Prosperity of the wicked and the Affliction of the Righteous

Psalm 37:1-8

There are several explicit statements that begin the thirty seventh Psalm The first eight verses really define what a Christian should be.

1. Fret Not
2. Trust in the Lord
3. Delight thyself also in the Lord
4. Commit thy way unto the Lord
5. Rest in the Lord
6. Cease from anger and forsake wrath.

Let me cover this real quick.

1. Do not let the success of the wicked bother you, because their end is terrible.
2. Trust in the Lord because He will always stand with His faithful servants to protect and bless them.
3. Be happy that you are a child of the King and receive His blessings and an inheritance that fadeth not away.
4. Give yourself completely to the Lord. Allow Him to direct your path through the pitfalls of this degenerate world.
5. Take a break in the Lord, not from the Lord. Get away from the noise and bustle of the world. Settle into the arms of the Lord and find rest and peace.
6. Quit being mad at everyone. Realize your own faults and failures and you can better understand that others are not perfect. Get over yourself.

APRIL 8 – An Unprepared Heart

APRIL 8 – An Unprepared Heart

2 Chronicles 12:14  And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

Such a tragic statement. “… and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The heart has been said to contain the wickedness of the world. There are times when a person can seem to be fine and wonderful, yet the heart contains wickedness that corrupts the thinking of men. How often has one that has appeared to be a pillar of the community been revealed to have done something vile?

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? That is a pretty definitive statement. So what is the answer to this wickedness? We need to know because the wickedness in our communities is growing rapidly. The condition of the human heart leads to abortion, beatings, theft, and murder. The only answer is to clean out the heart.

That brings us to the cleanser that can do such a wonderful work. The blood of Jesus Christ. Are we bloody Baptists? Yes, we are. That is the cleansing power of God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse a wicked heart. While there are those that have taken the blood out of the hymnals and out of the pulpit, we preach the cleansing blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ ,and His shed blood.

Jesus prepares our heart to seek the Lord. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.” The blood cleanses the heart of wickedness and sin. This is a necessary preparation for seeking God and His will in our lives. Then we are “prepared” to meet our God when death comes to this mortal body.

A daily preparation to meet and know God for those that have been born again, is prayer and study of His Word Did you prepare your day by communicating with God this morning?

MARCH 19 – My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

MARCH 19 – My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

Isaiah 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 

9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

There are times when we need to stop and take a look at what we are doing. We need to study and re-consider, are we doing this God’s way. Are we feebly trying to get God to accept something that we are doing? God has made the claim that our ways are not His ways. Our thoughts are not His thoughts.

Notice that God is not happy with the wicked ways of man. He is not happy with man’s unrighteous thoughts. We can scheme and plan all we want and attract a great crowd and it not be accepted by God. Paul had a few things to say about the manner of doing things.

2Timothy 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 

5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 

God lays out for us in His book how to approach Him in worship and in service. I have heard the statement, “God knows my intent.” I have also heard, “what is important is what is inside not outside.” These are people that are trying to justify themselves before man hoping that what they are engaged in will be accepted by God. If it is of the world or worldly thought, it is unacceptable to God.

Have we entangled ourselves with the methods of the world? Are we truly seeking God’s way?

GRACE AND TRUTH

Author: W.P. Mackay

Let us suppose that a convict, who has just finished his term of penal servitude, wishes to lead an honest life. He comes to a man who has a large jewelry establishment, and who requires a night-watchman. He is engaged to watch this house through the quiet hours of the night, when he has everything under him, and every opportunity to rob his employer. On the first evening of his watching he meets one of his old companions, who accosts him. “What are you doing here?”

‘I’m night-watchman.’

‘Over this jewelry shop’

‘Yes.’

‘Does he know what you are?’

‘No, no, be silent; if he knew, I should be dismissed.’

‘Suppose I let it out that you are a returned convict!’

‘Oh I pray don’t, it would be my last day here, and I wish to be honest.’

‘Well, you’ll require to give me some money to keep quiet.’

‘Very well, but don’t let any one know.’ Thus the poor man would be in sad feat and trembling, lest it should come to the ears of his employer what his previous character had been. He would be in terror lest he should meet any of his old friends, and lest his resources should be exhausted in keeping them quiet.

Let us suppose, however, that instead of the employer engaging the man in ignorance of his character, he went to the convict’s cell and said, ‘Now I know you, what you are, and what you’ve done, every robbery you’ve committed, and that you are worse than you believe yourself to be.  I am about to give you a chance of becoming honest, I’ll trust you as my night-watchman over my valuable goods.’ The man is faithful at his post. He meets old companion after old companion, who threaten to inform upon him. He asks, ‘What will you tell about me?’

‘That you were the ringleader of house-breakers.’

‘Yes, but my master knows all that better than you do, he knows me better than I know myself.’

Of course this silences them for ever.

 

This latter is — GRACE AND TRUTH

Prayer of the Upright

 

Proverbs 15:8, 9

 

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight,” Proverbs 15:8.

 

 

 

The prayer of the upright considers God’s will in any matter. The sacrifice of the wicked is fraught with selfish motives. God looks on the heart of every worshiper. Jesus declared that what comes from the mouth is dredged up from the heart. How many of our prayers are from a heart of selfishness?

 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass.” However, He knew what He came to earth to do. The human side of Jesus was deeply distressed; He was preparing to go to the cross. Finally, after three prayers, He willingly accepted the will of His Heavenly Father. Where does that leave us? How many prayers will it take for us to accept God’s will for our lives?

 

In Matthew 6, Jesus said the Father already knows what we need. In Romans 8:26-28, Paul told us that the Holy Spirit groans toward God for His will in our prayers. With mediation like that, we can relax with thanksgiving, knowing God will do something, and it will be in His perfect will (Phil. 4:6-8).

 

When we pray with selfish motives, not considering God’s will, it is the same principle at work that caused the sorcerer, Simon, to try to buy from Peter the power to dispense the Holy Spirit on whomever he wished. The praying Christian’s character must match his heart.

 

 

 

 

 

JUST SAYING

 

The heavens are brass when a worshiper’s heart is steel.

 

 

 

Robert Brock

 

23 – January 23 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

 

Patrick Henry paid his fine

1833 – JOHN WEATHERFORD, THE LAST OF THE OLD VETERAN BAPTIST PREACHERS DIED – John Weatherford, the last of the old veteran Baptist preachers, died on January 23, 1833. A little boy noticed the white, rigid seams in his hands and it left an indelible impression. In his latter years the boy learned that Weatherford had been imprisoned in the Chesterfield County jail of the colony of Virginia for five months in the year 1773. The iron bars did not hinder him from preaching through the grates to the congregation that gathered. Wicked men would stand on either side and slash his hands with knives until blood would stream down and actually sprinkle down on the people. Dr. White, the young lad, called them, ‘the martyr marks of the Lord Jesus.’ Weatherford was not released until the jail fees (room and board) were paid, which was a considerable sum. Finally they were paid by someone and he was released. Over twenty years later Patrick Henry became a neighbor to Weatherford and only then the preacher found that it was Henry who had paid his fine. As an old man he requested Newton’s song ‘Amazing Grace’ to be sung to him.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon; adapted from:  Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson/   Pg.  30

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WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT HELL

Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:7-15

Penitentiaries and jails speak of man’s belief in the punishment of men for wrongdoing. Man believes the criminal should be separated from the law abiding. God also believes in separating the righteous from the unrighteous. Hell is a reality.

I cannot imagine a death more horrible than death by burning. The pain and suffering that has to be involved with this type of death is totally unimaginable to me. I would not wish this type of death on my worst enemy. What is worse, is the people that make light of  dying  and descending into  a place of eternal burning and suffering; that place called HELL!!

Let us examine this place.

I. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT.    (REVELATION 20:7-15)
    1. The judge. John 5:22; “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”
    2. The subjects. (Rev. 20:12; Eph. 2:1-3). All who have never repented and trusted in Jesus.
    3. Basis of judgement (John 20:13).
        a. According to works (Rev. 20:13).
        b. In the Great White Throne, judgement because of unbelief (John 3:18).
    4. The reason for this judgement. That each unbeliever might receive his just part in the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8; Matt. 10:15; 11:24).
NOTICE THIS; The Great White Throne Judgement is not to determine whether one is saved and going to heaven or unsaved and going to hell. It is strictly for the unsaved/lost and determines how bad they were and all are cast into the lake of fire.

II. HELL IS THE FINAL ABODE OF THE DEVIL, FALLEN ANGELS, AND UNBELIEVEERS.
    1. Origin of Hell and why (Matt. 24:41; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6).
    2. Those in Hell.
        a. The Devil (Rev. 20:10).
        b. Fallen Angels (Jude 6).
        c. Unbelievers (Rev. 20:13-15).
    3. The final Hell (Rev. 20:13-15).

III. WHAT HELL IS LIKE.
    1. A lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8). If this is figurative language, how awful the reality!
    2. A place of torment. (Greek: odunaomai, mental and/or physical pain, agony, suffering, Luke 16:23.) Revelation 20:10: “Tormented day and night forever.”
    3. Read Luke 3:17.

IV. HOW LONG HELL LASTS – ITS DURATION.
    1. It is called an everlasting destruction (II Thess. 1:9).
    2. It is said to be forever and ever (Rev. 14:10,11).
    3. Figurative speech describes it as eternal (Mark 9:44, 46, 48).

V. THE STATE OF THOSE WHO GO TO HELL.
    1. Their condition is final and there is no escape (Luke 16:24-26).
    2. There is no future chance (Rev. 22:11; Eccl. 11:3).
    3. Why they are there (Luke 16:27-31).
    4. Those who go there remain in a conscious state (Luke 16:23).

VI. HELL, THEN, IS A DEFINITE PLACE OF REALITY, AND IS NOT THE GRAVE.
    1. All of the foregoing scriptures teach the consciousness of those in Hell, therefore it could not be the grave.
    2. Some questions with scriptural answers show that Hell is not the grave.
        a. Are angels buried in graves? II Peter 2:4: “Cast down to hell.” Can this be construed to mean that they are in the grave? (Jude 6).
        b. Are none but the wicked in the grave? Psalm 9:17: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” What about the righteous who die?
        c. Can a man put another man in Hell? He could if Hell is the grave. Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather feat him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION YOU WILL EVER MAKE IN LIFE IS WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY.

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