Proverbs 29:18 teaches, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. “ The Law” (torah) is not merely the written Mosaic Law, but the announcement of God’s will by the mouth of his representatives. Many times God’s people neglected Him. First, we note the licence of Eli’s time, when there was no open vision. (1Samuel 3:1-21.) “no vision that broke forth” — no publicly recognized prophet whom the people could consult, and from whom they might learn the will of God.” J.F.B. Now, where there is no preaching, men perish in their sins; the word being the ordinary means of grace, ( Acts 20:32) of regeneration (Titus 3:5), conversion (John 3:3), faith (Roman’s 10:17), and salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10); without which, men know nothing of Christ, of peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life by Him: and where there is preaching, yet it not being…
Healing at the Cross Posts
Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. Job_3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. We can surmise , that like faith, fear sets a course. For faith to operate, fear must be dispelled. They cannot co-exist. Job’s fear apparently was hidden, at least to himself. When the answer of fear came, Job knew what happened. Did fear cause his calamity? ” There is a bona fide fear that is not sinful because of our human frailty. Then there is a fear that comes because we do not believe. The fear that comes upon us when we hear something is not a sinful type of fear. It is very normal, and by God’s grace it will not last long if we…
He rests in His love. Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.” Deuteronomy 7:7 Have you ever wondered about the significance of God’s love? What is it? What does it do? Why? Corinthians teaches that it never fails, it believes all things, it hopes all things. God is said to love with an everlasting love , and draws men with his loving kindness. God’s supreme act of love was seen in his sending his only begotten Son to excruciating suffering and death for the sins of the world. My personal dealings with God’s love have taught me that God’s love is an independent love, a free love, a sovereign love. In other words God is not just doing love, He exhales the very essence of love. And…
Christians must rebound . And likewise must recover. We overcome hindrances, even hindering spirits, through rebound and recovery. We simply get back up. We forget what is past, press on to that which is before. With Paul, we press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! A major tool for this recovery process is truth, yes truth: the truth that endures to all generations. Another enduring is mercy, another is God’s faithfulness, another is the very name of God, which speaks of his nature, including all of his attributes. Psalm_100:5 proclaims loudly, ” For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” And Psalm_119:90 adds, “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abides. Then, Psalm_135:13 reminds us, “Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O…
Grace on every side equals “manifold grace.” God offers the gift and we receive it simply and thankfully. We are to become stewards, yes “house stewards,” monitoring the income and the outgo of this magnificent grace, to and from our soul. We operate in such a manner because grace must be what people learn about God, who’s policy toward mankind is and always has been supreme grace. “Sovereign grace” defines it also, the one and only operation that God performs towards men. See first Peter chapter 4, and verse 10. “Grace is God acting freely, according to his own nature as love, with no promises or obligations to fulfill, and acting righteously, of course , in view of the cross. “God acts toward whom, and how, He pleases. God has no debts to pay to mankind.” “Likewise, man has no conditions to fulfill for God to wait for. Grace is…
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:1-2 Colossians chapter 3 teaches us where to aim and what spirit to catch. In both cases the goal is “above” and quite frankly, “those things which are above” marks the target. Jesus taught us that as we seek we will find. If we knock on a door, it shall be opened to us. If we ask, it shall be given to us. So with the expectation of a staunch fisherman, we carefully throw our line. But in our case we have the hope born in a promise. We will find , we will receive we will catch. Paul, in a parallel passage, teaches us about understanding a thing, and then placing our confidence in that…
A life makes little sense without hope. The Bible refers to it as the anchor of our soul. Hope that is seen, it’s not really hope. So says Romans 8:24. No, hope that is not seen we must wait for, it requires patience. Patience is a tremendous virtue because it teaches us how to abide underneath the covering of another. In our case that covering is God and his Word. In this abiding, we can even bear fruit. In this abiding , we can have our prayers answered. It is an abiding in love as we are told in John chapter 15. So what does hope do for us believers? Hope tells you , that “you can do it.” You can do it because Christ is in you, the hope of glory. What a miraculous thing. The miracle of the indwelling Christ, united you to all that He is and…
Jesus washes a person’s foot, He washes their feet. What? Dirty feet, what does it mean? It means feet uncovered without shoes, feet touching dirt or debris. It alludes to the person’s earthly travels, both saved and unsaved men and women. It seems that we cannot help touch dirt, and accumulate it throughout our day. God gave to Moses the law in order to bring to his attention the reality of dirty feet. That law was like a mirror of constant reminder that the feet were indeed dirty. But some men, like Paul, found a way to keep that mirror without having to relate to it. Paul said, “I was alive without the law once.” In Romans 7:9 . He was referring to a time when the law was not relevant to his life, though he owned it. The Jews were committed the oracles of the law in Romans 3/2.…
Whom He loves, He chastens. What of it? Chasten is from the Latin “castus”, “pure,” “chaste ;” and to chasten is, properly, to purify. Originally meant “to bring up a child, Hence, to instruct; To discipline or correct.” The word is not synonymous with punish, since it always implies an infliction which contemplates the subject’s amendment” Vincent “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Hebrews 12:3 He that endured is Christ. As we consider Christ in his dying, suffering on our behalf, suffering for us and as us: it is a picture of love. It is a picture of justice, but justice suffered by another on our behalf. Christ was our substitute, dying in our place. And taking us with Him not only in death but in burial, resurrection, ascension and session. Our consideration of Him is…
Boats enable a person to float atop the water. Some sub-marine type boats give a person underwater access. A person with diving gear can spend several hours under water, breathing as if on land. As far as I know, however, none have acquired gills. None can adapt to an under water environment in the complete sense of making it home. A biological transformation would have to take place. In a similar manner, the Kingdom of God presents a challenge. Not a water-world but a Spirit world, God’s domain is not accessed by flesh and blood. Again, a transformation must occur, a new-birth. Yes indeed, a new nature only can experience fully the domain of spirits, both darkness and light. A simple analogy, yes, but the above explains many of our relationship issues as well as our discerning. Paul admitted in 1Corinthians 13, that “For now we see through a glass,…