Featured I Have To Conclude.....

EWF I have always believed as John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible on these verses and not all scripture applies to eternal salvation... We need to work out our Salvation not to get but because we already have it... How do we show forth the Amazing Sovereign Grace we've been given?... I know of only one way by showing forth our fruit in our walk and how we treat our fellow man... We receive blessing when we do and are deprived of the blessing when we don't... We not only read and studying the Word of God but we put the Word Of God to practical application... In doing so we have done it unto him our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... Those are my thoughts... Brother Glen

 

Thank you for this. Exactly.

 

I leave that in God hands as I have no control over that... You can interpret as you understand it and I stand with TC and preachinjesus... You are missing Sovereign Grace!... Brother Glen

Here is a little poem that sums up the way I feel and no one knows who wrote it... This to me is Sovereign Grace!

Surprise In Heaven

I dreamt death came the other night
And Heaven’s gate swung wide.
An angel with a halo bright
Ushered me inside.
And there! To my astonishment
Stood folks I’d judged and labeled
As “quite unfit”, “of little worth”,
And “spiritually disabled”.
Indignant words rose to my lips
But never were set free,
For every face showed stunned surprise --
Not one expected me!

 

So do I look at the setting... He was addressing the 7 churches of Asia and pay particular to verse 19... He was telling all these churches to repent and since the number is 7 churches it represents to me all the churches down through time and not one of them was perfect... Find a perfect church with perfect saints on the face of this earth... They don't exist!... "We all walk with feet of clay!"... Brother Glen

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

 

I can tell you this my wife is a pretty woman and to me she is such a blessing from the Lord but you know what stands out to me other than her outward beauty?... Her heart!... A true believer no matter what their faults and failures and what they have been through in life has a heart for God, his creation and his people... Gods children spend to much time looking on the appearance and not on the heart... IMHO!... And scripture backs up what I say... Why does God look on the heart?... Because he is the only one that changed it!... Brother Glen

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

 

Don't know I leave that up to God but I do remember Jesus Christ words to his disciples in the sermon on the mount... Brother Glen

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

 

". . . few there be that find it."

 

Let us suppose that Christianity became illegal in the USA and UK (as daily becomes less unlikely).
Suppose that you were hauled up before the judge and accused of being a Christian. Whom would you call as a defence witness?

Could you call your neighbour? "I never thought he was a Christian. He never spoke to me about my soul, or invited me to church or gave me a tract. I used to see him walking past my house on a Sunday, but he never said where he was going."

Could you call your work-colleague? "I never thought he was a Christian. He used to laugh at all the dirty jokes we cracked, and tell quite a few himself. He was always gawping at the pin-ups on the wall and used quite a bit of bad language like the rest of us. He certainly never spoke about Jesus."

Could you call your local bar-tender? " He used to be in here pretty regularly, and was the worse for wear quite frequently. I never thought he was a Christian."

Could you call your bank manager? "I never saw much in the way of standing orders to Christian charities, but quite a bit going out on expensive holidays and liquor stores. I never thought he was a Christian."

Could you even call your wife/husband? "He used to put me down in public, and swear at me in private. He never loved me as a Christian husband should (Ephesians 5:25ff), and I'm not aware he ever prayed for me or cared for my soul. We used to go to church together and he used to wave his arms about and say 'Amen!', but it never changed him."

And the judge will say, "Well Mr Marprelate, you're free to go. There's no evidence whatsoever that that you are a Christian." If a human judge can see through a façade of Christianity, how much more a heavenly Judge? 'This people honours Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.'

 

Excellent topic, EWF!

How do we know we are not self deluded, thinking we have been born anew, but when we meet Jesus will He say, depart from Me, I never knew you? Only God knows for sure. But like many others, I am confident, I have the "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine."

Questions for every "Christian" to consider as they examine themselves to see if they are of the faith.
1) Was my commitment to Christ mostly lip service, or have I sacrificed to carry out His ministry?
2) Was my conversion marked by a changed life, where I no longer wanted to fail to follow Christ's path of righteous?
3) Do I think of myself as better than others, or as a humble servant striving to become a better servant of Christ.
4) Do I tear people down or build people up. Am I a grumbler, a fault finder, a person full of pride?
5) Do I live by the Word of God or fail trying? Do I bend the Word to accommodate my lifestyle?

Individual and groups that "make disciples" but fail to teach all that Christ commanded produce "Christians" that seem to not really love God with all their heart, nor sacrifice for the least of His. And if this is the case, what are we going to do?