SUNDAY’S READING IN PROVERBS
Proverbs
12:2: A good man obtaineth favour of
the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
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The warrant of faith…is the Word of God…In
things future and invisible we believe against sense; in things incredible we
believe against reason (Heb. 11:1). It
must not be, saith sense; it cannot be, saith natural reason; it both can and
will be, saith faith.
–Thomas
Manton (1620-1677)
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“THERE ARE THREE
THAT BEAR RECORD IN HEAVEN.”
1 John 5:7
The three Persons of the eternal godhead
bear record in heaven. They bear record that Jesus is the Christ. “The
Father” bears record of Christ by accepting his sacrifice. “The Word”
bears record of himself by his own death, resurrection, and exaltation. “And
the Holy Ghost” bears record of the Lord Jesus as the Christ of God by
regenerating and effectually calling the redeemed, giving us faith in Christ. “And
these three are one.” These three Persons are the one true and living
God.
–Pastor Don Fortner
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THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth
us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7).
Oh, what good news the gospel of Jesus
Christ declares to sinners. We are by birth and nature children of darkness,
loving darkness rather than the true Light (John 3:19; Eph. 2:12). However, by the marvelous power of God through
the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16), God has delivered us from the power of
darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13), that we should
show forth the praises of Him Who called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light (2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Furthermore,
the gospel declares unto all that believe, that the precious blood atonement of
the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Not the blood of bulls and
goats, not the ceremony and traditions of men, but the glorious blood offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, nothing less and nothing more (Heb. 9:26; 1
Peter 1:18-20), cleanses us from all sin, original sin, actual sin, sins past,
present and future sins, ALL sin forever! Oh, the glory of this perfect, full and
finished salvation we are blessed to possess and enjoy through our victorious
Lord. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:57).
–Pastor Tom Harding
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WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE
“And if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” 1 John 2:11.
This scripture
recognizes our frail, sinful human nature. A believer does not love sin, does not excuse
or justify sin, but grieves over sin and desires to be without sin. Yet he owns
and confesses his sin! As Spurgeon once
said, “Sin is my name, sin is my nature, and to deny is to deny the Word,
deceive myself and call God a liar. My
old nature is such that I will sin until I die, for sin pollutes the best
things I do.”
This scripture encourages the believer to
trust and hope in the mercy of God AT ALL TIMES! It does not say, “If any man
is holy, prayerful, and almost faithful, he has an advocate;” but IF ANY MAN
SINS, he has an ADVOCATE with the Father. It does not say, “IF any man sins he
forfeits his right to Christ’s advocacy.”
Grace that can be forfeited because of human failure is not GRACE at
all. Mercy that is conditioned upon the
merit of the creature is not mercy at all.
If my title to glory rests upon my works, either BEFORE OR AFTER
conversion, it is a total failure.
This scripture declares that at all times, under all conditions, Jesus
Christ is our righteousness, our sanctification, our advocate and our
redemption. So when I sin, when I
consider my past or present, and come creeping to my closet with a guilty
conscience and an aching heart, I can rejoice in the mercy of my Father; for I
have an ADVOCATE, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS!
–Pastor Henry Mahan
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FILTHY OR HOLY
“He that is
unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy
still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is
holy, let him be holy still.” (Revelation
22:11)
Reader, there are
only two types of people in the world, you are either one or the other, you are
either filthy or holy.
You see, throughout the history of
humanity, throughout all the ages of time, there are only two kinds of people
to be found; the filthy and the holy. Now, by nature we are all unjust, we are
all filthy; in truth all of us are as an unclean thing and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6-11). Blessed be
God, all of His people, by His grace, have and shall put off that which is
filthy, they will be made willing in the day of His power to put on that which
is holy, Christ Jesus the Lord! (Psalm 110:3)
Beloved, by His unmerited grace in Christ,
we have put off the filthy deeds of the flesh and we have put on that which is
holy, the very righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ himself.
Professing Christian, by God’s enabling
Spirit, He will show you who you were without Christ and who you are now in
Christ. I pray that in listening to the gospel of His dear Son, our Heavenly
Father will teach you, and as you learn of His beloved Son, make you to see
your desperate need of Christ, making you willing to flee to the riches of His
mercy and grace found only in Him.
Reader, come to Christ to be cleansed from
all your filthiness and be made clean by His blood. You see, there are only two
types of people in the world, the filthy and the holy. Those who are and ever
will be outside of Christ, and those who are and ever shall be in Christ.
By God’s grace beloved, you have put off your unrighteous filthiness and
put on the righteousness of Christ, which is the righteousness of God.
Amen!
–Pastor Joseph Murphy
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THE CURE FOR
COVETOUSNESS
Isaiah
56:10: His watchmen are blind:
they are all ignorant, they are
all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11:
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they
are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look
to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
The root problem with
false preachers is covetousness, “Yea,
they are greedy dogs which can never have enough,…they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his
quarter.” (Is 56:11) Such is the sum of natural men. They can never have enough of the glory that belongs to God, never enough works, never
enough converts, never enough money.
But, brethren, Christ is the cure for
covetousness. Having Christ we have All,
both, for acceptance with God and for full provision in this life. We lack nothing and shall never lack because
Christ is our All in all! Therefore, by
God’s grace, we are content rather than covetous. We sanctify Christ above all rather than
worrying in unbelief about what man shall do to us (which is the cause of
covetousness). “Let your conversation be
without covetousness; and be
content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
(Heb 13:5-6)