Posts for election
Election and the Bible
2011 February 16
C.H. Spurgeon, the great preacher in the 1800's said, "There is a natural hatred in the human heart against the doctrine of election." As much as it is taught in the Bible we wonder why more Christians do not embrace it … and believe it. Perhaps the reason is because it dethrones man, and his free will, and places Christ, and His will, as the only hope for sinners. The doctrine of election is taught in many ways in the Bible. For instance, it was God that elected Abraham to be the father of a great nation.
TULIP: PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
2007 February 26
"TULIP" Through the centuries, some of the doctrines of God's grace have been set forth by the acronym "TULIP", which stands for Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints "PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS"
TULIP: IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
2007 February 19
Through the centuries, some of the doctrines of God's grace have been set forth by the acronym "TULIP", which stands for Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints "IRRESISTIBLE GRACE" In our last article we considered the doctrine of "Limited Atonement" whe ...
TULIP - LIMITED ATONEMENT
2007 February 12
Through the centuries, some of the doctrines of God's grace have been set forth by the acronym "TULIP", which stands for Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace >> More
TULIP - UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
2007 February 05
Through the centuries, some of the doctrines of God's grace have been set forth by the acronym "TULIP", which stands for Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints "Unconditional Election" Last week we gave a brief account of "Total Depravity". This biblical ...
TULIP - TOTAL DEPRAVITY
2007 January 29
Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of the Saints Over the next few weeks, we want to share these glorious truths with our readers. We will start today with: "Total Depravity" What do we mean when we say that mankind is "totally depraved?" Webster defines the word ...
AMAZING GRACE
2006 April 16
"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth" Romans 9:11 What a great blessing we have before us today. God displays His everlasting love to save His people from their sins, not by works, but by His sovereign grace. The example the apostle uses to display God's distinguishing grace are meted out in Old Testament types and shadows by two brothers, Jacob and Esau. According to Paul, before these two children were born, God chose Jacob. I have heard some say tha ...
JACOB'S DISCOVERY
2005 April 23
"And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not"- Genesis 28:16
Here we find Jacob, fleeing from his brother, Esau, in a waste howling wilderness. He has left the comforts of his home, a loving mother and a wise father as he makes his bed under the starry skies with only a rock for a pillow. As he sleeps, he sees in a vision, a ladder reaching up to the stars with angels ascending and descending upon it. He realizes that thi ...
AS DEAR CHILDREN
2004 May 20
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children"-Ephesians 5:1 In his letter to the Ephesian Church, we find some of the apostles most endearing pleas for Christian living. The order of the epistle is significant. The first three chapters are primarily doctrinal. Concerning these chapters, one scholar called them "The profoundest thing ever written. He sounds the heights and depths of truth." The last three chapters are practical, dealing with the Christian's behavior. The significance of this is noteworthy. First, Paul reminds them of the blessings they have received by God ...
SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS
2004 March 04
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love"-Ephesians 1:3,4 A thankful heart is always acceptable unto our Lord. The Christian has great reason to be thankful. He is the recipient of "all spiritual blessings". Though all blessings from our heavenly Father could be placed in the category of spiritual, the blessings Paul speaks of here are not tempor ...
HE WENT A LITTLE FARTHER
2003 April 09
"And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed."- Matthew 26:39 Today, I share with you a selection from "Morning and Evening". This is a devotional book, containing short, but instructive articles by the late Charles H. Spurgeon. This book is still in print and contains a morning and evening devotional for every day of the year as the title suggests. Here are his thoughts on our Lord's garden prayer. "There are several instructive features in our Saviour's prayer in His hour of trial. It was lonely prayer. He withdrew even from His three favoured dis ...
April 2003
2003 April 01
April 2003 From the pastor Greetings in the name or our Lord Jesus Christ. The time of our annual meeting is rapidly approaching. Let us all be in prayer that the Lord will bless our meeting with the power of His Spirit. Our meeting will begin Friday night, April 11th, with supper at 5:30, singing about 7:00 and preaching at 7:30. We will have services Saturday night at the same time and the meeting will conclude with our Sunday morning service followe ...
ELECT ACCORDING TO THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD
2003 March 12
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father ... "-I Peter 1:2 Today, we hope to encourage God's people in the same way that Peter encouraged and strengthened the scattered strangers of his day. Though they were persecuted, and could have thought that God had forgotten them, Peter reminds them they are of God's elect. Peter had found great comfort in this glorious doctrine, so he comforts his brethren with the same comfort he had enjoyed in being a member of a chosen and redeemed family. He could find no words mor ...
THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
2003 February 19
One of the greatest comforts in the believer's heart is the knowledge of their Lord's faithfulness. When it seems that the Lord has forgotten us and that our prayers go no higher than our heads, it is of great consolation to remember the words that Paul gave as encouragement to his Hebrew brethren that God had spoken long ago: "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Faithfulness is the backbone of anything good: a marriage, being a parent, an employee, a church member, even being an American citizen. Without faithfulness, things, good things, are broken down and are always less ...
April 2002
2002 April 01
APRIL, 2002 From the pastor Greetings in the name or our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to you with a thankful heart for God's blessings upon us. We have several new members and the Lord's presence is felt among us. I encourage each member to pray that the Lord will continue to add to our little flock and enable us to minister to their needs. These blessings followed our messages on ministering to one another as we learned that every member is a minister. I believe the Lord is well pleased when He observes members becoming more like Jesus Christ as they minister to one anot ...
CONSIDER THE MIRACLE
2002 January 29
"For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened"-Mark 6:52. Today, our message centers around the spiritual subject of miracles. I say spiritual, because that is what a miracle is. It has to do with Jesus Christ. A miracle is a Holy Hand in an unholy world. It is when the Lord performs or achieves something that man can not do; when He reaches in and ...
#134 PETER'S EXPLANATION OF ELECTION
2001 May 28
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied"-1Peter 1:2 FOREKNOWLEDGE When the Apostle Peter explained election, he did not begin with the sinner, he began with God. Peter uses the word "foreknowledge" as he explains election. That means that God foreknew His people before they knew Him; before they were born. That was before there were any denominational barriers ...
#130 Perspective (part 3)
2001 April 30
Last Wednesday morning, I was eating breakfast at Oak Terrace Tea Room, when a sweet sister approached me with Bible in hand. "I am reading from Lamentations today", she said. "It reminds me of our nation". This sister saw more than many see today. Though we would not confuse God's kingdom with this great country, we must confess that there are many parallels between the weeping prophet's words to Israel of old and what is happening in our nation today. Our enemy is not without. It is not people from other countries who laugh at us and our God. Our enemy is within. It is the erosion of Bibl ...
#129 PERSPECTIVE (Part 2)
2001 April 23
Last week, we tried to focus our attention upon God in the midst of our terrors: what is His perspective of it all? It would be easy for us to go back to business as usual. After all, the stock market is coming back, petroleum prices and interest rates are down and the horrors of September, 11th are becoming one of those well remembered scars that have marred the pages of history as they interrupted our busy schedules. But for me, the voice was too loud, too close and the cry too urgent to pass by without a solemn inquiry from the most High: is there something amiss in our gr ...
#112 REST FOR THE SOUL
2000 November 04
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls"-Matthew 11:28,29 Before us we have a glorious invitation, not for a physical rest, but more importantly, a spiritual rest. To find rest, we must have peace and here we find great consolation, our invitation is from the Prince of Peace. Let us begin b ...
#107 COMFORTS FOUND ON A LATE FLIGHT
2000 September 30
A few weeks ago, while preaching in the state of Georgia, I was returning home Saturday night in time to preach at my home church on Sunday morning. As I approached the ticket counter I discovered that the plane was held up due to weather and we might not make our connecting flight. I thought of Paul, and how many times his trips were delayed, not due to plane connections, but due to shipwreck, stonings, beatings and all manner of persecutions. I found great comfort in knowing that even though preachers could be hindered from preaching at a desired place, God would not allow circumstances ...
#96 THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE MOST SURELY
2000 July 15
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us"-Luke 1:1 The doctrine of limited atonement is also found among the doctrines of those things most surely believed among us. When we say limited, we do not mean that God is limited, nor are we saying that the mediatorial work of Christ upon the cross was incomplete. Limited atonement means that the atonement of Chr ...
#94 THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE MOST SURELY
2000 July 01
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those thing which are most surely believed among us"-Luke 1:1 Among those things most surely believed among us, we will find the doctrine of predestination listed among the beautiful doctrines of God's grace. C.H. Spurgeon once said, "I question whether we have preached the whole counsel of God, unless predestination with all its solemnity and sureness be continually declar ...
#93 THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE MOST SURELY BELIEVED AMONG US
2000 June 24
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those thing which are most surely believed among us"-Luke 1:1 A few weeks ago, I began a series of messages entitled, "The things most surely believed among us." I began with the doctrines of grace. Our first message was on the great subject of election, taught by the apostles and handed down through the ages in scripture. The first thing we noticed about election i ...
#79 SALVATION
2000 March 18
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"-Acts 4:12 When we speak of salvation, we speak of Christ, for in Him we find salvation in every form and fashion. The very name, Jesus, means Saviour: one who delivers; one who saves. Whether we look for salvation from the evils of this present life, or salvation from the eternal consequences of sin, Jesus should be sought very dil ...
#76 The Sovereignty of God
2000 February 26
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an eve ...
#59 THE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY ARE HAPPY
1999 October 15
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."-Mat 5:6 In the first three Beatitudes we are called upon to witness the heart exercises of those who have been awakened by the Spirit of God. First, there is a sense of need, a realization of sin and emptiness. Second, there is a judging of s ...
#31 Walk About Zion
1999 March 15
"Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following" Psalm 48:12-13 One of the greatest blessings that we may enjoy in the church of Jesus Christ is the grand and glorious doctrine that He gave us. As cities are known by their stately structures, so the church by her stately doctrines. The Psalmist encourages us to "Walk about Zion, and go round ...
A Friend that Sticks
1996 September 01
SEPTEMBER 1996 A FRIEND THAT STICKS It is indeed true, one that desires friends must be friendly to others and he that hath the most friends, has been friendly to many. There may be those who would boast in the many friends ...
The Apostles' Doctrine
1996 February 01
FEBRUARY 1995
The Apostles' Doctrine
"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" -Acts 2:42
In just one verse of scripture, the Holy Ghost has moved Luke to record four identifying marks of the New Testament church in its infancy. All four of these marks identify fundamental areas of practice ...
He hath Chosen Us
1994 August 01
AUGUST 1994
HE HATH CHOSEN US
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" -Ephes. 1:4
Stay at the Alter, The Promise Will Come
1993 May 01
STAY AT THE ALTER, THE PROMISE WILL COME It had been ...
Children in the Church
1992 December 01
CHILDREN IN THE CHURCH Have you noticed that the one-hundred and twenty-seventh psalm begins with the Lord building the house and concludes with the ...
