When God's light reveals the truth, everything changes. The believer is called to leave the past behind, press toward the prize, and trust Christ through every hurdle in the race of faith.
https://t.co/VbQemhIe6w
The Cross Should Be Raised
George MacLeod was a great preacher who, hundreds of years ago, faithfully obeyed the Great Commission. He exalted Jesus Christ in his preaching and wasn't afraid to preach the blood of the cross. He said, "I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek ... at the kind of a place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died for. And that is what He died about. That is where church-men ought to be and what church-men ought to be about."
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A Lot of Praying
Sometimes we think that all God requires of us is that we pray for this world. Prayer is good, but God has chosen "The foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."(1 Corinthians 1:21) We are asked, "How will they hear without a preacher?"(Romans 10:14) Are you that vessel that has said to God, "Here I am Lord, send me"?(Isaiah 6:8) Are you prepared to come out of the prayer closet and obey the Great Commission? A. W. Tozer said, "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of lateand how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."
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Can’t make it to church today? Enjoy the most recent sermon from my pastor:
Why Jesus Gave Away His Life | Mark 15 | Bruce Garner
https://t.co/CKWglQms6s
Do As You Please
Someone once said, "If I had my way in this world, I would have it so that all would be allowed to do as they please." That sounds ideal ... until someone is pleased to steal from you, or it pleases him to kill another human being. The problem is that sin dwells in our hearts and while it promises pleasure, it's in truth "the ultimate partypooper." Sin is the undetected poison hidden in a delicious meal. Paul spoke of sin deceiving him and bringing about his death. John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim's Progress) said, "The man who does not know the nature of the Law, cannot know the nature of sin." And Martin Luther added, "The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God's Law and show the nature of sin." So, take courage, and take the Law and use it to show sinners the true and deceiving nature of sin.
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Stay At Home
When Gideon was told by God to form an army, He cut it down in size. The fearful were told to go home. Those who didn't look out for the enemy while drinking water were dismissed. The rest were instructed to break vessels in the darkness, so that their lights would shine. Then they were to lift up their voices in a shout. Have you enlisted into the Army of God, and yet are more concerned about your fears than you are about the fate of the lost? Then stay at home and pray. Do you believe that you are in a spiritual battle against unseen demonic powers? If not, then you had better stay home. But if you believe in the cause of the Gospel, then be a broken vessel and let your light shine. Lift up your voice as a trumpet and show this people their transgressions.
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The Ten Commandments don’t give sinners a good report; they expose our guilt and reveal our desperate need for Jesus Christ, who alone saves from wrath.
https://t.co/YdwKvPE2Yf
The Lord My God
Study closely the biblical phrase, "The Lord your God." Throughout the thousands of years of Scripture, it doesn't change. God is the Lord, our God. That is, He is the supreme authoritythe Lord. But even though He is the God of all humanity, their Creator, He's not their Lord until they yield to His Lordship. But the phrase suddenly changes when Thomas sees the risen Savior. He cries "My Lord and MyGod." The transformation comes when blind, willful unbelief yields to saving faith in Jesus. The world acknowledges that God is their Creator, but to be saved, they must yield to Him as Lord, and the way to have them do that is to introduce their blind and unbelieving hearts to the risen Savior.
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Sin is Like Quicksand
Sin is like quicksand. It's the devil's playground. It lies before the unsuspecting sinner as an unseen deathtrap. As he steps into it, he begins to sink, and with each movement of his flesh, it takes him deeper into its subtle embrace. In a moment, he's gone. Sucked beneath the silence of the grave. Gone forever into the horror of Hell. The only way to get out of quicksand is to have someone, who is not in its power, to pull us out. Thank God that the hand of grace is willing to save us from the terrors of Hell. This is what the Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans chapters 7 and 8. His struggle against the power of sin only took him deeper into its cold embrace. He cried, "Who will free me from this body of death!" and then sang the praise of Him who reached into death itself to pull him out of its grip.
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Big Black Clouds
There's something wonderful about the atmosphere moments after a thunderstorm. Big black clouds begin to roll back, and bright beams of sunlight burst through the clean air. There's a freshness in the heavens. A rainbow arches across the sky as birds begin to sing. That's how grace and Law work together. There's something incredibly wonderful about what happens in the heart of sinner after he has stood beneath the thundering of God's Law. Flashes of His wrath terrified his heart, but grace moves the black clouds of wrath away, and suddenly beams of the light of Calvary's love burst through the atmosphere. The beautiful rainbow of God's exceedingly precious promises arch across eternity. There is a song of forgiveness. There's freshness in the air. Old things pass away, all things are become new.
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Can’t make it to church today? Enjoy the most recent sermon from my pastor:
The Difference between Obedience and Failure | Mark 14:32-72 | Bruce Garner
https://t.co/n1ugTXFL9X
The Name of the Lord
The Third of the Ten Commandments forbids taking the Name of the Lord in vain, and warns that the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Jesus even said that a man will have to give an account of every idle word spoken.(Matthew 12:36)When we tell sinners what the Commandments require, it shows them that they have fallen short of God's standard. The Law of God brings the knowledge of sin. It reveals that God sees every deed and hears every word, and will bring them all into judgment. The Law calls for our blood, and demands our death sentence. When a rebellious world understands that, they are ready to hear that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us. The Law makes the cross make sense. That's why Jesus and Paul used it. Do the same.
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Anger Without Cause
The Sixth of the Ten Commandments says, "You shall not kill." Do you ever use the Commandments with the lost? Paul used three in Romans chapter two, and he told us to imitate him. Jesus said that if we get anger without cause, we are in danger of Judgment. The Bible further says that if we hate our brother, we have committed murder. When we tell the world what the Commandments require, it shows them that they have fallen short of God's standard. The Law of God brings the knowledge of sin. It calls for our blood, and demands our death and damnation. When a sinful world understands that, then they are ready for the Good News of the cross. It is the Law makes the cross make sense. That's why Jesus used it. That's why Paul used it. Do the same.
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John’s Vision
Much of the modern Church has failed to warn their hearers to flee from the wrath to come. John Wesley said, "I desire to have both Heaven and Hell in my eye." In other words, he wasn't happy merely to get his ticket to Heaven without reaching out to those who were under the fire of the wrath of God. He caught a glimpse of the wrath of God on sinners. The Bible says that in John's vision of the Day of wrath, "... mighty men, and every slave, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"(Revelation 6:1517
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