THE LORD IS KING

Charles H. Spurgeon:

“There is a holy familiarity with God which cannot be too much enjoyed, but there is a flippant familiarity with God which cannot be too much abhorred! The Lord is King. His will is not to be questioned! His every Word is Law. Let us never question His Sovereign right to decree what He pleases and to fulfill the decree—to command what He pleases and to punish every shortcoming.” (1891, Sermon #2195) “The prerogative to give life or to take it away must remain with the Most High. The wit and wisdom of man are altogether powerless to bestow life upon even the tiniest insect! We know of a surety, doctrinally, and we know it with equal certainty by experience, that we can do nothing towards the quickening of men apart from the Spirit of God. If He does not come and give life, we may preach till we have not another breath left, but we shall not raise from the tomb of sin even the soul of a little child, or bring a single sinner to the feet of Christ!” (1892, Sermon #2246)

GOD RULES

Loraine Boettner D.D.:

By virtue of the fact that God has created every thing which exists, He is the absolute Owner and final Disposer of all that He has made.  He exerts not merely a general in­fluence, but actually rules in the world which He has created.  The nations of the earth, in their insignificance, are as the small dust of the balance when compared with His greatness; and far sooner might the sun be stopped in his course than God be hindered in His work or in His will.  Amid all the apparent defeats and inconsistencies of life God actually moves on in undisturbed majesty. (The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination)

FINDING SUPREME JOY

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17 ESV)

Joy is a gift from God, but it also a gift for which we must take responsibility for cultivating on a daily basis. When we receive salvation, the Holy Spirit also imparts joy into our lives. The great blessing of such joy is in learning to live life according to God’s Will. Our joy grows as we increasingly realize that Jesus Christ is our greatest treasure. The Westminster Shorter Catechism affirms this by saying, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

The essence of true Christianity is to know peace with God through Jesus Christ. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are produced in a relationship with Jesus Christ where we submit to Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one may approach God except through Jesus. (John 14:6 ESV)

THE PURSUIT OF SUCCESS AND WEALTH

John Calvin:

Instead of rushing on regardless of right and wrong, by wiles and wicked arts, and with injury to our neighbors, to catch at wealth and seize upon honors, we will only follow such fortune as we may enjoy with innocence. Who can hope for the aid of the divine blessing amid fraud, rapine, and other iniquitous arts? As this blessing attends him only who thinks purely and acts uprightly, so it calls off all who long for it from sinister designs and evil actions.

DAVID’S MEDICINE CABINET

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. (Psalm 30:2 ESV)

I love the Psalms. The Psalms stir us to worship God more diligently. The Psalms teach us to rest in God alone as the only source of our true happiness and requirements. The Psalms offer guidance in times of affliction. In the Psalms, our innermost thoughts are revealed.

The Psalms encourage us to pray. We must lay our general needs and hope for relief from affliction before God in prayer. The Psalms also teach us to praise God and lift our hearts to Him. They are surely a means to comfort and strength.

GOD HAS A PLAN

Loraine Boettner D.D.:

If God had not foreordained the course of events but waited until some un-determined condition was or was not fulfilled, His decrees could be neither eternal nor immutable.  We know, however, that He is incapable of mistake, and that He cannot be surprised by any unforeseen inconveniences.  His kingdom is in the heavens and He rules over all.  His plan must, therefore, include every event in the entire sweep of history. …

The Pelagian denies that God has a plan; the Arminian says that God has a general but not a specific plan; but the Calvinist says that God has a specific plan which embraces all events in all ages. In recognizing that the eternal God has an eternal plan in which is predetermined every event that comes to pass, the Calvinist simply recognizes that God is God, and frees Him from all human limitations.  The Scriptures represent God as a person, like other persons in that His acts are purposeful, but unlike other persons in that He is all-wise in His planning and all-powerful in His performing.  They see the universe as the product of His creative power, and as the theater in which are displayed His glorious perfections, and which must in all its form and all its history, down to the least detail, correspond with His purpose in making it. (The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination)

THE WALL OF SEPARATION CAST DOWN

Jonathan Edwards:

He [Jesus Christ] hath by his blood made atonement for sin, so that our guilt need not stand in the way, as a separating wall between God and us, and that our sins might not be a cloud through which our prayers cannot pass. By his atonement he hath made the way to the throne of grace open. God would have been infinitely gracious if there had been no Mediator, but the way to the mercy-seat would have been blocked up. But Christ hath removed whatever stood in the way. The veil which was before the mercy-seat “is rent from the top to the bottom” by the death of Christ. If it had not been for this, our guilt would have remained as a wall of brass to hinder our approach. But all is removed by his blood, Heb. 10:17, etc.

THE POWER OF GOD

Charles H. Spurgeon:

“There is the same power with God to forgive sin as there used to be, for the blood of Jesus is as powerful to cleanse as it ever was! Note, also, that there is the same power of the Holy Spirit to change your nature as there ever was. He who turned Saul of Tarsus from an enemy into an Apostle can do just the same with you. Of old, conversion was likened to the raising of the dead and He who has quickened many a dead soul can quicken your dead soul, and raise you from the dead! It was also called a new creation, and He who made all things new in other men can make all things new in you! ” (1895, Sermon #2411)

THE WORLD’S THEOLOGY

James Montgomery Boice:

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools,” (Romans 1:22 ESV)

The world’s theology is easy to define. It is the view . . . that human beings are basically good, that no one is really lost, that belief in Jesus Christ is not necessary for salvation.

BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11 ESV)

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV)

Conformity to the world’s value system is evidence that a work of grace has not transformed the heart and mind.  The man, who is born of the Spirit of God, will not only seek to separate himself from worldliness – but will also diligently pursue holiness. 

There are many who desire to transform Christianity in order to make it more easily acceptable to our present culture.  Church members often desire the broad road rather than the narrow way that leads to godliness.  In Romans 12:2, Paul instructs us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 ESV)

IF YOUR LIFE IS UNHOLY …

Charles H. Spurgeon:

Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Savior will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.

THE WORLDLY MAN IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:16 ESV)

The contemporary church no longer looks for signs of gospel progress and thus allows anyone to claim he or she is a Christian. Every Sunday people attend church, perform their religious duties, believe they are saved, and are not. This is the state of the worldly man in the Christian Church. He is a double-minded man (James 1:6-8 ESV), yet he simply believes he is being open-minded and thus succumbs to unstable ideas which are not supported by truth.

In most modern churches, there is no obligation to become like Jesus Christ and set an example by following His teachings. The worldly man in the Christian Church believes that Christianity is true as long as it does not conflict with his own ideas.  He is religious, but guarded about how his secular friends outside the church see him. His life is one of inconsistency.

WISDOM

J.C. Ryle:

“. . . Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware of forming fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your taste. Dare not to say, ‘I believe this verse, for I like it. I refuse that, for I cannot reconcile it with my views.’ Nay! But, O man, who art thou that replies against God? By what right do you talk in this way? Surely it were better to say, over every chapter in the word, ‘Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears.’ Ah! If men would do this, they would never deny the unquenchable fire.”

THE PERPETUAL CROSS

John Calvin:

[Although Jesus] was dear to him [God] above others, the Son in whom he was “well pleased,” yet we see, that far from being treated gently and indulgently, we may say, that not only was he subjected to a perpetual cross while he dwelt on earth, but his whole life was nothing else than a kind of perpetual cross.

IMITATION OF CHRIST

Charles H. Spurgeon:

“‘The Imitation of Christ’ is a wonderful book upon the subject which every Christian should read. It has its faults, but its excellences are many. May we not only read the book, but write it out anew in our own life and character by seeking in everything to be like Jesus! It is a good thing to put up in your house the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ It answers nine out of 10 of the difficulties of moral casuistry. When you do not know what to do and the Law does not seem very explicit upon it, put it so—‘What would Jesus do?’ Here, then, stands the case—by your creation in Christ you come to exhibit faith in Him, love to Him and imitation of Him—and all these are the means by which good works are produced in you. You are ‘created in Christ Jesus unto good works.’” (1891, Sermon #2210)