Let the Redeemed Say So

 

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy,” Psalm 107:2.

 

David said in Psalm 107:1, “He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” Since, as Jesus said in Matthew 19, only God is good, the saints must possess God to have any goodness. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Since we are new creatures in Christ, our perspectives of everything in life should become new. Our priorities get new makeovers. The closer we are to God, the more we want to let the lost world know how wonderful He is. Job said in the face of horrible tragedy, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. (In spite of all that.)

 

Being the children of God, we should rejoice that God’s mercy endures forever. While the enemies of Christ in the world stand around wringing their hands and whining, We stand on the solid Rock being held by all His might.

 

Today, think about God’s goodness and mercy toward you and your loved ones, that’s all you need to open your mouth and say so. Jesus taught the apostles in Matthew 10 to shout it from the housetop. Hallelujah! Just thinking about God’s goodness can give sincere Christians spiritual goose bumps. Joyful Christians scare the devil’s advocates. The people of the lost world do not know how to handle joy; they live in darkness and gloom with no hope. The things they hold dear are sifting through the hour glass. The world is desperate. But, on the other hand, we are just pilgrims on vacation, passing through on the way to the Promise Land. Look in the mirror and say, you are so richly blessed, Glory! Then call up the neighbors and tell them all about it.

 

JUST A THOUGHT – We are redeemed by His blood and happy to say so.

 

 

Robert A. Brock

 

 

Compelled To Witness

 

“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard,” Acts 4:20.

 

Often persecution is the main difference between those who witness for Christ and those who do not.  In Acts 5:40-42, the apostles were beaten for disobeying the laws of the council to stop preaching the gospel in Jesus name. “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41).

 

Here we see people joyful to suffer for Christ, strange behavior. They put their feet down and obeyed God instead of people. That felt good inside, even though outside it hurt something awful.

 

In Revelation 6:9, souls under the altar are martyred for two things, the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. Millions of Gentile Christians die in the last half of the Tribulation Period for two things—the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God (Rev. 7:9, 14; 20:4). In Acts 8:4, after the great persecution against the church, “they . . . went every where preaching the word.”

 

It appears that, when a Christian has nothing of the world left to attract his attention, his heart turns to Jesus and he does what he was saved to do (Heb. 2:4; 12:1, 2). Jesus was crucified for the joy that was set before Him because He was bringing many sons to glory.  Watching Jesus suffer on the cross was enough for the apostle John to quit worrying about his position in the kingdom and become a soul-winner.

 

All of the apostles were martyred in heinous ways for two things, their witness and for the Word of God. Are we compelled? Jesus said to the apathetic Laodicean church, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19).

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT – It seems the things of earth must grow strangely dim before we can see the souls of mankind running pell-mell down the broadway to hell.

 

Robert A. Brock

 

 

 

293 – Oct. 20 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

His schools received no federal funds

 

1823 – The Triennial Convention, meeting in Washington, D.C., made mention in their report, that Duncan O’Bryant was the missionary-teacher at the Tensawattee Baptist School, where he had a total enrollment of twenty-eight students, among the Cherokees in Georgia. O’Bryant was born in the late 18th century in S.C. By 1820 he had moved to Habersham County, Georgia with his wife Martha Whitehead. Under the influence of a Franklin County Baptist preacher named Littleton Meeks, he became burdened for the Cherokee Nation. As the Cherokee removal under President Jackson progressed, O’Bryant maintained schools in three different sites with nearly two hundred children in attendance. He said that the “…greater part were able to read the Word of Life, and to write a fair hand…” During 1830-31 O’Bryant had a circuit of four preaching points including the Tinswattee Baptist Church. There were a large number of Cherokees in these congregations, and, on some occasions, U.S. troops who had been called in because of the turmoil and violence of those times. On Jan. 27, 1832, O’Bryant left Georgia to go west, where he settled in the northeast part of Oklahoma territory. He soon gathered the remnants of his congregation into the Liberty Baptist Church and reopened his school without receiving federal funds. He died of malaria at the age of forty-eight on August 25, 1834, and was survived by his wife and ten children. He escaped the trail of tears in 1838-39. [Robert G. Gardner, Viewpoints of Georgia Baptist History (Atlanta: Georgia Baptist Historical Society, 1988), 2:42. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. 573-75.]   Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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291 – Oct. 18 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Theirs is not to ask, Why?

 

1849 – Twenty-six-year-old Harvey M. Campbell, sailed from Boston for missionary service to Arracan. His ship arrived at Akyab in March of 1850, and he moved on to Kyouk Phyoo in Nov. As he began studying the language in preparation to serve the Lord, cholera seized him, and on Feb. 22, 1852, he died at age twenty-nine. Levi Hall was appointed for service in Arracan. He sailed from Boston on Oct. 17, 1836, and after a stopover in Calcutta arrived at his station of service at Kyouk Phyoo on May 8, 1837. Three months later he fell victim to the fever and departed this life to his heavenly home. Rev. Joseph Fielding and his wife had been appointed for missionary service in Africa on May 11, 1840. Their ship arrived in Monrovia on Nov. 24, 1840, but before two months had gone by, both he and his wife had made their entry into the presence of the Lord. Rev. G. Dauble, who labored in Bengal, came to Baptist convictions, and on Feb. 4, 1850 he was baptized at Tezpur and then appointed to Assam. On July 23 he married Miss M.S. Shaw but again the disease of cholera took its toll and the young man died not two years later, on March 21, 1853. A young missionary on his way for his first term in Ecuador, South America was killed in a plane crash in the Andes Mountains and never made it to the field. Theirs is not to ask, Why? But only to know that they were, “Obedient to the heavenly calling.” [The Missionary Jubilee ( New York: Sheldon and Company, 1865), p. 242. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. 570-72]   Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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Greater Is He

 

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” 1 John 4:4.

 

This marvelous sentence hangs on one word because.

 

Because Christ has sealed Himself to the believer’s spirit, the believer lives in a state of supernatural power. He has access to the throne of God and to the compassionate Mediator who knows exactly what His child is going through.  He has been there, “I feel your pain, little one.”

 

The title little children shows a relationship. Little shows dependence on God the Father who willingly offers all the grace and strength necessary to overcome Satan and his forces. This same promise of powerful supernatural resources is made to every little child of God.

 

Little children who know their position compared to God, their Creator, have a great deal of confidence. “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone” (Isa. 6:1, 5). He then said, “Here am I; send me” (verse 8).

 

I have a grandson who was frightened out of his wits when his mother left him in someone else’s care. However, he began to realize that she would always come back and learned to relax and enjoy the innocent life of a helpless child. His mama and daddy had his back.  Jesus taught us to pray for God to deliver us from evil. This word evil in the Greek language is an adjective used as a noun and could be translated, deliver us from the evil one. When we stand toe to toe with the devil, we need to know that the Creator of the universe has our backs. We need to put on the rest of the armor to fight with all His might the good fight of faith. Do not give Satan an inch or he will take a mile (Eph. 6:10-18).

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT

 

Everyone can have victory and be an overcomer.

 

Robert A. Brock

 

 

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

Taken from –

Mikey’s Funnies
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.” I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.” I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

290 – Oct. 17 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Baptists did not seek revenge

 

1770 – In their meeting, the Baptists of the Philadelphia Association read letters from churches in New England, such as those from Ashfield, Mass., who wrote explaining their problems which involved unfair taxation. Even though the Baptists had  established the township and most of the families were Baptist and had founded a Baptist house of worship, the Presbyterians families decided to build a meetinghouse, hire a pastor and tax the Baptist families for the costs. The Baptists petitioned the general court for relief, but in April 1770 the court ruled in favor of the Presbyterians. One Baptist had his house and garden sold, others saw their young orchards, meadows, and cornfields sold, one purchaser being the Presbyterian minister. In all, the Baptists lost 395 acres of land valued at ₤363 8s. The total auction price was ₤35 10s. Inasmuch as the Presbyterians still needed ₤200 more for their building, two additional auctions were held to dispose of Baptist property. The Baptists finally sought redress before the assembly at Cambridge and were told, “The general assembly has a right to do what they did, and if you don’t like it you may quit the place!” The Warren Association called for a period of fasting and prayer. The seizures continued. On May 9, 1773, Gershom Proctor (82) and his son Henry, along with Nathan Crosby, for ministerial rates, were carried to Concord jail. It should be noted that when the Baptists finally got the upper hand, they did not seek revenge against their persecutors. [William G. McLoughlin, ed., The Diary of Isaac Baacus (Providence, R.I.: Brown University Press, 1979), 2:780. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. 568-70.]  Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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William Andrew Dillard – HEBREW HONEYCOMB AIR CONDITIONED CHRISTIANS

 

“And because iniquity shall abound , the love of many shall wax cold.” Matt. 24:12
The past few decades of vaunted progress have given Adam’s race no few creature comforts, not the least of which is air conditioning. It is almost a necessity in southern parts of the country where high temperatures and equally high humidity send all who are able scurrying to the cool indoors. Of course, a very large crowd of Christians will endure extreme heat, humidity, rain, etc. for hours at a sporting event, but would never subject themselves to a short worship service if the air is not conditioned for comfort. This underscores the point I am attempting to make.
In the Hebrew Old Testament, the common word for “cold” as in lower temperatures is “Qal.” Its Greek equivalent in the New Testament is “psucho” which specifically refers to a lowering of temperature by the process of blowing or evaporation; the same thing as modern air conditioning. Metaphorically, it denotes a cooling of love, zeal, desire for a thing, and names the responsible, causative agent: the abounding of iniquity. To be more specific, it is the individual reaction to the abundance of iniquity. What does this mean?
Iniquity is sin, to be sure, but a specific type of sin. The term means “no law” or “without law” and specifically to proceed in religious affairs not knowing, nor wanting to know, what the rules of God (His Word) teaches. In the vernacular it may be stated, “I know what I want to do, or believe, so don’t confuse me with the facts.”
It is sometimes difficult for New Testament church members to follow the plain teaching of the Word when others all around them make a loud claim to be Christian, but have little to no regard for the Word. Such cooling for God, His Word, His church is not a sudden turn of events, but a slow, consistent process. Discouragement pervades the psyche of the nominal Christian who is by virtue of spiritual immaturity, totally unsuited for pressure, ridicule, or persecution in any form. He then finds himself aligning more closely with the unfaithful and practitioners of iniquity: thus is he air conditioned, air conditioned, cooling, colder, cold! One need not be highly intelligent to identify this as a current, widespread reality, but though it is happening as Jesus said it would, one does not have to be identified among the “many” in that process.
Consider that “God reacts to man as man reacts to God!” is indeed a true statement. Hear the apostle James, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” There is much joy and excitement in witnessing this age come to a close. Doubtlessly, but though troublesome and sometimes most stressful, this is the grandest time to be a knowledgeable Christian on the planet, but you can’t see it if you have waxed cold.

 

 

289 – Oct. 16 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Wm. Ward

 

Other missionaries followed him

 

1798 – William Ward was appointed to serve as a printer, along with William Carey in India. Dr. Carey had translated the Bible into many languages in the area, and now was interested in a Javanese New Testament when he invited Gottlob Bruckner, a German, to come to India. Rev. Bruckner, with his two sons, made the journey in 1828. Little did he know that he would return to his wife three years later with only one son, having buried the other with a tropical fever. When the task was completed the missionary and his son boarded the ship with 2,000 Javanese Testaments, twenty thousand tracts, and a set of type faces with Javanese letters. Their ship was almost sunk in a typhoon, then arriving home soldiers seized all but a few of the Testaments, but he would not quit. Gottlob was born in 1783 on a farm in Germany. At age 20 he went to Berlin to seek his fortune and heard a gospel preacher and was saved. Through incredible trials he finally reached Semarang, Java in 1814 and became the pastor of a Dutch church and married his wife. While there Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Trowt, Baptist missionaries from England arrived, and they became great friends. It was Trowt that convinced Bruckner of believer’s baptism and when he immersed him the church folks turned him out of his pulpit. It was only six months later that Trowt died of a tropical fever. Bruckner died in 1857 and saw few direct results from his preaching, but other Christian missionaries followed him, and today there are more professing believers in Java than any place on earth where Islam is the strong majority religion. [S. Pearce Carey, William Carey (London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1924), pp. 177, 410. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. 566-68.]   Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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Delivered from Darkness

 

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son,” Colossians 1:13.

 

Light repels darkness. Let there be Light!  Throughout the history of man, God has likened Christ’s presence to light. The Gentiles will come to your light. The Old Testament closes with the promise, “The Sun of righteousness [shall] arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). In the New Testament, we see Jesus the Light of the world, calling out follow Me and you won’t walk in darkness.

 

Jesus took Peter, James and John upon the mountain of transfiguration. Mark states, “His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow” (Mark 9:3). Open the first page of the Revelation. “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14).

 

“And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; . . . his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (verses 15, 16). In the last pages of Revelation one finds the city of light, no need for light, the Lamb is the Light thereof. Paul taught, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day” (1 Thess. 5:5).

 

Christians are the offspring of eternal Light. Christ’s kingdom living in the children of Light casts out the darkness of fear and replaces it with the light of His love (Matt. 5:14-16).

 

Moses had just spent thirty days with God on the mountain and he had to put a vail on his head to talk to the people of Israel without frightening them.  Get out of your prayer closet and shine on.

 

JUST A THOUGHT – Each of you can depend upon the Light of the world, Jesus. 

 

Robert A. Brock