False Christian teachings, trends….
Spurgeon’s words in today’s devotional are very encouraging, as usual. But not all his devotionals are equally inspiring, encouraging…, this one is among the best I have read. Furthermore, it overlaps with the last post by MLJ, that is why I’m posting it too.
The MORNING entry emphasizes that believers should solely rely on God for their needs, both earthly and spiritual, expecting His constant grace and future heavenly rewards. This includes anticipating angelic escorts at death and eternal glory in His presence. The EVENING entry uses the story of Elijah and the widow to illustrate God’s faithfulness in meeting daily needs. Just as her flour and oil never ran out, believers can trust that God’s grace will perpetually supply their necessities. This unwavering divine support surpasses any earthly resource, offering continuous comfort and encouragement through Christ.
Spurgeon’s morning thoughts indicate how it is that the Lord works in a believer concerning salvation and sanctification; evening thoughts focus on sin and explain that the work of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to see it and realize that we are lepers, covered in sin without Christ. [His words are very different from my description.]
This sermon is being reposted to publish a 4-minute typed quotation from the sermon that I found to be very significant. Most of the quoted portion was not in MLJTrust’s points. The quotation gives their points more meaning. The quotation is beneficial in that it provides the proper perspective on the Christian battle. In 20 years, I’ve never heard it put as MLJ put it; maybe you will find his words meaningful also.
Christians are called to fight a spiritual battle but how are they to fight? What role do they play in this struggle? Are they to be passive, or are they alone to be the ones engaging the enemy? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches on spiritual warfare and the responsibility that Christians have to be fighting in their lives. The phrase “Let go and let God” is popular today among many Christians, but is it Biblical? Are they to just surrender to God and let Him fight all of their battles? Dr. Lloyd-Jones presents strong arguments from Scripture that demonstrate otherwise…. [This sermon helped me to see some inconsistencies in my spiritual walk, according to the scriptures; it may help you do the same.]
The MLJ sermon of this post is another in his series on the wiles of the Devil. In the process of his teaching herein, he said quite a lot that applies to the word-of-faith, prosperity gospels and the Charismatic church. His words clarified their great claims via biblical passages. The thrust of his message was to show believers yet another way in which the Devil undermines a believer’s walk with the Lord, rendering them ineffective, discouraged…. [A song is attached to the post because in that song, one can hear the kind of process that MLJ discussed, in terms of laying down one’s self-striving and surrendering to Christ; quitting on self-guidance and receiving His.]
Genesis 3:15 says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is known as the protoevangelium—the first gospel. The verse introduces two elements previously unknown in the Garden of Eden, elements that are the basis of Christianity—the curse on mankind because of Adam’s sin and God’s provision for a Savior from sin who would take the curse upon Himself….
Is it not madness to spend an entire message devoted to describing the devil? After all, is not Satan merely folklore and myth? Many sophisticated people today would conclude that focus on the spiritual realm at all is a sheer waste of time but Christians cannot shy away from what Scripture teaches. They acknowledge that their authority on spiritual matters is not themselves but the word of God. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds, to talk about these things is the most practical thing a Christian can do because they are looking at the real cause of the present state of the world. The Christian has been given the ability to see the true nature of the conflict. …By examining the Scriptures on the topic, Dr. Lloyd-Jones equips Christians to understand the devil’s purpose and his kingdom of darkness.
This post contains two 5-minute videos about death; and a 2-minute scripture reading of Proverbs 5: VIDEO 1: Pastor Daniel read the final words of 8 atheists and 5 Christians. We all need reminding of just how close death is and we need to think about the state of our souls, as our opportunities to seek God’s grace run out at the time of death. VIDEO 2: a video about the un-biblical Roman Catholic concept of purgatory. When I listened to video 1, I realized that many do not think that their eternal destiny is locked in when they die, like the Bible says. I was glad to find a video and article by Got Questions that biblically addresses this falsehood. (The article on Purgatory has several links to matters that are extremely relevant to the matter of death and eternal life) finally, video 3, a reading of Proverbs 5. Below that, I pasted in the scripture and a succinct commentary with some verses.
The apostle Paul recognized the fact there is an internal battle within each one of us; every believer has an “enemy within” that we must fight. This lifelong battle between the flesh and the Spirit will rage until our death. Romans 7:21–23 addresses the enemy within: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Paul understood that his fleshly nature would never conform to God’s will. No matter how much he might want to obey God in every way, he was fighting the “evil . . . right there with me,” the enemy within.