“The survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem, left in Judah after the banishment of their fellow countrymen to the Euphrates, seemed, for the time, overwhelmed by the calamities that had befallen their nation. The Temple they had thought invulnerable was burnt to the ground; Jerusalem, in which they had gloried as “the joy of the whole earth” was a waste of blackened ruins. The town gates seemed to have sunk into the ground; the roads to Zion, once thronged with pilgrims, lay untraveled; no concourse gathered outside the walls, for gossip or business; even the walls themselves were thrown down, the jackals haunted the holy hill!” “For ages past every event in their national history, whether glorious or sorrowful, had been commemorated in the lyrics handed down from generation to generation. The defeat of Pharaoh, the triumph over Sisera, the death of Saul and Jonathan, the overthrow of the northern…
Tag: <span>mercy</span>
Just went to my high school class reunion, my first, ever, after many years. Talk about scary? I didn’t know any classmates and they didn’t know me. As the night went on, I started remembering a few and then many, with the help of “name tags.”I was amused at how many red-haired kids were now white as snow. Fat people were thin, and thin were fat, and non-lookers became quite nice-looking in the twilight years. You get the drift. We laughed and reminisced. On the sad side I discovered that 15 or so classmates had died, some of them were my friends of bygone days. I was moved as their names were read and a candle was lit for each.. I was then constrained to tell a large group of the survivors how that God had rescued my life several years past High School and gave me a purposeful life.…
Matthew 9 teaches the Words of Jesus, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Repentance is a gift from God: The Psalmist cries, “Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.” Psalm 25:16 The people cry,”Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm 80:3 David cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 Ezra cries, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.” Psalm 119:37 Who restored Adam and Eve after their sin? God restored them — God took away their fig leaves and then God killed…
“God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea and he pulls a corpse from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank and breathes into him the breath of life and makes him alive.” R.C. Sproul “Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how indebted they are to his mercy.” John Calvin “We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.” John Calvin “You contribute nothing to your Salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” Jonathan Edwards “The ultimate test of our spirituality, Is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.” Martin Lloyd Jones “Faith, repentance and holiness are no less…
“Not one time will the believer ever face condemnation.” “Don’t Ever let Satan detach your self-image from the kingdom of God’s finished work.” God says, “I’ve not only taken care of everything you’ve done, but I’ve taken care of everything people have done to you. I’ve taken care of everything you are …I’ve taken care of everything Satan has done.” Dr. Carl H. Stevens This year we must know who we are in Christ. This year we must draw nigh the mercy seat. This year we will be challenged to doubt, to question, to fall into “second-rate citizen” status. Steve Gruber, conservative talk show host, comments on 2019: “This will be a political war like you have never seen because in the end it is really about the heart and soul of America … about the future of the republic and whether America will be a nation of individuals…
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.” “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!”Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 6:1-5 “Then one of the seraphim flew to…
Jonah slipped outta God’s directive and wound up jailed, in a fish; cried out for God’s help, became fish-disgorge, bleached and beached, opted to go preach, saved the Ninevites nation. What can we learn? Folks squirm outta life daily only to enter self-incarceration; self-reproach, fright, despondency. These we try to lighten with encouragement; sometimes these hide away, we lose touch with them. Through probation, prison, parole, or local jail, 6.7 million Americans wear the dregs of cement and bars — 2.7% of adult population or 1 out of every 37 Americans have been sent “up the river,” (as of 2015). What’s up with these? — Scott Rasmussen reports. Some questions crop up: did not God throw a mighty tempest toward Jonah’s run-away boat and sailor friends? Did the bloody blokes not become suspicious of Jonah? Did they not, in turn, throw the fugitive overboard? Let’s review: So far,…
“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony…” Exodus 25:21-22 “My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.” Psalm 26:12 “…And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1John 2:1-2 The mercy-seat of God, the even place, and the propitiation speak of a one-and-the-same place. Here, all that hinders a face to face with God flies away. Things remaining, join us to Him. Sin and sin’s…
The tightrope act spoken of in Paul’s word to Ephesus, 5:15, is not for fools. It takes precision, a sure footed walk and a certain pace. Insight and skill are essentials toward, “Buying up for yourselves the seasonable time,” — the opportune time afforded to you for the work of God,”– j.F.B. says “Special favorable seasons for good, occasionally presenting themselves, of which believers ought diligently to avail themselves.” The slip of foot can mean falling on broken glass in the analogy. Although the days are “evil,” and infection surrounds, this season is precious; a field to be bought for a pearl. Avail yourself to the opportunities. Each is but once in a lifetime. For such a time as this, we breathe. Our steps must be ordered, established, sure. Our pace in sync with the proper cadence, we press onward. Man plans the pathway, the Lord directs the steps. A…
“And when this life is through; even then, your hand will lead me, your right hand will hold me.” “No more night, no more pain, no more tears, never crying again.” “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” “Wonderful, merciful Savior; Precious Redeemer and Friend … you give the healing and grace, our hearts always hunger for. You rescue the souls of men.” We hunger for it. “Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great High Priest whose name is Love, who ever lives to plead for me. My name is graven on His hands, my name is written on His heart, I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart.” “Mercy there was great and grace was free, pardon there was multiplied for me, there my burdened soul found liberty, at…