At the Presence of the LORD

"Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence."   [Isaiah 64:1-3]


Sola Deo Gloria

How Great Thou Art

O, Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all thy works thy hands hath made,

I see the star, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee

How great thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee

How great thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, 

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

And when I think that God His son not sparing,

Sent Him to die - I scarce can take it in,

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great thou art!

When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation

And take me home - what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration

And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great thou art!

Sola Deo Gloria

DOES JESUS CHRIST REALLY LIVE???

Fellow Christian, do you live as if Christ really lives? Do you live as if Christ, the eternal son of God, sits at God's right hand and reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords? 

If you were walking down the street and saw a man about to run into a burning structure because he did not know better, would you not do everything within your power to stop the man? If you were watching a man running headlong over a cliff, wouldn't you stand in His way? There is a story of a Scottish highland shepherd boy that was tending sheep. While attending sheep, a storm arose over the hills and caught the boy and his flock. Seeking shelter in a cave, the shepherd boy with his flock spent the night. In the morning, the shepherd boy awoke and realized with great horror, that the train tracks that spanned the gulf not far away had been washed away by the storm. The boy ran out of the cave and up the slope to the top of the hill and crashed through the bushes just in time to see a train round the bend and head strait for the gulf. Not knowing what to do, the boy threw himself down on the tracks. The conductor seeking to save the boys life, threw on the breaks, but it was too late. The train stopped just as it was about to plunge its passengers to certain death. The conductor then lead the people in the train to see the mangled body of the boy that had given his life for them. Brethren, we are watching thousands of people running into a burning eternity, a bottomless pit, an eternal torment, and we will not so much as lift a finger to prevent them. 

Below I have included a devotional from Grace Gems. Please read it carefully and consider what it says. 

An unsaved person's perspective of Christians

I do not believe that you Christians believe your own creed--for if you were persuaded that things really are as your Bibles teach, and that we poor lost people were really going to such a dreadful place as you say Hell is--then you would act more humanely toward us.

If you saw our houses on fire--you would run and help us to put the fire out; or if you saw us in danger of death--you would try to do something to save us. But you pretend to believe that we are going to Hell, and that Hell burns with fire and brimstone forever, and that once there we can never get out--and yet you talk to us about all sorts of things--but never say one word to us about saving our souls from this terrible doom!

So I have reasoned thus: either you Christians don't believe what you say--or else you must be the most hardened and unfeeling wretches in the universe! Now, as I don't believe that you are such cruel, hardened, and unfeeling people as this supposes--then I must conclude that, with all your talk--you Christians don't really believe what your Bibles teach!

For if you really believe what you say about sin, and Hell, and our danger--then you would act differently; and if you have a spark of kindness in your hearts--you would try to save us from such a dreadful doom. And, on the other hand, if you do not believe what you profess--then you Christians cannot be honest; and to say the least, there must be a great deal of hypocrisy among you.

Now, I honestly tell you that these are the things which have stumbled me more than anything, and until I can see you Christians act differently--I will not be persuaded to believe what your sort of folks say.

Brethren, if we truly believed that Christ lives, we would be fearless in sharing the gospel. Every opportunity that came would be seized with zeal and passion. No person would walk by us without hearing of Christ. No stone would be left unturned. We would compel the nations to fear the Lord. Make this be your prayer. Live as if Christ lives, and may He live in you. Love for the Lord ought to fill your heart, captivate your mind, animate your body, and subjugate your frame. O, fellow man, Christ lives. Go and proclaim His name to the nations. Go with boldness, because He lives. Go with love, because He lives. Go with zeal, because He lives. Do not sit around and utter the word, "board." You have no reason to be board. Christ lives, and there are people that have not the gospel. Go with God, because He lives. 

Sola Deo Gloria

Judgment - A right perspective

"Blessed is the man that walketh not after the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of scornful." - Psalm 1:1


Brethren, I have somewhat to say to thee. I sense that a spirit of mockery and scoffing has entered into the Church of God. 


As a brother in Christ, I rebuke you in the name of the Lord. 


Remember, first of all that the mind that was in Christ Jesus should also be in us. Jesus lifted his eyes up to Jerusalem and wept over her[Luke 19:41]. At another time, He had compassion over the multitude for they were as a sheep that had no shepherd. [Mark 6:34] Jesus Christ does not mock the confusion and the lies of the people. No, he gives us great grace. Though we grope as in darkness at noon day, He chose those that He loved to anoint them with eye salve and open their eyes. 


Let us not be a people that scoff at the ungodly. Lately, many of us have been guilty of scoffing and abusing others with our words. We have mocked people that thought the "rapture" was going to take place on the 21st of May. Many of our words have been less then kind. But also, we have mocked the idea of the Judgement day. We have made jokes, and written blogs etc. about what would take place if the "rapture" actually did happen? We stood around in our kitchens counting down the hours to the "appointed time." We asked each other what their rapture experience was. 


Harold Camping may have been wrong about the time and the mode of Christ's coming; however, Christ is coming. So, before we open our mouth to laugh and ridicule, let us take a few moments to examine ourselves, to make our calling and election sure, to understand what the Bible says about the coming judgement (The Lord our God will come as a thief in the night. Are you watching and praying that ye enter not into temptation?), and to weep for those that are as sheep with out a shepherd. 


The following is an exert from Thomas Watson's book All Things for Good:


Pity those who are not yet called.
  "Sinners in scarlet are not objects of envy, but pity; they are under 'the power of Satan' (Acts 26:18). They tread every day on the brink of the bottomless pit; and what if death should cast them in! O pity unconverted sinners! If you pity an ox or an ass going astray, will you not pity a soul going astray from God, who has lost his way and his wit, and is upon the precipice of damnation. 
  Nay, not only pity sinners, but pray for them. Though they curse, do you pray; you will pray for persons demented; sinners are demented. "When he came to himself" (Luke 15:17). It seems the prodigal before conversion was not himself. Wicked men are going to execution: sin is the halter which strangles them, death turns them off the ladder, and hell is the burning place; and will you not pray for them, when you see them in such danger?"


I encourage you to have attitudes of pity for the wicked: "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother." (Psalm 35:13-14)


Unless Harold Camping repents, he is destined for an eternal judgment. This is not something to mock, laugh at, or make jokes of. Most of the world is destined for Hell. As a Christian, if you saw someone going to the French guillotine, would you laugh in their face? If someone said to us, "tomorrow half of the United States will fall into the Ocean," would we laugh them to scorn. Is this not what the heathen do? O, brethren, have pity on the poor, confused sinner. Remember, you once were such.


What does the Bible say about the Judgment: 


(This is not at all exhaustive)


"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." - Mark 13:32


"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." - 2 Peter 3:10


"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." - Revelations 3:3


God will have no John the Baptist to herald his coming. He will come when no man looks for Him. [Luke 12:46] Are you ready for His coming? Will you be found eating, drinking, making merry. Will you call to your friends to dine with you as in the days of Noah? It may be no surprise to you that judgment day did not come on May 21st, 2011. But I ask, "When judgment comes, will you be taken by surprise." 


"Make your calling and election sure." - 


"And cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." - Matthew 25:30


Brethren, do you know that you will someday be joined to that heavenly kingdom? Do you know for a fact that you have been called? Is your heart in heaven already? Have you wrestled with God for a blessing? 


You must know. You cannot just hope. You cannot wait. Christ may return this very moment. Will you be found as one of His sheep? Will you be covered with the blood of Christ? "And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him in to outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called but few are chosen." - Matthew 22:11-12


"Most men shape their religion according to the fashion of the times: they are for the music and the idol (Daniel 3:7). The serious thought of this should make us work out our salvation with fear, and labour to be in the number of those few whom God has translated into a state of grace." - Thomas Watson


For those that are called:

"...but such as love Christ are joyful to think of His coming in the clouds. They then will be delivered from all their sins and fears, they shall be acquitted before men and angels, and shall be for ever translated into the paradise of God." - Thomas Watson

Take heart. For the Christian, the coming day of our Lord means the end of all sorrow, pain, grief, tears. There will be no more striving against sin. There will be only Love to carry us to Heaven. There will be only love in Heaven. No more faith, repentance, hope. "This my joy therefore is fulfilled." - John 3:29

So I ask, while you mock a mentally sick man, post blasphemous jokes on your blogs, and sit in the seat of the scoffers, is your heart right with God? Will you be put in the balance and be found wanting[Daniel 5:27]? I say to you, "Be warned." God wants us to be more like Christ. God wants His Church to be spotless. I tell you, "God's church is not a place for mocking, cruel gestures, or scoffing."  

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." - Colossians 4:6 

Sola Deo Gloria

All Things For Good - by Thomas Watson

The following quote is a section from Thomas Watson's book, All Things For Good.


Sin puts a child of God on self-judging; he passes a sentence upon himself. 'I am more brutish than any man' (Proverbs 30:2). It is dangerous to judge others, but it is good to judge ourselves. 'If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged' (1 Corinthians 11:31). When a man has judged himself, Satan is put out of office. When he lays anything to a saint's charge, he is able to retort and say, 'It is true, Satan, I am guilty of these sins, but I have judged myself already for them; and having condemned myself in the lower court of conscience, God will acquit me in the upper court of heaven.' 


"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" (Romans 8:33)

Sola Deo Gloria

How Shall We then Live

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength; this is the first and greatest commandment..."


The cup of God's infinite love has been poured out upon poor, undeserving sinners in the work of Jesus Christ. "Greater love hath no man than this; that he should lay down his life for a friend." While Christ drank the cup of God's infinite wrath, we drank the cup of God's infinite Love. In Romans, there is a passage that should make us fall on our faces in reverence to God. It reads, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." This is saying, While we were wallowing in the mire, black with our own filth, Christ died for us and made us a new creation. 


Michael Card, a Christian contemporary musician, wrote these words to one of his songs. "Why did they have to nail his feet and hands, when His love would have held Him there?" For love, Christ died, and for love, Christ lives. 


- "If you love me, you will keep my commandment." 


- "The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."

- "How shall yea then live?" "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This is our standard for living, The entire Law Word of God. Therefore, in order to understand what we must do, we must fully study the Scriptures to understand every jot and tittle of the Law. This is not for legalism's sake. We are justified by faith. Saved by grace. However, we must remember, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." 


So, the questions is, "How shall we then live?" "By taking heed thereunto according to thy word," that is the Word of God.


Finally, because Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and the Father commended His love toward us, we love the Lord our God. We ought to be infatuated with our Lord, intoxicated with His love. The Song of Solomon should be as it were written from our hand. O, pray for such a love. 


So, while the World tells us to love and tolerate, we understand that for love, Christ died and for love, we live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

The Love of Christ should animate our bodies, intoxicate our hearts, captivate our minds, and subjugate our frame. 

Sola Deo Gloria 

Purity - A Right Perspective

Brethren, we live in a culture that seeks to rob us of our purity. We live in a generation that has labeled purity as a thing of the past. I encourage you to read the verses below and to meditate on them. Purity is a chief gem in the crown of the righteous. 

Psalms 119:9

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.

2 Timothy 2:22 

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

Matthew 5:8 

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the   believers, in word, in conversation(conduct), in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

2 Samuel 22:27

With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory.

Job 8:6

If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

Psalm 24:3-5

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 

Proverbs 15:26

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. 

Proverbs 20:11

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. 

Proverbs 21:8

The way of a man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

Proverbs 22:11

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. 

Malachi 1:11

For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts. 

1 Timothy 1:5

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 

Phillipians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things of good report; if there be any praise, think on these things.

Sola Deo Gloria