The Reformed room Bible study

[CCWoody]

Welcome to our Bible study.
Here are the rules:

You must confess the following creeds:

The Apostles Creed (http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html)
The Nicene Creed (http://www.reformed.org/documents/nicene.html)
The Athanasian Creed (http://www.reformed.org/documents/athanasian.html)
The purpose here is not to prevent non-believers from reading the Bible (I'd probably buy Bibles for them if I knew they would read them and I'd help answer their questions), but this is a Bible study for the disciples. And, I'm not trying to keep the EO out of this Bible study. I understand you do not use the Nicene or Athanasian creeds. But, I do suspect that you don't think there is anything wrong with them, either. This is just to make it known that this is a believers Bible study for disciples.

Here is the format:

The daily devotional is based upon the Bible reader in the 1662 Episcopal prayer book (what else would an ex-Episcopalian pick) and is divided into Morning prayer & Evening prayer. Each prayer time is divided into 2 lessons, one OT & one NT, and several readings from the book of Psalms.

The result is that the OT is read once each year (minus some duplicate type passages & a few other passages) and the NT is read twice (Revelation is read once in December). The book of Psalms is read every month (some people opt for the alternate reading from Proverbs during months with 31 days).

Anyone wishing to be added so that you can receive the lessons list needs to let me know and I'll get you added.


Additional information:

Additionally, via email for those interested, I publish Spurgeon, Edwards, & other Calvinist sermons, and various commentaries which pertain to the current reading on a fairly regular basis. The volume can be quite large, but I'd rather send too much than not enough. This way, should you want to receive the sermon material, you can have plenty for you reading enjoyment to enhance your study by reading the wealth of other venerable Calvinist divines. Simply read what you want or have time for, but know that I read everything before it is sent and I have a full time job and a mess of kids so it's not that much.

I'm also not opposed to occational sermons by non-Calvinists. After all, I get one every week and I haven't been turned to mush yet. But, this is Reformed so the bulk of extra material will be Reformed in nature.


The translations:

This year, I am reading the Geneva Bible, with the study notes. Anyone who desires can download a copy to read with me from http://www.e-sword.net/ (http://www.e-sword.net/) Since this is a Reformed Bible study, why not use the Bible of the Reformers and the Bible that was carried to America and the Bible that got under the English King's skin (what can I say, but if you hadn't guessed from my avatar, I have a bit of the Scottish blood and anything that irritated the English must be a good thing).

The actual study list pulls the reading material directly using the Bible Gateway (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible) and the NJKV. When I have a few other things finished, I'll have the translation as a user option. But, until then, any translation will do. I'm just fore-warning you now what is programmed into the system.

[CCWoody]

From the OT lesson from Morning prayer May 26.

1 Kings 22:19-23 GB
(19) Again he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sit on his throne, and all the (p) host of heaven stood about him on his right hand and on his left hand.
(20) And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab that he may go and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
(21) Then there came forth a spirit, and (q) stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? (22) And he said, I will go out, and be a (r) false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. Then he said, Thou shalt entice him, and shalt also prevail: go forth, and doe so. (23) Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath appointed evil against thee.


(Geneva)
(p) Meaning, his angels.
(q) Here we see that though the devil is always ready to bring us to destruction, yet he has no more power than God gives him.
(r) I will cause all his prophets to tell lies.

I have a few comments:

This is an excellent verse to demonstrate that the Lord has always had perfect control over Satan & his demons. Even in Eden, Satan was no more able to deceive Eve than he was given permission to do so by the LORD God. They have always had this chain around their necks. So, I think it amusing that the Premills chide us Amills about Satan being bound. The boy has always been bound. He is just bound in an interesting new way in this "time of the Gentiles," according to us Amills.
The Lord clearly appoints evil against men. He sent an evil spirit to entice Ahab to go and get himself killed in battle and even preserved Jehoshaphat when he knew that they were taking the council of false prophets. Unless one is willing to test the spirits to know whether they speak the truth, you will fall for any old Satanic lie. This requires that one already know the revealed word of God before seeking anything from the spirits. Though it not worthwhile to mention any pseudo-Christian church, there are those who pray for a secret word of confirmation first, even praying to see what written words to believe. It is entirely possible that the Lord has appointed evil against them. It should cause a trembling fear to know that one is completely at the mercy of God to receive the truth.
Wouldn't this delusion sent by God violate the "free will" principle that is a cornerstone of Arminian theology?


A selection from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God (http://www.reformed.org/books/pink/index.html):
The Sovereignty of God in Administration (Ch 3).

The angels are God's servants, His messengers, His chariots. They ever hearken to the word of His mouth and do His commands. "And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and He repented Him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed. It is enough, stay now thine hand... And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put his sword again into the sheath thereof" (1 Chron. 21:15, 27).Many other Scriptures might be cited to show that the angels are in subjection to the will of their Creator and perform His bidding -"And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod" (Acts 12:11). "And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done" (Rev. 22:6). So it will be when our Lord returns: "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity" (Matt. 13:41). Again, we read, "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other" (Matt. 24:31).

The same is true of evil spirits: they, too, fulfill God's Sovereign decrees. An evil spirit is sent by God to stir up rebellion in the camp of Abimelech: "Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem," which aided him in the killing of his brethren (Judges 9:23). Another evil spirit He sent to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets-"Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee" (1 Kings 22:23). And yet another was sent by the Lord to trouble Saul-"But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him" (1 Sam. 16:14). So, too, in the New Testament: a whole legion of the demons go not out of their victim until the Lord gave them permission to enter the herd of swine.

It is clear from Scripture, then, that the angels, good and evil, are under God's control, and willingly or unwillingly carry out God's purpose. Yea, SATAN himself is absolutely subject to God's control. When arraigned in Eden, he listened to the awful sentence but answered not a word. He was unable to touch Job until God granted him leave. So, too, he had to gain our Lord's consent before he could "sift" Peter. When Christ commanded him to depart-"Get thee hence, Satan"-we read, "Then the Devil leaveth Him" (Matt. 4:11). And, in the end, he will be cast into the Lake of Fire which has been prepared for him and his angels.

The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. His government is exercised over inanimate matter, over the brute beasts, over the children of men, over angels good and evil, and over Satan himself. No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of Devil-nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation of faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.

[CCWoody]

From the NT lesson from Morning prayer May 26.

An argument for Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, & Limited Atonement.

This is the gospel of Christ:

John 10
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.... and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep...."
The Lord Himself says it crystal clear: "I give my life for the sheep." We hear His voice, we believe, because we are sheep. Those who are not sheep don't believe just exactly as the Lord Himself tells us:

But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep!
Jesus gave His life for the sheep, not the goats. Goats dont' turn into sheep because they believe. The don't believe because they are ALREADY goats, just as we are told.

[CCWoody]

From the OT lesson from Morning prayer May 27.

Aren't children innocent and aren't we suppose to be converted and be like them? At least, this is what my Methodist brethren insist. Why then would the name of the Lord be stained with innocent blood, over nothing more than an insult that Elisha is bald?

2 Kings 2:23-24 GB
(23) And he went up from thence unto Beth-el. And as he was going up the way, little children came out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Come up, thou bald head, come up, thou bald head.
(24) And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed (n) them in the name of the Lord. And two bears came out of the forest, and tare in pieces two and forty children of them.
(Geneva)
(n) Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he asks God to avenge the injury done to him.

[ksen]

From the OT lesson from Morning prayer May 27.



Aren't children innocent and aren't we suppose to be converted and be like them? At least, this is what my Methodist brethren insist. Why then would the name of the Lord be stained with innocent blood, over nothing more than an insult that Elisha is bald?



2 Kings 2:23-24 GB (23) And he went up from thence unto Beth-el. And as he was going up the way, little children came out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Come up, thou bald head, come up, thou bald head.

(24) And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed (n) them in the name of the Lord. And two bears came out of the forest, and tare in pieces two and forty children of them.

(Geneva)

(n) Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he asks God to avenge the injury done to him.
I think we also have this false image in our head that these "children" ripped apart by the bear were these cute, little 4 and 5 year olds when that was probably not the case.

[Gabriel]

Perhaps they are of the same age of the "children" used by Clinton in his gun ban stats? But I stray from the topic....

[ksen]

Perhaps they are of the same age of the "children" used by Clinton in his gun ban stats? But I stray from the topic....
:D :D :D :D

[CCWoody]

Here is a fascinating commentary from the Geneva Bible study notes:

Hebrews 2:5 GB
(5) (3) For he has not put in subjection unto the Angels the (f) world to come, whereof we speak.
(Geneva)
(3) If it was an atrocious matter to condemn the angels who are but servants, it is much more atrocious to condemn that most mighty King of the restored world.
(f) The world to come, of which Christ is Father, (Isa_9:6) or the Church, which as a new world, was to be gathered together by the gospel.


I'm not quite sure what to make of this comment.

[LynneClomina]

the two times it says children, they are different words...

the first "children" =
Na`ar nah'-ar Noun Masculine

Definition
a boy, lad, servant, youth, retainer
.......boy, lad, youth
.......servant, retainer


the "42 children" =
Yeled yeh'-led Noun Masculine

Definition
child, son, boy, offspring, youth
.....child, son, boy
.....child, children
.....descendants
.....youth
.....apostate Israelites (fig.)

could it have something to do with the figurative? a type? :scratch:

[LynneClomina]

Here is a fascinating commentary from the Geneva Bible study notes:

Hebrews 2:5 GB
(5) (3) For he has not put in subjection unto the Angels the (f) world to come, whereof we speak.
(Geneva)
(3) If it was an atrocious matter to condemn the angels who are but servants, it is much more atrocious to condemn that most mighty King of the restored world.
(f) The world to come, of which Christ is Father, (Isa_9:6) or the Church, which as a new world, was to be gathered together by the gospel.


I'm not quite sure what to make of this comment.

Father:
'ab
Phonetic Spelling awb
Noun Masculine

Definition
1.father of an individual
2.of God as father of his people
3.head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan
4.ancestor
.....a.grandfather, forefathers -- of person
.....b.of people
5.originator or patron of a class, profession, or art
6.of producer, generator (fig.)
7.of benevolence and protection (fig.)
8.term of respect and honour
9.ruler or chief (spec.)

kind of another way of saying Christ is the HEAD of the church, i guess...?

[LynneClomina]

heb. 2:13And again:


"I will put My trust in Him."[4]


And again:


"Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."

God gave us over to Christ as the "father" or "head of household" of His church...

could it be... by the fall we were cast out of the Fathers house, but with Christ, we are adopted into the family of which Christ is head? :scratch: so we have two Fathers...? :confused:

[LynneClomina]

2 Kings 4
Elisha Raises the Shunammite's Son
(1) 8 Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. 9And she said to her husband, "Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. 10Please, let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; so it will be, whenever he comes to us, he can turn in there."
11And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper room and lay down there. 12Then he said to Gehazi his servant, "Call this Shunammite woman." When he had called her, she stood before him. 13And he said to him, "Say now to her, "Look, you have been concerned for us with all this care. What can I do for you? Do you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?"'
She answered, "I dwell among my own people."
14So he said, "What then is to be done for her?"
And Gehazi answered, "Actually, she has no son, and her husband is old."
15So he said, "Call her." When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16Then he said, "About this time next year you shall embrace a son."
And she said, "No, my lord. Man of God, do not lie to your maidservant!"
17But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.
18And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. 19And he said to his father, "My head, my head!"
So he said to a servant, "Carry him to his mother." 20When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. 22Then she called to her husband, and said, "Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back."
23So he said, "Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath."
And she said, "It is well." 24Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, "Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you." 25And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, the Shunammite woman! 26Please run now to meet her, and say to her, "Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?"'
And she answered, "It is well." 27Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, "Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me."
28So she said, "Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, "Do not deceive me'?"
29Then he said to Gehazi, "Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child."
30And the mother of the child said, "As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you." So he arose and followed her. 31Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, "The child has not awakened."
32When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. 33He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the LORD. 34And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. 35He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36And he called Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite woman." So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, "Pick up your son." 37So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.
i found this very powerful. grasping the promises of God....

[CCWoody]

Regarding the Geneva note about Jesus being the Father in the next world, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. We have certainly seen the damage that can be done by taking a doctrine like this and running with it. There is this whole pseudo-Christian group who claims advancement in the "priesthood" to the point that some of them will eventually be gods.

And, yes, we who are faithful do cherish the promises of the Lord.

Psalms 119:167 GB
(167) My soule hath kept thy testimonies: for I loue them exceedingly.


I'm a bit tied up today (it's what happens when I am in the middle of a new technology design), but hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some time to format a little Spurgeon and make a comment or two.

[HarleyD]

:wave: Hi Reformers.

For those of you who don't know me I've been a Christian for over 30+ years but only a Reformer for the last year. :clap: I became a Reformer when I heard a message about the God's sovereignty. Something I never heard in the churches I've attended. :cry:

It is no small thing that there are three major events in my life; when God revealed Himself to me, when I was baptized, and when I discovered I was elected. May I bring glory to His name. (and hopefully I'll figure out how to use this site soon. ;) )

HarleyD

[rnmomof7]

From the OT lesson from Morning prayer May 27.

Aren't children innocent and aren't we suppose to be converted and be like them? At least, this is what my Methodist brethren insist. Why then would the name of the Lord be stained with innocent blood, over nothing more than an insult that Elisha is bald?

2 Kings 2:23-24 GB
(23) And he went up from thence unto Beth-el. And as he was going up the way, little children came out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Come up, thou bald head, come up, thou bald head.
(24) And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed (n) them in the name of the Lord. And two bears came out of the forest, and tare in pieces two and forty children of them.
(Geneva)
(n) Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he asks God to avenge the injury done to him.

Thanks Woody that is more ammunition in the age of accountability Debate.

I always use the flood and sodom...this is more direct

[rnmomof7]

:wave: Hi Reformers.

For those of you who don't know me I've been a Christian for over 30+ years but only a Reformer for the last year. :clap: I became a Reformer when I heard a message about the God's sovereignty. Something I never heard in the churches I've attended. :cry:

It is no small thing that there are three major events in my life; when God revealed Himself to me, when I was baptized, and when I discovered I was elected. May I bring glory to His name. (and hopefully I'll figure out how to use this site soon. ;) )

HarleyD

Hey Harley , I am glad you found your way here from FR

[CCWoody]

Now that we are back online, here is a part of the last Spurgeon sermon I sent by email. If anyone wants to receive them, please PM me an email address and I will add you.


PERSONAL AND EFFECTUAL CALLING..
NO. 2359

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S DAY, MAY 6TH, 1894,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26TH, 1888.

<B>“He calleth his own sheep by Name, and leadeth them out.” — John 10:3

</B>http://www.spurgeon.org/images/i.gifF YOU were near an Eastern village, you would probably see a large square, walled about with stones rolled roughly one upon another. You would also see a gate, and perhaps more than one entrance into this enclosure. The square is empty through the day; for the flocks have gone into the neighboring pastures; but, towards evening, at certain seasons of the year, all the shepherds bring their flocks to these enclosures, and there they are shut in for the night all together. One man has but a few sheep, and another man has only a few sheep, while the more wealthy owner has larger flocks; but all are enclosed in what I will call the parish fold. Now the morning comes; the sun is up early, and so is the shepherd. The porter is at the door, and he recognizes the various sheep-owners as they come down to the sheepfold to fetch their flocks. One shepherd comes, and he takes away his little company; another shepherd arrives, and he leads away a larger number. In each case, the shepherd has no trouble in separating his own sheep from the rest in the fold. You and I would think it well nigh impossible, and we certainly should never be able to divide those differing flocks; but the shepherd does it easily as soon as ever he comes to the door of the fold. There are certain of his sheep that love him much, they are accustomed to keep very near his hand, and often get the sweetest bits of grass, and they leap up at the very sound of his footsteps. They recognize his person, and they come straightway to the gate, and are ready at once to go out to the pastures with him. Some others, I am afraid the larger part of the flocks, are not quite so eager; but the shepherd speaks, and they recognize his voice; and when he proceeds to name the sheep one by one, for this the Eastern shepherd literally does, and when he begins to call them out by name, you can see the fleecy creatures recognizing the tones of his voice, and responding to his call as readily as dogs with us know their master’s voice and their own names. The sheep thus called push their way from among the different flocks, and they come out, and follow their shepherd, who leads them to the pastures that he has provided or discovered for them.

Now, that is exactly what the good Shepherd does with his sheep. He comes to the door of the fold. Here we are, to-night, like so many sheep in the enclosure. I cannot tell who among you may be Christ’s sheep, or who may not be his. Thy voice has no power to separate you from your companions, unless Christ shall use my voice, and make it the echo of his own. I may speak as long as I will, apart from that great Shepherd of the sheep, but I can make no distinction between his chosen ones and the rest of mankind; but if the Lord himself shall come and call, his chosen shall detect the gracious voice; and when one by one he calls them to himself by what theologians term “effectual calling” — (and it is a good expression, for it is effectual calling), then the sheep hear his voice, and they rise up at once, and follow him, for they know his voice, and he leads them out.

I am going to speak upon this text, viewing it from three points.

I. The first point is that JESUS, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, OFTEN COMES INTO CONTACT WITH HIS SHEEP.

He has bought them, he has paid the full price of their redemption, he has laid down his life for his sheep, so that they are effectually ransomed; and he has gone up to heaven to plead for them, and to present before his Father the memorials of his death. Yet he is still with them, according to his word, “Lo, I am with you alway.” He has not left his sheep here below simply to the care of undershepherds, much less are they in charge of hirelings. He has his under-shepherds, but he is with them, and he still comes to his flock, he still calls his sheep by name, he still leads them out. Let us think of the various ways in which the good Shepherd still comes into contact with his sheep.

He came into contact with us, first, in our conversion. He had come to us before by the many pleadings of his Spirit, and the many entreaties of his love, in the days of our youth, and in years gone by; but we did not then know his voice. Our ear was not open then, and we did not hear his call. He went after us into the wilderness, he sought us on the mountain steeps; but it was, for a time, a weary seeking, and little came of it. Then, on a day never to be forgotten, he came with his effectual grace; I say, He came. Mother had come, teacher had come, pastor had come, books had come, sermons had come; but last of all He himself came. Do you remember his coming? I can never forget the spot where first he met with me; and the tones of his voice, when at last he won my heart, are ringing as clearly in my ears to-night as though they were the marriage-bells of yesterday. I can never forget how that call sounded, “Look! Look! Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.” Then I knew his voice, and responded to it, through his own rich grace; and I was his, and he was mine. It needed that he should do the wooing for himself, and should unveil his own dear face, and then my heart was won, and my spirit yielded itself entirely to him. You remember how it happened to you also, do you not? Think of it with joy and gratitude.

[CCWoody]

Well, good morning. Some of you may have noticed that the nice yellow marker for the current date is missing. If you really miss it, you can find it on May 1st. Hopefully, today, I can get it fixed. And, hopefully, Erwin will quit playing around adding new features or whatever is going on and the website will be stable again. Next thing you know he too will have the yellow marker in the wrong month. Programmers!?!:blush:


Amillennialism in 6 easy verses
(revisited with additional verses)

John 5:24-29 GB
(24) Verely, verely I say vnto you, he that heareth my worde, and beleeueth him that sent me, hath euerlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but hath passed from death vnto life.
(25) Verely, verely I say vnto you, the houre shall come, and now is, when the dead shall heare the voyce of the Sonne of God: and they that heare it, shall liue.
(26) For as the Father hath life in himselfe, so likewise hath he giuen to the Sonne to haue life in himselfe,
(27) And hath giuen him power also to execute iudgement, in that he is the Sonne of man.
(28) Marueile not at this: for the houre shall come, in the which all that are in the graues, shall heare his voyce.
(29) And they shall come foorth, that haue done good, vnto ye resurrection of life: but they that haue done euil, vnto the resurrection of condemnation.


John 11:23-26 GB
(23) Iesus said vnto her, Thy brother shall rise againe.
(24) Martha said vnto him, I know that he shall rise againe in the resurrection at the last day.
(25) Iesus saide vnto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that beleeueth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he liue.
(26) And whosoeuer liueth, and beleeueth in me, shall neuer die: Beleeuest thou this?

[CCWoody]

Lynne, lass, tell me you did receive the Spurgeon mail last week. I was going to ask several days ago, but I kept having difficulty reaching this website.

[LynneClomina]

Lynne, lass, tell me you did receive the Spurgeon mail last week. I was going to ask several days ago, but I kept having difficulty reaching this website.
"Personal and Effectual Calling"? yep, got it. :wave:

[CCWoody]

Boy, this site has been up or down for me more than a Jack rabbit running from a Whippet.

For those reading with me, since we are now beginning a new month, it would be a good time to add the Psalms reading to the lessons. The daily Psalms reading list can be found on the front page, underneath the list of Months that you click on to access the reading lessons. So, with this in mind, today's reading would be:

Morning Prayer:
2 Kings 13:1 - 13:25 (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=2 Kings+13%3A1-13%3A25&version=NKJV)
John 13:1 - 13:20 (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=John+13%3A1-13%3A20&version=NKJV)
Psalms 1-5
Evening Prayer:
2 Kings 17:1 - 17:23 (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=2 Kings+17%3A1-17%3A23&version=NKJV)
Hebrews 8:1 - 8:13 (http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=Hebrews+8%3A1-8%3A13&version=NKJV)
Psalms 6-8

[CCWoody]

Ok, I have fixed the problem in the dB & in the script which loads the data so that the pretty yellow marker is once again showing up on the right day.

I also have a Spurgeon sermon to send out that I forgot to send yesterday.



Regarding this morning's reading, I have a few observations.

A question for the Reformed Baptists here!

John 13:34-35 GB
(34) A newe commandement giue I vnto you, that ye loue one another: as I haue loued you, that ye also loue one another.
(35) By this shall all men knowe that ye are my disciples, if ye haue loue one to another.
It would seem to me that Baptists would claim that Baptism is the sign of the new Covenant and that only disciples are to be baptized. Yet, it does seem to me that Baptism isn't the sign of discipleship, but the love which they bear for each other is the sign.


Does God Love everyone!

It was said to me recently on this form by an Orthodox moderator that God loves everyone. I asked the question: Is burning someone in the Lake of Fire an expression of God's love for them. The answer was yes. I thought of that exchange when I read the Psalms for the morning lessons.

Psalms 11:5-6 GB
(5) The Lord will try the righteous: but the wicked and him that loueth iniquitie, doeth his soule hate.
(6) Vpon the wicked he shall raine snares, fire, and brimstone, and stormie tempest: this is the porcion of their cup.
Here, it clearly link's the Lord's punishment for the wicked lovers of iniquity to be an expression of His hatred for them.

[CCWoody]

If anyone wants to be added to the Bible study mail list to receive the Spurgeon sermons, please PM me an email address and I will add you. This is today's sermon.



THE WONDROUS COVENANT.
NO. 3326

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31ST, 1912,
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” — Hebrews 8:10.

http://www.spurgeon.org/images/t.gifHE doctrine of the divine covenant lies at the root of all true theology. It has been said that he who well understands the distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace is a master of divinity. I am persuaded that most of the mistakes which men make concerning the doctrines of Scripture are based upon fundamental errors with regard to the covenants of law and of grace. May God grant us now the power to instruct, and you the grace to receive instruction on this vital subject.

The human race in the order of history, so far as this world is concerned, first stood in subjection to God under the covenant of works. Adam was the representative man. A certain law was given him. If he kept it, he and all his posterity would be blessed as the result of obedience. If he broke it, he would incur the curse himself, and entail it on all represented by him. That covenant our first father broke. He fell; he failed to fulfil his obligations; in his fall he involved us all, for we were all in his loins, and he represented us before God. Our ruin, then, was complete before we were born; we were ruined by him who stood as our first representative. To be saved by the works of the law is impossible, far under that covenant we are already lost. If saved at all it must be all quite a different plan, not on the plan of doing and being rewarded for it, for that has been tried, and the representative man upon whom it was tried has failed for us all. We have all failed in his failure; it is hopeless, therefore, to expect to win divine favour by anything that we can do, or merit divine blessing by way of reward.

But divine mercy has interposed, and provided a plan of salvation from the fall. That plan is another covenant, a covenant made with Christ Jesus the Son of God, who is fitly called by the apostle, “the Second Adam,” because he stood again as the representative of man. Now, the second covenant, so far as Christ was concerned, was a covenant of works quite as much as the other. It was an this wise. Christ shall come into the world and perfectly obey the divine law. He shall also, inasmuch as the first Adam has broken the law, suffer the penalty of sin. If he shall do both of these, then all whom he represents shall be blessed in his blessedness, and saved because of his merit. You see, then, that until our Lord came into this world it was a covenant of works towards him. He had certain works to perform, upon condition of which certain blessings should be given to us. Our Lord has kept that covenant. His part in it has been fulfilled to the last letter. There is no commandment which he has not honored; there is no penalty of the broken law which he has not endured. He became a servant and obedient, yea, obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He has thus done what the first Adam could not accomplish, and he has retrieved what the first Adam forfeited by his transgression. He has established the covenant, and now it ceases to be a covenant of works, for the works are all done.

“Jesus did them, did them all,
Long, long ago.”
And now what remaineth of the covenant? God on his part has solemnly pledged himself to give undeserved favour to as many as were represented in Christ Jesus. For as many as the Saviour died for, there is stored up a boundless mass of blessing which shall be given to them, not through their works, but as the sovereign gift of the grace of God, according to his covenant promise by which they shall be saved.

Behold, my brethren, the hope of the sons of man. The hope of their saving themselves is crushed, for they are already lost. The hope of their being saved by work is a fallacious one, for they cannot keep the law; they have already broken it, but there is a way of salvation opened on this wise. Whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, receives and partakes of the bliss which Christ has bought. All the blessings which belong to the covenant of grace through the work of Christ shall belong to every soul that believeth in Jesus. Whosoever worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, unto him shall the blessing of the new covenant of grace be undoubtedly given.

I hope that this explanation is plain enough. If Adam had kept the law we should have been blessed by his keeping it. He broke it, and we have been cursed through him. Now the second Adam, Christ Jesus, has kept the law, we are, therefore, if believers, represented in Christ and blessed with the results of the obedience of Jesus Christ to his Father’s will. He said of old, “Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God! thy law is my delight.” He has done that will, and the blessings of grace are now freely given to the sons of men.

I shall ask your attention then, first, to the privileges of the covenant of grace; and, secondly, to the parties concerned in it. This will be quite enough, I am sure, for consideration this evening during the brief period allotted to our sermon.

[rnmomof7]

THE JEWISH WEDDING CEREMONY AND THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

Both the Old and the New Testaments describe how God through Christ
(the Bridegroom) is in the process of marrying His bride (the believers in
Him) who will ultimately live and dwell with Him forever.

God ordained and established marriage and its divine sanctity in
Genesis, when He brought Adam and Eve together to become one flesh. *Genesis
2:21-24 ~ "So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and
while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs (Or took part of the
man's side) and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a
woman from the rib (Or part) he had taken out of the man, and he brought her
to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh; she shall be called woman, (The Hebrew for woman sounds like the
Hebrew for man) for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become
one flesh."

Adam is a type of Christ here. *Romans 5:14 ~ "Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did
not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to
come."


*Ephesians ~ 5:31-32 ~ "For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
*2 Corinthians 11:2 ~ "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ."

The ancient Jewish wedding ceremony God gave to the Jewish people was
to teach us also about the wedding of the Messiah. This ceremony consisted
of 12 steps. Notice the complete similarities to this wedding ceremony and
the Church, or Bride of Christ today.

The bride was usually chosen by the father of the bridegroom. The
father would send his trusted servant, known as the agent of the father, to
search out the bride. The chapter of Genesis 24 clearly shows this. In
this chapter, Abraham (a type of God the Father) wishes to secure a bride
for Isaac (a type of Messiah) and send his servant Eliezer (a type of the
Holy Spirit) to do this task. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to convict
the world of sin and lead them to God. *John 16:7-8 ~ "But I tell you the
truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he
comes, he will convict the world of guilt (Or will expose the guilt of the
world) in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment"

Just as the bride was usually chosen by the father of the bridegroom,
so the believers in the Messiah are chosen by God. *John 15:16 ~ "You did
not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -
fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my
name."

The bridegroom chose the bride and lavished his love upon her and she
returned his love. This can be seen in *Ephesians 5:25 ~ "Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
Rebekah consented to marry Isaac even before she ever met him. Today,
the believers in the Messiah consent to become the bride of Christ even
though we have never seen Him. *1 Peter 1:8 ~ "Though you have not seen him,
you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and
are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."



A price would have to be paid for the bride. Jesus, being our
bridegroom paid a very high price for His bride, the body of believers. The
price He paid was His life. *1 Corinthians 6:20 ~ "You were bought at a
price. Therefore honor God with your body."



Betrothal is the first of two steps in the marriage process. Betrothal
legally binds the bride and the groom together in a marriage contract,
except they do not physically live together. Whenever you accept the Lord
into your heart and life, you become betrothed to Him while living on earth.


A contract is developed ,it states the bride price, the promises of the groom, and
the rights of the bride. The groom promises to work for her, to honor,
support, and maintain her in truth, to provide food, clothing, and
necessities, and to live together with her as husband and wife. This
contract was the unalienable right of the bride. It must be executed and
signed prior to the wedding ceremony. The Bible is the believers contract.
All the promises that God provided for the believers in Christ are legally
ours. *2 Corinthians 1:20 ~ "For no matter how many promises God has made,
they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to
the glory of God."


The Bride must consent .The personal application to those who desire the Lord to come into
their hearts and lives is to accept his invitation to do so by faith. As
His bride, we are saying 'I do.'


Gifts were given to the bride and a cup called the cup of the covenant
was shared between the bride and the groom. The rite of the betrothal is
completed when the groom gives something of value to the bride and she
accepts it. Today, the gift that is given is usually a ring. When the
groom places the ring on the bride's finger, the rite of betrothal is
completed.
This completed rite is known in Hebrew as kiddushin, which means
'sanctification.' The gifts to the bride are symbols of love, commitment,
and loyalty. The gift God gives to those who accept Jesus is the Holy
Spirit. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He gave us gifts, including
righteousness, eternal life, grace, faith, and other spiritual gifts. In
addition, at this time the cup of the covenant was shared and sealed between
the bride and the groom with the drinking of wine. In doing so, the couple
drinks from a common cup. The cup is first given to the groom to sip, and
then is given to the bride.
This cup, known as the cup of the covenant, is
spoken of in *Jeremiah 31:31-33 ~ "'The time is coming,' declares the LORD,
'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke
my covenant, though I was a husband to (and I turned away from) them,'
declares the LORD. 'This is the covenant I will make with the house of
Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. 'I will put my law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my
people.'"

Also in *Luke 22:20 ~ "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for
you.'"
Also in *1 Corinthians 11:25 ~ "In the same way, after supper he took the
cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever
you drink it, in remembrance of me.'"


The bride then had a water immersion , which was a rite of cleaning.
This indicates a separation from a former way to a new way of life. In
the case of marriage, it indicates leaving an old life for a new life with
your spouse. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, that we must be born anew
to enter into the Kingdom of God. Believers are to be immersed in the name
of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the immerser of God. *Acts 11:15-16 ~ "As I
began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the
beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: `John baptized with
water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'"



At this point, the bridegroom leaves for his father's house to prepare
the bridal chamber for his bride. It was understood to be the man's duty to
go away to be with his father, build a house, and prepare for the eventual
wedding. Before he goes, though, he will make a statement to the bride, "I
go to prepare a place for you; if I go, I will return again unto you."
*John 14:2-3 ~ "In my Father's house are many rooms (Or mansions); if it
were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you
to be with me that you also may be where I am."


The bride was consecrated and set aside.
Before the bridegroom could go and get the bride, the groom's father
had to be satisfied that the son had made every preparation. *Matthew 24:36
~ "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor
the Son, but only the Father."
Only then could he give permission to the son to go and get the bride.
In other words, while the bridegroom was working on the bridal chamber, it
was the father who 'okayed' the final bridal chamber.
*Rev 21:2 ~ "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."
The bridegroom did not know when his father would declare the bridal
chamber fit and send him to go get his bride. Note the parallels:
*Mark 13:32-37 ~ "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do
not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his
house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and
tells the one at the door to keep watch. 'Therefore keep watch because you
do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the
evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes
suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to
everyone: 'Watch!'"
Meanwhile, the bride was to wait eagerly for the return of the
bridegroom. In the mind of the bride, the bridegroom could come at any
time, even in the middle of the night or at midnight. Therefore, she had to
be ready at all times.


The the Bridegroom would return for his bride with a shout "Behold the bridegroom cometh " Then a rams horn would be blown .
The time was determined by the grooms father .

The time of the return of the bridegroom was usually at midnight. When
the bridegroom did come, he came with a shout *Matthew 25:6 ~ "At midnight
the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'"
Also with the blowing of a trumpet *1 Thessalonians 4:16 ~ "For the
Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God"
The marriage between the bride and the groom would take place under a
wedding canopy. Since Heaven is a type of canopy, we can see that when
Jesus gives a shout for His bride, accompanied by the blowing of a trumpet,
the marriage between Christ and his bride will take place in Heaven. The
marriage ceremony will have a sacred procession. For this reason, the
bridegroom (Jesus) will be led to the canopy first. When the bridegroom
approaches the canopy, the cantor chants, "Blessed is he who comes." This
expression means 'welcome.' Jesus said that He would not return for His
bride until these words were said. The groom is greeted like a king under
the canopy. During this time Jesus, the bridegroom, will be crowned King
under the canopy, which is Heaven.

He would abduct his bride, usually in the middle of the night, to go to
the bridal chamber where the marriage would be consummated.
*1 Thessalonians 5:2 ~ "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the
night."
This is the full marriage. The bride and groom will go to the wedding
chamber, where the marriage will be consummated. They will stay in that
wedding chamber for seven days, or a week.
At the end of the seven days, the bride and groom will come out from
the wedding chamber. The word week in Hebrew is shavuah. It means a
'seven.' It can mean seven days or seven years. From this we can see that
the believers (bride) in the Messiah (bridegroom) will be with the Messiah
in Heaven for His wedding while the earth will be experiencing the
seven-year tribulation period. Also in the biblical wedding service that
God gave, after you are married, you have a honeymoon. The honeymoon lasts
a week, having the same meaning as the above. Seven days or seven years.
So this also can refer to Heaven where the previously raptured believers
have been enjoying a seven-year honeymoon with the Lord while the earth is
experiencing the tribulation.

The bride and the groom would be in the wedding chamber for seven days.
When the bride and the groom initially went into the wedding chamber, the
friend of the bridegroom stood outside the door. All the assembled guests
of the wedding gathered outside, waiting for the friend of the bridegroom to
announce the consummation of the marriage, which was relayed to him by the
groom. John referred to this in *John 3:29 ~ "The bride belongs to the
bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him,
and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine,
and it is now complete."
At this signal, great rejoicing broke forth. The marriage was
consummated on the first night. The bloodstained linen from this night was
preserved. It was proof of the bride's virginity. <Deut 22:13-21> On the
wedding day, the bridegroom is seen as a king and the bride as a queen.
During the consummation of the marriage, the bridegroom (Jesus) will be
crowned King over all the earth and the bride (believers in Christ) will
live with Him and rule with Him forever.
Jesus will be returning with His bride and we will rule and reign with
Him
. *Rev 20:4 ~ "I saw thrones on which
were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and
because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image
and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came
to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." The essence of romance
is laid out in this wedding, reserved for those who take part in being the
Bride of Christ. Love is God and God is Love!
*Rev 22:20-21 ~ "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming
soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's
people. Amen."

[ksen]

A question for the Reformed Baptists here!



John 13:34-35 GB (34) A newe commandement giue I vnto you, that ye loue one another: as I haue loued you, that ye also loue one another.

(35) By this shall all men knowe that ye are my disciples, if ye haue loue one to another.

It would seem to me that Baptists would claim that Baptism is the sign of the new Covenant and that only disciples are to be baptized. Yet, it does seem to me that Baptism isn't the sign of discipleship, but the love which they bear for each other is the sign.I don't think that we Baptists believe that Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant. I'm pretty sure we'd hold that the sign of the New Covenant is His blood which is symbolized by the cup of the Lord's Table.

Baptism is a Believer's public identification with his Lord.

Does that help?

[CCWoody]

If anyone wants to be added to the Bible study mail list to receive the Spurgeon sermons, please PM me an email address and I will add you. This is today's sermon.




JESUS PUTTING AWAY SIN.
NO. 759

DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, JULY 7TH, 1867,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“...now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. “-Hebrews 9:26.

http://www.spurgeon.org/images/w.gifHEN the conscience is unenlightened and the heart is rebellious, man is divided from his God by a false sense of personal righteousness. He imagines that God deals hardly with him, that he looks upon his sin in too severe a light, and that, although he may be offended, yet, in some other respects, he has a claim upon the consideration of his Maker. As soon, however, as the Spirit of God illuminates the understanding, this selfrighteousness disappears: it is a flimsy cobweb which the besom of the law soon sweeps away; it is no more substantial than the mist of the morning, and it is at once dissipated by the rising sun of grace. Then man feels himself divided from his God by another and more real barrier: he has given up his self-righteousness, but now he is painfully conscious of his sinfulness, which appears to him to be an impassable gulf, parting him for ever from the just and holy God. The more the conscience becomes quickened, and the more fully the understanding is enlightened, the more desponding does the man become as to any hope of his ever becoming acceptable to the Most High. He puts himself into God’s position; his enlightened understanding enables him to look upon sin in some degree as God would regard it, and he is horrified to think that he should have been so ungrateful to so kind a Father; he is ashamed that he should have broken laws so perfectly just, and altogether out of heart with himself for having done despite to a government every way so generous and righteous as the moral government of God. The awakened sinner says within himself, “I can never make recompense for the injury which I have done to God’s honor; it is not possible that any doings or sufferings of mine compensate for my continued rebellion and obstinacy. Even could I cease from sin in the future, yet I cannot hope to meet my God with peaceful mind when I recollect the unhallowed and disgraceful past.” And thus the very enlightenment of conscience, which is one of the best signs of hope in quickened sinner, causes in him a consciousness of sin which becomes to him the ground of self-despair. I have no doubt I have some such in this congregation. Even among you who have believed in Jesus there may be some such; for every now and then we go back to first principles, we get again a distressingly vivid sight of sin, and need once more to understand how God can be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth. Brethren, if you are now desirous to be at one with God, if your spirit longs for his embrace, and yet you feel as if you could not come to God by reason of the sin which troubles you, it will be a great joy to you to know that eternal wisdom has devised a plan, and carried it out too, for the effectually putting away of sin. This is a wonder of wonders, which will create for ever enthusiastic gratitude among celestial spirits. Eternity shall not diminish the amazement of our minds at the thought that the impenetrable partition wall of our sin has been broken down, and the awful veil of thick darkness which shut us out from the mercy-seat has been for ever removed. Belshazzar’s knees knocked together, and the joints of his loins were loosened, when he saw the handwriting on the wall which declared his condemnation. What joy would have filled his despairing spirit, if suddenly that writing had been blotted out, and another hand had written “I have loved thee with an everlasting love!” Can you conceive the joy of that astonished monarch, the transport of that affrighted throng? Yet, this morning, I have as good news to tell to the penitent as though such were their position, and such the act of pardoning mercy. Jesus has blotted out the handwriting which was against us, and written words of love concerning us. The angel of wrath once stood over Jerusalem, having a drawn sword in his hand; but Jehovah has put away the sin of his people, and now the avenging sword is returned to the scabbard, and God regardeth his Zion with everlasting love. I have said that this is a wonder, and so it is, when you recollect that the angels fell. The sons of the morning kept not their first estate, but for fallen angels, there is no putting away of sin. Shut up for ever, chained with adamantine bands, their sufferings shall know no pause, their anguish shall find no end; and yet we, creatures of inferior mould, we have enlisted the sympathy of the ever Blessed, who undertook to make atonement for our sin, and has achieved the purpose of his grace. Brethren, it might have been easy enough for God to have put away human sin itself by the destruction of our race. It would no more need an effort of power on God’s part to destroy us, than for us to tread upon a moth-nay, his mere will could have done it; and I do not know that one of the crowns of his glory would have lost a jewel. He might instantly have created another race superior to ourselves if so it had pleased him, and every gap which the destruction of mankind might have caused in the universe, might have been at once filled up; but, wonder of wonders, he spares us at a vast expense: he spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all! It has sometimes been asked why God did not pardon sin without an atonement. That is a question which we must leave those to answer who propound it. We do not doubt but what God might have done so if so he had willed-we doubt whether he ever would have willed to do so, for our view of the constitution of his glorious character seems to require that sin should be punished-but that is not a question for us: we know that the Lord has not willed to let sin escape. He has been pleased to make the display of his grace to sinners an opportunity for the revelation of all his other attributes, that-

“God, in the person of his Son,
Has all his mightiest works outdone.”
Without raising questions which would minister no profit to us, it is ours to behold the great love wherewith the Lord hath loved us, that he sent his Son to redeem us from our iniquities, by the shedding of his own most precious blood.

“Oh! fathomless abyss,
Where hidden mysteries lie:
The seraph finds his bliss,
Within the same to pry;
Lord, what is man, thy desperate foe,
That thou shouldst bless and love him so?”
I propose, this morning, as God may help me, to comfort those who are longing for reconciliation with God, by showing them that no difficulties exist, since Jesus Christ has for ever put away the sin which would have separated a penitent soul from its God. We shall look at the text carefully, and I think we shall notice in it several things which minister comfort to seeking sinners. Jesus Christ has appeared once, in the end of the age, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

.
[snip]
.
Now, this is a clear explanation of the plan of salvation. Not thus is it with the mummeries of superstition. The priests of Baal tell us that when they take an infant in their arms, and put water on its face, using a certain ritual, that the unconscious babe becomes there and then a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven: can they tell us how this marvellous change is wrought upon a dormant intellect, a slumbering soul? No; they can only mutter that it is by some occult influence! Occult indeed! For the child grows up to live as others live, and perhaps to die in unbelief. Such mummeries, with their base pretensions to occult influences, are worthy to he ranked with the whisperings and incantations of the witch of Endor, or the dealings of Balaam, the son of Peor. But we can tell you how it is that sin is put away by the sacrifice of Christ. There is nothing occult in the cross, The doctrine of atonement appeals to the understanding and the judgment. Christ pays the debt-then, of course, the believer is free. Christ suffers for me. Then how can two suffer for the one offense? Here is something for men in their wits to think of; something for the profoundest intellect to ponder over. As for the shams of confession, priestly absolution, etc., which Baal’s priests are continually thrusting in your way instead of our blessed Lord and Mastersuch shams that my soul boils at the very thought of them-regard them not, neither endure them. With their vestments, their genuflections, and their ceremonies, they are as wizards that peep and mutter, and forge a lie to deceive. They would use an unknown language if they dared, like Babylon’s priests; as it is, their intonings make plain words hard to be understood. Their religion is not a revelation, but an obvelation; not a manifestation of God, but a veiling of his face. Like the children of the old covenant of bondage, they have a veil over their faces, and they see not the truth; but we who preach Jesus Christ in the fullness of his gospel, use great plainness of speech, for we tell you good news which you can comprehend, which appeals to your understanding and intellect-for once in the end of the world Jesus Christ has made a disclosure of himself; has brought life and immortality to light, and has revealed to you how God can be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly. Surely there is no one here who does not understand the plan of substitution; if there were, I would try to elucidate it still further. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, stood in the place of men-in your place, dear hearer, if you trust him, he suffered for you. You can understand how God is just in taking this voluntarily-offered sacrifice instead of your sacrifice, punishing Christ instead of you, and then saying to you, “I have vindicated the honor of my government; I have magnified my law and shown that it must not be trifled with, and now I forgive youfreely do I pardon you, for Jesus died.” I pray you receive with your heart what you have accepted with your understanding. My dear hearer, kick not against a gospel so simple, so just to God, so safe to you. Yield to it, I pray you, yield now, and remember, if thou believest in the appointed Savior, thou art saved. If thou wilt trust thyself now with Jesus Christ, he will not fail thee; he will cover thee with his righteousness, cleanse thee with his blood, protect thee by his power, and, by-and-by, enshrine thee in his glory, world without end. But we must pass on.

[CCWoody]

http://www.jonathanedwards.com/images/pulpit.gif The Peace Which Christ Gives His True Followers (http://www.jonathanedwards.com/sermons/Pastoral/Peace.htm)

[ksen]

Now this is Biblical Ecumenicism at its best! :D

Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. - II Chronicles 23:17 (KJV)

[CCWoody]

It is often asserted by our Arminian opponents that Romans 8:28-30 teaches that those whom God foreknew, he knew only in a sense of precognition. Yet, what does the Lord himself reveal to us in His high priestly prayer, but that the gift of eternal life to those whom the Father has given to the son in election is nothing less than to know God? We are already known by God. Now, we are given the gift to know God. This is eternal life. So, it is impossible that those whom God foreknew in Romans 8:29 were known only in the sense of precognition.

John 17:1-3 GB
(1) These things spoke Jesus, and lift up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, that hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee,
(2) As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to all them that thou has given him.
(3) And this is life eternal, that they know thee to be the only very God, and whom thou has sent, Jesus Christ.
The blessed Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo on the same topic:

"But we say," say they, "that God did not foreknow anything as ours except that faith by which we begin to believe, and that He chose and predestinated us before the foundation of the world, in order that we might be holy and immaculate by His grace and by His work." But let them also hear in this testimony the words where he says, "We have obtained a lot, being predestinated according to His purpose who worketh all things. He, therefore, worketh the beginning of our belief who worketh all things; because faith itself does not precede that calling of which it is said: "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance;" and of which it is said: "Not of works, but of Him that calleth"; and the election which the Lord signified when He said: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." For He chose us, not because we believed, but that we might believe, lest we should be said first to have chosen Him, and so His word be false (which be it far from us to think possible), "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Neither are we called because we believed, but that we may believe; and by that calling which is without repentance it is effected and carried through that we should believe. But all the many things which we have said concerning this matter need not to be repeated.

[CCWoody]

http://www.jonathanedwards.com/images/pulpit.gif The Christian Pilgrim Or THE TRUE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE A JOURNEY TOWARD HEAVEN (http://www.jonathanedwards.com/sermons/Pastoral/Pilgrim.htm)

[CCWoody]

I wonder how the Premillennialists explain this verse:

Hebrews 13:14 GB
(14) For here have we no continuing city: but we seek one to come.

[ksen]

I wonder how the Premillennialists explain this verse:



Hebrews 13:14 GB (14) For here have we no continuing city: but we seek one to come.

Easy......our Hebrews 13 ends at verse 13. ;)

[CCWoody]

Easy......our Hebrews 13 ends at verse 13. ;)
Perhaps it is just dense Engineering Theologian's day and the real kicker was nobody informed the Engineering Theologians, but I don't get it.

[LynneClomina]

it was a verse removed from their scriptures. ;)

:D

[CCWoody]

Ah, I see.

Here is another interesting verse. What day was the Passover; the day of Jesus' death (that coming evening) or the evening before, when the Lord gave the disciples the Lord's Supper?

John 18:28 GB
(28) Then led they Iesus from Caiaphas into the common hall. Nowe it was morning, and they themselues went not into the common hall, least they should be defiled, but that they might eate the Passeouer.
When the Jews were out preparing their Passover lambs for sacrifice, was the Lord, our Passover Lamb, being sacrificed for us? Or, had the Passover celebration already occured with the Lord celebrating it with His disciples and this verse is a reference to day 2 of the Feast of Unleavened bread?

[ksen]

Ah, I see.

Here is another interesting verse. What day was the Passover; the day of Jesus' death (that coming evening) or the evening before, when the Lord gave the disciples the Lord's Supper?



John 18:28 GB (28) Then led they Iesus from Caiaphas into the common hall. Nowe it was morning, and they themselues went not into the common hall, least they should be defiled, but that they might eate the Passeouer.


When the Jews were out preparing their Passover lambs for sacrifice, was the Lord, our Passover Lamb, being sacrificed for us? Or, had the Passover celebration already occured with the Lord celebrating it with His disciples and this verse is a reference to day 2 of the Feast of Unleavened bread?
Remember that a Jewish day starts at sundown. Therefore the lamb would have been killed the afternoon before the official start of Passover which would have been sundown.

So I believe the Lord celebrated the Last Supper on the evening before Passover. And then He was killed at the time the Passover lamb was being killed for the next evening's meal.

[snerkel]

Ah, I see.

Here is another interesting verse. What day was the Passover; the day of Jesus' death (that coming evening) or the evening before, when the Lord gave the disciples the Lord's Supper?



John 18:28 GB (28) Then led they Iesus from Caiaphas into the common hall. Nowe it was morning, and they themselues went not into the common hall, least they should be defiled, but that they might eate the Passeouer.


When the Jews were out preparing their Passover lambs for sacrifice, was the Lord, our Passover Lamb, being sacrificed for us? Or, had the Passover celebration already occured with the Lord celebrating it with His disciples and this verse is a reference to day 2 of the Feast of Unleavened bread? Have I stumbled into Bible 101? :)

Passover is a 7 day event. A person must remain clean and undefiled for the duration of passover in order to participate in all the festival.

The passover lamb would have been killed and consumed on the evening of 14 Nisan, the first day of Passover, which would have been the night before the trial.

[CCWoody]

Have I stumbled into Bible 101? :)

Passover is a 7 day event. A person must remain clean and undefiled for the duration of passover in order to participate in all the festival.

The passover lamb would have been killed and consumed on the evening of 14 Nisan, the first day of Passover, which would have been the night before the trial.
Perhaps you have stumbled into Bible 101. Yes, I understand that the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is a 7 day celebration, which starts on the evening of the Passover itself. This was my reference to day 2.

However, there is a very real controversy within the church as to whether or not the Lord's supper was also the Passover meal. I have read arguments for both, my last being one by A.T. Robertson.

And, you do bring up 2 interesting points:

#1. Where in all of scripture is the Feast of Unleavened bread referred to as the Passover?
#2. Where are the places in the OT where the requirement was given for purification for all 7 days of the feast?

[snerkel]

Perhaps you have stumbled into Bible 101. Yes, I understand that the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is a 7 day celebration, which starts on the evening of the Passover itself. This was my reference to day 2.

However, there is a very real controversy within the church as to whether or not the Lord's supper was also the Passover meal. I have read arguments for both, my last being one by A.T. Robertson.
I believe much of the controversy/confusion which surrounds Passover is the fact that this Feast contains more than 1 Sabbath. And I believe if the Passover begins on a Saturday evening, it contains 3 Sabbaths (the first and last day of the feast are marked as a Sabbath and then you have the regular Sabbath beginning at sundown on Friday). It gets rather confusing.

You have to pay close attention to the wording in Scripture. The day before each Sabbath is viewed as a day of preparation, since no work is allowed on the Sabbath. It is my understanding that Jesus did partake of the Passover feast and that the "day of preparation", which is mentioned in Scripture at the time of His trial/crucifixion/burial, is the day of preparation for the regular Sabbath.

And, you do bring up 2 interesting points:

#1. Where in all of scripture is the Feast of Unleavened bread referred to as the Passover?Exodus 12

#2. Where are the places in the OT where the requirement was given for purification for all 7 days of the feast?Leviticus 15:1-18

[theseed]

I wonder how the Premillennialists explain this verse:

Hebrews 13:14 GB

(14) For here have we no continuing city: but we seek one to come
Have you ever read The Pilgram's Progress by John Bunyan?

It seems to be a reference the the Celestial City (the one to come) and the City of Destruction (not lasting).

"Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed." (Edwards, Angry God) [Cross reference with p. 4 of Pilgram's Progress]

Genesis 19
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

So, I don't think it has anything to do with The Millenium :scratch:

[CCWoody]

If anyone wants to be added to the Bible study mail list to receive the Spurgeon sermons, please PM me an email address and I will add you. This is today's sermon.



THE IMMUTABILITY OF CHRIST.
NO. 170

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, JANUARY 3, 1858,
BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE MUSIC HALL, ROYAL SURREY GARDENS.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” — Hebrews 13:8.
http://www.spurgeon.org/images/i.gifT is well that there is one person who is the same. It is well that there is one stable rock amidst the changing billows of this sea of life; for how many and how grievous have been the changes of last year? How many of you who commenced in affluence, have by the panic, which has shaken nations, been reduced almost to poverty? How many of you, who in strong health marched into this place on the first Sabbath of last year, have had to come tottering here, feeling that the breath of man is in his nostrils, and wherein is he to be accounted of? Many of you came to this hall with a numerous family, leaning upon the arm of a choice and much loved friend. Alas! for love, if thou wert all, and nought beside, o earth! For ye have buried those ye loved the best. Some of you have come here childless, or widows, or fatherless, still weeping your recent affliction. Changes have taken place in your estate that have made your heart full of misery. Your cups of sweetness have been dashed with draughts of gall; your golden harvests have had tares cast into the midst of them, and you have had to reap the noxious weed along with the precious grain. Your much fine gold has become dim, and your glory has departed; the sweet frames at the commencement of last year became bitter ones at the end. Your raptures and your ecstacies were turned into depression and forebodings. Alas! for our charges, and hallelujah to him that hath no change.

But greater things have changed than we; for kingdoms have trembled in the balances. We have seen a peninsula deluged with blood, and mutiny raising its bloody war whoop. Nay, the whole world hath changed; earth hath doffed its green, and put on its sombre garment of Autumn, and soon expects to wear its ermine robe of snow. All things have changed. We believe that not only in appearance but in reality, the world is growing old. The sun itself must soon grow dim with age; the folding up of the wornout vesture has commenced; the changing of the heavens and the earth has certainly begun. They shall perish; they all shall wax old as doth a garment; but for ever blessed be him who is the same, and of whose years there is no end. The satisfaction that the mariner feels, when, after having been tossed about for many a day, he puts his foot upon the solid shore, is just the satisfaction of a Christian when, amidst all the changes of this troublous life, he plants the foot of his faith upon such a text as this — “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” The same stability that the anchor gives the ship, when it hath at last got the grip of some immovable rock, that same stability doth our hope give to our spirits, when, like an anchor, it fixes itself in a truth so glorious as this — “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.”

I shall first try this morning to open the text by a little explanation; then I shall try to answer a few objections which our wicked unbelief will be quite sure to raise against it; and afterwards I shall try to draw a few useful, consoling, and practical lessons from the great truth of the immutability of Jesus Christ.

[CCWoody]

For those of you who may be curious as to my absence, I have not not abandoned this thread. I am continuing in my devotion of the Lord as I hope those of you reading with me have. However, I have been in the middle of a rather time consuming project at the office (actually 2 large projects and a few smaller ones) which has nearly eliminated my free time. Be patient with me. I am nearing the end.

Such is the life of an engineer.

[CCWoody]

Another Amil verse for your consideration:

Act 3:21 GB
(21) Whome the heauen must containe vntill the time that all thinges be restored, which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began.

[theseed]

Another Amil verse for your consideration:

Act 3:21 GB
(21) Whome the heauen must containe vntill the time that all thinges be restored, which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began.


How is this verse amillennialist? Why can't the restoration be the Mellennial Kingdom? It actually seems pre-millennialist, because if the kingdom was here (post-millennial)., then Christ would have come back.


Acts 3 (NIV)
21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Acts 3 (NASB)
21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Acts 3 (KJV)
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

[CCWoody]

How is this verse amillennialist? Why can't the restoration be the Mellennial Kingdom? It actually seems pre-millennialist, because if the kingdom was here (post-millennial)., then Christ would have come back.


Acts 3 (NIV)
21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Acts 3 (NASB)
21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Acts 3 (KJV)
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
You need to remember that in an eschatological discussion you can't read your expectations about the Millennium into someone else's. This is what you have done here when you presume that I would view the Millennium as having Christ physically present. As a Partial Preterist Amillennialist, I don't view the Millennium as requiring Christ to be physically present for him to be reigning over the kingdom of God.

Now, as to this verse, you are also reading your presumption into the verse when you state that the "restoration of ALL things" to be the institution of the Millennial reign of Christ.

When I read that Heaven must contain Christ until the restoration of ALL things, I presume that all things must be all things unless there is a compelling Scriptural reason to presume that Christ is only going to return after the restoration of some things, or all kinds of things, but not all things.

Plainly stated, you need to read your presumption into the verse. I don't. This is why I present this as an Amil verse. All I have to do is read the verse and make a mental note that the Lord will return when all things are restored.

Do you understand my position here?

[theseed]

Do you understand my position here?

I understand that you presume the millennial kingdom not to be literal.

Premillennialist have no problems with thier millenial interpretations because they interpret those passages literally.

And we must define what "all things" or "everything" means. Because it can't literally mean everthing either.

Can it mean that Satan will once again sit under God? No, he won't be restored.

[CCWoody]

I understand that you presume the millennial kingdom not to be literal.

Premillennialist have no problems with thier millenial interpretations because they interpret those passages literally.

And we must define what "all things" or "everything" means. Because it can't literally mean everthing either.

Can it mean that Satan will once again sit under God? No, he won't be restored.
Verse 23 makes it clear that the restoration of all things means the utter destruction of every soul that will not hear Christ. So, in the immediate context of the verse, we learn that the Return of Christ which will not happen until the restoration of all things which includes the utter destruction of everyone who will not hear Christ.

Premillennialism denies this by the belief that the utter destruction of these people will not occur until 1000 years after the return of the Lord.

IOW, this verse teaches that the Return of the Lord is tied to the Judgment of the Reprobates. Therefore our eschatology must include this belief, not be in contradiction to it.

[theseed]

This much I have learned--Acts 3:21 is a premill. "pet" verse.

[ksen]

Another Amil verse for your consideration:



Act 3:21 GB (21) Whome the heauen must containe vntill the time that all thinges be restored, which God had spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began.If the Heaven must contain Christ until the Restoration, then how can He be reigning now?

[theseed]

Excellent point. And although I don't understand the passage here, only premill. makes sense in light of Acts 1.6-7.

Acts 1 (NIV)

6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

Acts 1 (NASB)
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, (1 (http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Acts+1.6-7&NIV_version=yes&NASB_version=yes&KJV_version=yes&language=english&x=18&y=10#crossref_252648311_1)) is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which (2 (http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Acts+1.6-7&NIV_version=yes&NASB_version=yes&KJV_version=yes&language=english&x=18&y=10#crossref_252648311_2)) the Father has fixed by His own authority;

Acts 1 (KjV)
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

[CCWoody]

[/indent]If the Heaven must contain Christ until the Restoration, then how can He be reigning now?
With all due respect, my brothers, we need not concern ourselves with what kind of reign Christ is or will have. We need only concern ourselves with what this verse I presented is telling us we have to believe concerning the Parousia.

Now, I understand that you Premills make verse 23 a "pet verse." The problem is that you haven't figured out that verse 21 declares that Christ cannot return until the restoration of all things, which by the definition of verse 23 means that it must include the utter destruction of all the wicked. We know this because both verse 21 & 22 start with the word "for" telling us that this is a continuation of the same topic from previous verses.

Besides, we know that verse 23 cannot possibly be talking about a future Millennial reign of Christ because verse 24 clearly tells us that we are talking about "these days" not future days. And, verse 26 declares to us that the Prophet raised up can't possibly be talking about the future. The tense is talking about the past raising of Christ.

So, verse 23 reveals that not hearing the Prophet is a present tense reality which will result in the future destruction of the wicked at the return of Christ when all things are restored.

[ksen]

Now, I understand that you Premills make verse 23 a "pet verse." The problem is that you haven't figured out that verse 21 declares that Christ cannot return until the restoration of all things, which by the definition of verse 23 means that it must include the utter destruction of all the wicked. We know this because both verse 21 & 22 start with the word "for" telling us that this is a continuation of the same topic from previous verses.
(Still having trouble getting my emails)

Woody, where in the passage does it say that Christ cannot return until all things are restored. It says that Christ is in Heaven until it is time for the restoration. Then when Christ returns He restores all things.

To say that Christ doesn't return until all things have already been restored sounds almost Postmillenial.

[CCWoody]

http://www.jonathanedwards.com/images/pulpit.gif <A href="http://www.jonathanedwards.com/sermons/Warnings/WickedMen.htm">Wicked Men Of The Past Are Still In Hell<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">

[CCWoody]

(Still having trouble getting my emails)

Woody, where in the passage does it say that Christ cannot return until all things are restored. It says that Christ is in Heaven until it is time for the restoration. Then when Christ returns He restores all things.

To say that Christ doesn't return until all things have already been restored sounds almost Postmillenial.
The verse plainy states that Heaven must contain the Lord until the time that all things are restored. You really have to stretch the plain meaning of the verse to say that it is 1000 years or restoration. That would clearly imply that there will be 1000 years of continuous restoration.

The problem is that the immediate context of the verse tells us that this restoration will include the utter destruction of the wicked. Well, nobody disuptes that this utter destruction is a single event, not a 1000 year process.

[theseed]

I don't think its benefical to argue millenialism in this thread. It is far to indepth.

And I don't know enough to make a case, but have leaned in the premill. view because I tend to believe The Bible literally.

[CCWoody]

To get added to the Spurgeon mailer, please PM me with an email address and I'll get you added.

Whew! I have now completed nearly all of my major projects and will again have some time to send these sermons out after vacation, which is next week. However, I did manage to get this one formatted for your reading pleasure:



SATAN CONSIDERING THE SAINTS.

NO. 623


DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 9TH, 1865
BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job.”-Job 1:8.
http://www.spurgeon.org/images/h.gifOW very uncertain are all terrestrial things! How foolish would that believer be who should lay up his treasure anywhere, except in heaven! Job’s prosperity promised as much stability as anything can do beneath the moon. The man had round about him a large household of, doubtless devoted and attached servants. He had accumulated wealth of a kind which does not suddenly depreciate in value. He had oxen, and asses, and cattle. He had not to go to markets, and fairs, and trade with his goods to procure food and clothing, for he carried on the processes of agriculture on a very large scale round about his own homestead, and probably grew within his own territory everything that his establishment required. His children were numerous enough to promise a long line of descendants. His prosperity wanted nothing for its consolidation. It had come to its flood-tide: where was the cause which could make it ebb?

Up there, beyond the clouds, where no human eye could see, there was a scene enacted which augured no good to Job’s prosperity. The spirit of evil stood face to face with the infinite Spirit of all good. An extraordinary conversation took place between these two beings. When called to account for his doings, the evil one boasted that he had gone to and fro throughout the earth, insinuating that he had met with no hindrance to his will, and found no one to oppose his freely moving and acting at his own pleasure. He had marched everywhere like a king in his own dominions, unhindered and unchallenged. When the great God reminded him that there was at least one place among men where he had no foothold, and where his power was unrecognized, namely, in the heart of Job; that there was one man who stood like an impregnable castle, garrisoned by integrity, and held with perfect loyalty as the possession of the King of Heaven; the evil one defied Jehovah to try the faithfulness of Job, told him that the patriarch’s integrity was due to his prosperity, that he served God and eschewed evil from sinister motives, because he found his conduct profitable to himself. The God of heaven took up the challenge of the evil one, and gave him permission to take away all the mercies which he affirmed to be the props of Job’s integrity, and to pull down all the outworks and buttresses and see whether the tower would not stand in its own inherent strength without them. In consequence of this, all Job’s wealth went in one black day, and not even a child was left to whisper comfort. A second interview between the Lord and his fallen angel took place. Job was again the subject of conversation; and the Great One defied by Satan, permitted him even to touch him in his bone and in his flesh, till the prince became worse than a pauper, and he who was rich and happy was poor and wretched, filled with disease from head to foot, and fain to scrape himself with a miserable potsherd, to gain a poor relief from his pain.

Let us see in this the mutability of all terrestrial things. “He hath founded it upon the floods,” is David’s description of this world; and, if it he founded on the floods, can you wonder that it changes oft? Put not your trust in anything beneath the stars: remember that “Change” is written on the forefront of nature. Say not therefore, “ My mountain standeth firm: it shall never he moved;” the glance of Jehovah’s eye can shake thy mountain into dust, the touch of his foot can make it like Sinai, to melt like wax and to he altogether on a smoke. “Set your affection on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God,” and let your heart and your treasure be “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.” The words of Bernard may here instruct us: “That is the true and chief joy which is not conceived from the creature, but received from the Creator, which (being once possessed thereof) none can take from thee: compared with which all other pleasure is torment, all joy is grief, sweet things are bitter, all glory is baseness, and all delectable things are despicable.”

This is not, however, our subject this morning. Accept thus much as merely an introduction to our main discourse. The Lord said to Satan, “Hast thou considered my servant Job?” Let us deliberate, first, in what sense the evil spirit may be said to consider the people of God; secondly, let us notice what it is that he considers about them; and then, thirdly, let us comfort ourselves by the reflection that one who is far above Satan considers us in a higher sense.

[CCWoody]

Bible Devotion Suggestion

For those of you who are doing the alternate reading of Proverbs in lieu of the Psalms on months with 31 days, I would advise sticking with the Psalms this month. We are actually scheduled to read the book of Proverbs starting later this month.

[CCWoody]

I'm back from my vacation....

To be added to the Spurgeon list or discover the location of the Archives, please send me a PM.


“LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.”


NO. 509







A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 17TH, 1863,




BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,




AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.




“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” — Matthew 6:13.






http://www.spurgeon.org/images/c.gifERTAIN Psalms are entitled “Songs of Degrees;” certainly the prayer before us might be called a Prayer of Degrees. It begins, where all true prayer must commence, with the spirit of adoption, “Our Father.” There is no acceptable prayer until we can say with the prodigal — “I will arise and go unto my Father.” This child-like spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father “in heaven,” and ascends to devout adoration. “Hallowed be thy name.” The child who lisps, “Abbe Father,” grows into the cherub crying, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” There is but a step from rapturous worship to the glowing missionary spirit, which is a sure outgrowth of filial love and reverent adoration — “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We do not commence our spiritual career with this missionspirit; we begin with “Our Father;” we go on to feel his glory, and then the next natural desire is, that others may behold his greatness too, till we are ready to cry with the Psalmist, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” In the process of education which this prayer so well describes, we find the man very early conscious of his dependence upon God; for as a dependent creature he cries, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Being further illuminated by the Spirit, he discovers that he is not only dependent but sinful, hence he entreats for mercy — “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” and being pardoned, having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his acceptance with God, he humbly supplicates for holy perseverance — “Lead us not into temptation.” The man who is really forgiven is anxious not to offend again; the possession of justification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification. “Forgive us our debts,” that is justification; “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” that is sanctification in its negative and positive forms. Now, it would not be the course of nature to begin a life of prayer with the supplication of this morning. This is a petition for men already pardoned, for those who know their adoption, for those who love the Lord and desire to see his kingdom come. Taught of the Spirit to know their pardon, adoption, and union to Jesus, they can cry, and they alone — “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”





I shall this morning, first of all, anticipate an objection; then I shall venture upon an exposition; and conclude with an exhortation.

[theseed]

You can listen to 10 sermons by Spurgeon, read by Charles Kelsh. The sermons range from 12-16kb mp3's. You can download the sermons, directly, but you can find them in your internet files after you listen to them (if not a little before they're finished).

http://www.praize.com/sermons/C.H.Spurgeon/

[CCWoody]

The Tears of St. Lawrence.

Those of you reading along with me will notice that for August 10th there is the following memorial notation: S. Laurence, Archd. of Rome & Martyr

The following can be found on www.space.com (http://www.space.com/)

Every August, when many people are vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance. The annual Perseid meteor shower, as it is called, promised to put on an above average display this year.

The event is also known as "The Tears of St. Lawrence."

Laurentius, a Christian deacon, is said to have been martyred by the Romans in 258 AD on an iron outdoor stove. It was in the midst of this torture that Laurentius cried out: "I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other."

The saint’s death was commemorated on his feast day, Aug. 10. King Phillip II of Spain built his monastery place the "Escorial," on the plan of the holy gridiron. And the abundance of shooting stars seen annually between approximately Aug. 8 and 14 have come to be known as St. Lawrence’s "fiery tears."

Behind the tears

We know today that these meteors are actually the dross of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Discovered back in 1862, this comet takes approximately 130 years to circle the Sun. With each pass, it leaves fresh debris -- mostly the size of sand grains with a few peas and marbles tossed in.

Every year during mid-August, when the Earth passes close to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, the bits and pieces ram into our atmosphere at approximately 37 miles per second (60 kps) and create bright streaks of light.

According to the best estimates, in 2004 the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream sometime around 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 12. Activity could be high for a few hours on either side of that time.

The late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug. 11, on through the first light of dawn on the morning holds the promise of seeing a very fine Perseid display. The bright light of a Full Moon almost totally wrecked last year’s shower, but this year it will be a lovely crescent, about 3½ days before New phase. Moreover, it will not rise until around 2:30 a.m. local daylight time on the morning of the12th, hovering to the east of brilliant Venus.

Click here for the rest of the article: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/040806_perseid_guide.html

[CCWoody]

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE.




NO. 1503







DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,




AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“Have ye not read? Have ye not read? If ye had known what this meaneth.” Matthew 12:3-7.



I. That is the subject of our present discourse, or, at least, the first point of it, that IN ORDER TO THE TRUE READING OF THE SCRIPTURES, THERE MUST BE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEM.




I scarcely need to preface these remarks by saying that we must read the Scriptures. You know how necessary it is that we should be fed upon the truth of holy Scripture. Need I suggest the question as to whether you do read your Bibles or not? I am afraid that this is a magazine reading age a newspaper reading age a periodical reading age, but not so much a Bible reading age as it ought to be. In the old Puritanic times men used to have a scant supply of other literature, but; they found a library enough in the one book, the Bible. And how they did read the Bible! How little of Scripture there is in modern sermons compared with the sermons of those masters of theology, the Puritanic divines! Almost every sentence of theirs seems to cast side lights upon a text of Scripture; not only the one they are preaching about, but many others as well are set in a new light as the discourse proceeds. They introduce blended lights from other passages, which are parallel or semi-parallel thereunto, and thus they educate their readers to compare spiritual things with spiritual. I would to God that we ministers kept more closely to the grand old book. We should be instructive preachers if we did so, even if we were ignorant of “modern thought,” and were not “abreast of the times.” I warrant you we should be leagues ahead of our times if we kept closely to the word of God. As for you, my brothers and sisters, who have not to preach, the best food for you is the word of God itself. Sermons and books are well enough, but streams that run for a long distance above ground gradually gather for themselves somewhat of the soil through which they flow, and they lose the cool freshness with which they started from the spring head. Truth is sweetest where it breaks from the smitten Rock, for at its first gush it has lost none of its heavenliness and vitality. It is always best to drink at the well and not from the tank. You shall find that reading the word of God for yourselves, reading it rather than notes upon it, is the surest way of growing in grace. Drink of the unadulterated milk of the word of God, and not of the skim milk, or the milk and water of man’s word.


But, now, beloved, our point is that much apparent Bible reading is not Bible reading at all. The verses pass under the eye, and the sentences glide over the mind, but there is no true reading. An old preacher used to say, the Word has mighty free course among many nowadays, for it goes in at one of their ears and out at the other; so it seems to be with some readers they can read a very great deal, because they do not read anything. The eye glances but the mind never rests. The soul does not light upon the truth and stay there. It flits over the landscape as a bird might do, but it builds no nest therein, and finds no rest for the sole of its foot. Such reading is not reading. Understanding the meaning is the essence of true reading. Reading has a kernel to it, and the mere shell is little worth. In prayer there is such a thing as praying in prayer a praying that is the bowels of the prayer. So in praise there is a praising in song’, an inward fire of intense devotion which is the life of the hallelujah. It is so in fasting: there is a fasting which is not fasting, and there is an inward fasting, a fasting of the soul, which is the soul of fasting. It is even so with the reading’ of the Scriptures. There is an interior reading, a kernel reading a true and living reading of the Word. This is the soul of reading; and, if it be not there, the reading is a mechanical exercise, and profits nothing. Now, beloved, unless we understand what we read we have not read it; the heart of the reading is absent. We commonly condemn the Romanists for keeping the daily service in the Latin tongue; yet it might as well be in the Latin language as in any other tongue if it be not understood by the people. Some comfort themselves with the idea that they have done a good action when they have read a chapter, into the meaning of which they have not entered at all; but does not nature herself reject this as a mere superstition. If you had turned the book upside down, and spent the same time in looking at the characters in that direction, you would have gained as much good from it as you will in reading it in the regular way without understanding it. If you had a New Testament in Greek it would be very Greek to some of you, but it would do you as much good to look at that as it does to look at the English New Testament unless you read with understanding heart. It is not the letter, which saves the soul; the letter killeth in many senses, and never can it give life. If you harp on the letter alone you may be tempted to use it as a weapon against the truth, as the Pharisees did of old, and your knowledge of the letter may breed pride in you to your destruction. It is the spirit, the real inner meaning that is sucked into the soul, by which we are blessed and sanctified. We become saturated with the word of God, like Gideon’s fleece, which was wet with the dew of heaven; and this can only come to pass by our receiving it into our minds and hearts, accepting it as God’s truth, and so far understanding it as to delight in it. We must understand it, then, or else we have not read it aright.


Certainly, the benefit of reading must come to the soul by the way of the understanding. When the high priest went into the holy place he always lit the golden candlestick before he kindled the incense upon the brazen altar, as if to show that the mind must have illumination before the affections can properly rise towards their divine object. There must be knowledge of God before there can be love to God: there must be a knowledge of divine things, as they are revealed, before there can be an enjoyment of them. We must try to make out, as far as our finite mind can grasp it, what God means by this and what he means by that; otherwise we may kiss the book and have no love to its contents, we may reverence the letter and yet really have no devotion towards the Lord who speaks to us in these words. Beloved, you will never get comfort to your soul out of what you do not understand, nor find guidance for your life out of what you do not comprehend; nor can any practical bearing upon your character come out of that which is not understood by you.


How, if we are thus to understand what we read or otherwise we read in vain, this shows us that when we come to the study of Holy Scripture we should try to have our mind well awake to it. We are not always fit, it seems to me, to read the Bible. At times it were well for us to stop before we open the volume. “Put off thy shoe from thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” You have just come in from careful thought and anxiety about your worldly business, and you cannot immediately take that book and enter into its heavenly mysteries. As you ask a blessing over your meat before you fall to, so it would be a good rule for you to ask a blessing on the word before you partake of its heavenly food. Pray the Lord to strengthen your eyes before you dare to look into the eternal light of Scripture. As the priests washed their feet at the laver before they went to their holy work, so it were well to wash the soul’s eyes with which you look upon God’s word, to wash even the fingers, if I may so speak the mental fingers with which you will turn from page to page, that with a holy book you may deal after a holy fashion. Say to your soul “Come, soul, wake up: thou art not now about to read the newspaper; thou art not now perusing the pages of a human poet to be dazzled by his flashing poetry; thou art coming very near to God, who sits in the Word like a crowned monarch in his halls. Wake up, my glory; wake up, all that is within me. Though just now I may not be praising and glorifying God, I am about to consider that which should lead me so to do, and therefore it is an act of devotion. So be on the stir, my soul: be on the stir, and bow not sleepily before the awful throne of the Eternal.” Scripture reading is our spiritual mealtime. Sound the gong and call in every faculty to the Lord’s own table to feast upon the precious meat which is now to be partaken of; or, rather, ring the church-bell as for worship, for the studying of the Holy Scripture ought to be as solemn a deed as when we lift the psalm upon the Sabbath day in the courts of the Lord’s house.


If these things be so, you will see at once, dear friends, that, if you are to understand what you read, you will need to meditate upon it. Some passages of Scripture lie clear before us blessed shallows in which the lambs may wade; but there are deeps in which our mind might rather drown herself than swim with pleasure, if she came there without caution. There are texts of Scripture which are made and con-strutted on purpose to make us think. By this means, among others, our heavenly Father would educate us for heaven by making us think our way into divine mysteries. Hence he puts the word in a somewhat involved form to compel us to meditate upon it before we reach the sweetness of it. He might, you know, have explained it to us so that we might catch the thought in a minute, but he does not please to do so in every case. Many of the veils which are east over Scripture are not meant to hide the meaning from the diligent, but to compel the mind to be active, for oftentimes the diligence of the heart in seeking to know the divine mind does the heart more good than the knowledge itself. Meditation and careful thought exercise us and strengthen the soul for the reception of the yet more lofty truths. I have heard that the mothers in the Balearic isles, in the old times, who wanted to bring their boys up to be good slingers, would put their dinners up above them where they could not get at them until they threw a stone and fetched them down: our Lord wishes us to be good slingers, and he puts up some precious truth in a lofty place where we cannot get it down except by slinging at it; and, at last, we hit the mark and find food for our souls. Then have we the double benefit of learning the art of meditation and partaking of the sweet truth which it has brought within our reach. We must meditate brothers. These grapes will yield no wine till we tread upon them. These olives must be put under the wheel, and pressed again and again, that the oil may flow therefrom. In a dish of nuts, you may know which nut has been eaten, because there is a little hole which the insect has punctured through the shell just a little hole, and then inside there is the living thing eating up the kernel. Well, it is a grand thing to bore through the shell of the letter, and then to live inside feeding upon the kernel. I would wish to be such a little worm as that, living within and upon the word of God, having bored my way through the shell, and having reached the innermost mystery of the blessed gospel. The word of God is always most precious to the man who most lives upon it. As I sat last year under a wide-spreading beech, I was pleased to mark with prying curiosity the singular habits of that most wonderful of trees, which seems to have intelligence about it, which other trees have not. I wondered and admired the beech, but I thought to myself, I do not think half as much of this beech tree as yonder squirrel does. I see him leap from bough to bough, and I feel sure that he dearly values the old beech tree, because he has his home somewhere inside it in a hollow place, these branches are his shelter, and those beechnuts are his food. He lives upon the tree. It is his world, his playground, his granary, his home; indeed, it is everything to him, and it is not so to me, for I find my rest and food elsewhere. With God’s word it is well for us to be like squirrels, living in it and living on it. Let us exercise our minds by leaping from bough to bough of it, find our rest and food in it, and make it our all in all. We shall be the people that get the profit out of it if we make it to be our food, our medicine, our treasury, our armoury, our rest, our delight. May the Holy Ghost lead us to do this and make the Word thus precious to our souls.

[CCWoody]

THE SOWER
NO. 2842


“Behold, a sower went forth to sow.” — Matthew 13:3.


I. First, WHO WAS HE?

We do not know anything at all about him except that he was a sower. His individuality seems to be swallowed up in his office. We do not know who his father was, or his mother, or his sister, or his brother; all we know is that he was a sower, and I do like to see a man who is so much a minister that he is nothing else but a minister. It does not matter who he is, or what he has, or what else he can do, if he does this one thing. He has lost his identity in his service, tho