Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Ephesians 6:10 (New King James Version)
Fools For Christ's Sake by Samuel Logan Brengle
TO THE NATURAL HEART AND the unsanctified mind the commands of God are foolishness. 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee' (Gen. xii. 1), said God to Abraham. How foolish to leave home and wealth and greatness to go to a land that he knew not! But Abraham believed and obeyed and became heir of the world. 'I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt' (Exod. iii. 10), was God's word to Moses. What folly for this poor shepherd, who forty years before had fled from the face of Pharaoh a hunted murderer and vagabond, to seek to deliver a nation of slaves from the iron hand of the haughtiest, mightiest monarch of earth!
Does your call to work for God seem foolish, unreasonable, impossible? 'Have faith in God' (Mark xi. 22). Obey like Abraham and Moses and Paul, and you will yet praise Him for all the way He led you and for the part He gave you to do in winning the world from Satan back to God.
Does God call you? Be not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Stay not in the order of your going. Let nothing hinder you. Go and God will be with you as He was with Moses and Paul, and as the years speed by you will increasingly thank God that no business prospects, no fond friendships, no lust of power or love of secluded ease kept you from the battle's front with its burdens and bitter conflicts and fierce sorrows and soul-satisfying triumphs. One soul joining in the anthem of the redeemed ones around the Throne, saved from Hell through your labors, will pay you for all your toils; one look at the face of Jesus will reward you for all your privations. What care Peter and John and Paul now, if they did lose all to follow Jesus, and did suffer and die for the men they sought to save? And what will you care??
Whether we think of or speak to God; whether we act or suffer for him; all is prayer when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him. --John Wesley
Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered
Psalm 40:4,5
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God" Galatians 2.20
The Ten Marks of a Flesh-Pleaser
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Richard Baxter
The signs of a flesh-pleaser or sensualist are these:
1. When a man in his desire to please his appetite, does not do it with a view to a higher end, that is to say to the preparing himself for the service of God; but does it only for the delight itself. (Of course no one does every action conciously with a view to the service of God. Nevertheless, the general manner or habit of a life spent in the service of God is absent for the flesh-pleaser.)
2. When he looks more eagerly and industriously after the prosperity of his body than of his soul.
3. When he will not refrain from his pleasures, when God forbids them, or when they hurt his soul, or when the necessities of his soul call him away from them. But he must have his delight whatever it costs him, and is so set upon it, that he cannot deny it to himself.
4. When the pleasures of his flesh exceed his delights in God, and his holy word and ways, and the expectations of endless pleasure. And this not only in the passion, but in the estimation, choice, and action. When he had rather be at a play, or feast, or other entertainment, or getting good bargains or profits in the world, than to live in the life of faith and love, which would be a holy and heavenly way of living.
5. When men set their minds to scheme and study to make provision for the pleasures of the flesh; and this is first and sweetest in their thoughts.
6. When they had rather talk, or hear, or read of fleshly pleasures, than of spiritual and heavenly delights.
7. When they love the company of merry sensualists, better than the communion of saints, in which they may be exercised in the praises of their Maker.
8. When they consider that the best place to live and work is where they have the pleasure of the flesh. They would rather be where they have things easy, and lack nothing for the body, rather than where they have far better help and provision for the soul, though the flesh be pinched for it.
9. When he will be more eager to spend money to please his flesh than to please God.
10. When he will believe or like no doctrine but "easy-believism," and hate mortification as too strict "legalism." By these, and similar signs, sensuality may easily be known; indeed, by the main bent of the life.
"man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty"
- John Calvin
MEN, WE MUST PREACH WITH AUTHORITY
Matthew 7:29
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. If I may, I would like to address all men who have been given the great responsibility of presenting the Gospel to the church. Any Christian man, who stands before any church, and speaks the good message of the gospel.
The word authority in this passage comes from a Greek word, "Exousia". This word is best explained by words such as; force, competency, mastery, and power. Man could never have such authority as Christ exhibited, for this was God exalting Himself. However, It cannot be refuted that as men are strengthened in faith, the natural result will be a message delivered with great conviction, great force, great competency, combined with great humility. The authority we possess is a by-product of a great passion to glorify God. When faith has made our redeemer and our redemption so vivid, we will not be able, many times, to contain ourselves. The dry, weary message will seldom cross our lips.
We will not have to find our motivation in any other source or program. We will not need to adjust our methodology to attract people and "Atmosphere". We will not have to invent ways to become excited and recharged. For the mysteries of the unsearchable riches and greatness of God will have been so manifested in our lives by the grace of faith, our only motivation will be GOD, and His glory, forever more. The power of the gospel will be so overwhelming in our lives, and so meaningful in our lives, we will stand and proclaim with great authority this gospel. And the words that are spoken will be dripping with sincerity, and love, and power.
And as the gospel so perfectly does, it will humble us in our inability, eliminate all our boasting, and make us dependant upon God's power alone. Therefore, I say that with authority comes great humility. And with this humility comes a great desire to be competent in scripture. We will desire mastery in the things of God. We will study, and pray, and seek God, for our passion will be to thoroughly glorify God.
Therefore, I encourage you men who so desire to preach. Be strong in faith, speak with authority, speak with humility. Sheep desire undershepherds who believe completely in the Good Shepherd. And if we believe completely, it will so be reflected in our preaching.
In God's Grace,
Jack Gilbert, Pastor
WE EXIST TO GLORIFY GOD
Ephesians 1:12
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Within this passage there are few words, yet they contain great doctrine and great power. I was reading something my wife had written to put on the women's web page. It was about the Glory of God, and it spoke of our neglectfulness in doing all things primarily for the Glory of God. The truth is that we have been tightly wrapped in the bad doctrine of humanism, which says, "The end of all things is the happiness of man". The doctrine of truth says, "The end of all things is the glory of God". God does grant us great happiness, not as a prime product, but as a by product of glorifying God.
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for glory means, "Weightiness" or "Heavy". The Greek word for glory used in the New testament is, "doxa", which means, "Opinion" or "High opinion". Everything about this word glory, is about our preception of God. Do you preceive God as weighty or substantial? Do you have a HIGH opinion of God? Am I to think for a moment that I can simply decide one day to have a HIGH opinion of God? I have heard people comment that they needed to, "Sow a few wild oats first", then they would, "Receive" God. We must realize that we NEED God to show us of Himself. Our only hope of seeing God's greatness, is God showing His greatness. For me to see God's greatness, for me to glorify God, I must know Him in a manner that can only be revealed, not self generated.
The Lord would have us know this; There is nothing wrong with you desiring happiness for you or your children. I am not to sacrifice the happiness of my children or myself with the motive of glorifying God. Boasting has been excluded. I am not to have a testimony of how I sacrificed all these good things for the sake of God's glory. God has given us a desire to be happy and a desire to see our children happy - THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus, " For the joy set before Him, endured the cross". There is a Joy set before us and our children. We cannot boast in our great sacrifice. We only sacrifice this world for eternity, hopelessness for hope, strife for peace, death for life, and we desire this for our children.
Living a life for the glory of God is by GRACE. It is God revealed to us, giving us the ability to exalt Him. And also, living a life for the glory of God is not about sacrificing good for you or your children (Boasting has been excluded). Giving God glory is about realizing where true joy comes from, for us and our children. The doctrine of true joy is in the Gospel: God's greatness, man's need for a redeemer, and knowing Jesus Christ as the redeemer. Eternity in the presence of God's glory is TRUE JOY without comparison!
I heard a brother in Christ say this, "God is most glorified in me, when I am most satisfied in Him". I believe that to be true. I want my children to Glorify God, therefore, I desire my children to be satisfied in God. I pray that by God's grace we might Glorify God greatly and find our satisfaction in God through Christ alone.
It was for His pleasure that we were created.
Your fellow bondservant of Christ,
Pastor Jack
The Regenerate man is a holy man.
He endeavors to live according to God’s will, to do the things that please God, to avoid the things that God hates. His aim and desire is to love God with heart and soul, and mind and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself. His wish is to be continually looking to Christ as his example as well as his Savior, and to show himself Christ’s friend by doing whatever Christ commands. No doubt he is not perfect. None will tell you that sooner than himself. He groans under the burden of indwelling corruption cleaving to him. He finds an evil principle within him constantly warring against grace, and trying to draw him away from God. But he does not consent to it, though he cannot prevent its presence.
In spite of all short-comings, the average bent and bias of his ways is holy—his doings holy—his tastes holy—and his habits holy. In spite of all his swerving and turning aside, like a ship going against a contrary wind, the general course of his life is in one direction—toward God and for God. And though he may sometimes feel so low that he questions whether he is a Christian at all, in his calmer moments he will generally be able to say, with old John Newton, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world—but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”
~ J.C. Ryle
