of Christless religion are but the empty husks that swine eat. They can never satisfy!
July 4, 1999
On this day, when our nation celebrates its independence and freedom, let us pray that our God may visit our land, -- once so blessed -- now so cursed, with his almighty grace!
June 27, 1999
God commands his servants to speak to the hearts of his people (Isa. 40:1); but no man can speak to the heart of another man, unless God the Holy Spirit speaks through that man. So pray for the man who preaches the gospel to you. Oh, may God speak through his servant!
June 20, 1999
The reason most people feel "unfulfilled" and unhappy is that they spend their lives trying to make themselves happy. Happiness is found in seeking the happiness of others.
June 13, 1999
The legalist lowers the standard of God's law to the level of his obedience (disobedience). The believer refuses to compromise God's holy law, knowing that it can only be fulfilled and established by faith in Christ
June 6, 1999
My relationship with God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with the eternal God. That is a matter of pure, free grace.
May 30, 1999
Free will, works religion is worse than man-centered religion. It is religion that deifies man, putting him in the place of God, and worships him.
May 23, 1999
Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.
May 16, 1999
Godliness is not manifest in the garments with which we adorn our bodies, but in the grace that adorns our souls.
May 9, 1999
Freedom from the law does not mean, nor does it promote licentiousness. Our freedom in Christ is "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." It is liberty to worship and serve the Lord our God without fear.
May 2, 1999
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy enjoyed makes them merciful. Forgiveness received makes them forgiving. And faith bestowed makes them faithful.
April 25, 1999
Everything God requires of and gives to needy sinners is in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
APRIL 18, 1999
No one can be saved without God's election; but election is not salvation. Christ is God's Salvation.
April 11, 1999
The Word of God is not preached, if the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ is not preached (1 Pet. 1:25).
April 4, 1999
As Christ is the believer's all before God, so Christ is God's all to the believer.
September 21, 1986
I can see only one real difference between Peter and Judas: the blood of Christ!
Everything God requires of and gives to needy sinners is in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
Grace experienced makes people gracious. Mercy enjoyed makes them merciful. Forgiveness received makes them forgiving. And faith bestowed makes them faithful.
Freedom from the law does not mean, nor does it promote licentiousness. Our freedom in Christ is "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." It is liberty to worship and serve the Lord our God without fear.
Free will, works religion is worse than man-centered religion. It is religion that deifies man, putting him in the place of God, and worships him.
My relationship with God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with the eternal God. That is a matter of pure, free grace.
The legalist lowers the standard of God's law to the level of his obedience (disobedience). The believer refuses to compromise God's holy law, knowing that it can only be fulfilled and established by faith in Christ
The reason most people feel "unfulfilled" and unhappy is that they spend their lives trying to make themselves happy. Happiness is found in seeking the happiness of others.
God commands his servants to speak to the hearts of his people (Isa. 40:1); but no man can speak to the heart of another man, unless God the Holy Spirit speaks through that man. So pray for the man who preaches the gospel to you. Oh, may God speak through his servant!
Without Christ's cleansing blood and covering righteous-ness, religion is but an empty shell. All the doctrines, ceremonies, professions and works of Christless religion are but the empty husks that swine eat. They can never satisfy!
Godliness is not manifest in the garments with which we adorn our bodies, but in the grace that adorns our souls.
Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.
Christ is the gospel, not Calvinism. It is not believing the doctrines of grace that obtains God's salvation, but trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christ is the believer's all before God, so Christ is God's all to the believer.
Electing love is in Christ. Adoption is in Christ. Accomplished redemption is in Christ. Forgiveness is in Christ. Acceptance with God is in Christ.
Righteousness is in Christ. Justification is in Christ. Sanctification is in Christ. Preservation is in Christ. Salvation is in Christ.
If you are without Christ, you are without life, without hope, without God.
Any sermon which leaves sinners looking at themselves, their works, their feelings, their achievements, their failures, their sins, or even their faith, rather than looking to Christ, ought never to have been preached. The object of preaching is to turn the eyes of sinners to the sinners' Substitute.