False Christian teachings, trends….
This post contains a 36-minute sermon by the Reverend William Macleod on backsliding. He defines it and discusses how it begins and how it can be remedied. Texts used include Hosea 14; and Hebrews 12. The sermon includes a 3-minute singing of Psalm 63. I had to divide the sermon into 3 sections, each is preceded with sermon highlights for those who’d rather read than listen; and for those who like to do both.
Are the pressures in my life making me more holy or more unholy? And how would I know? This is such a great question. A lot of our emails come from Christians who are feeling extra pressure in life. That is true today in an email from a young mom named Victoria, who is facing the challenges of raising little ones. “Hello, Pastor John,” she writes. “Since becoming a mom, I have found myself battling sin like never before. New sins that I never recall struggling with are popping up, seemingly out of nowhere, especially in this season with a 2-year-old and a newborn. My desire is to be a wife and mother to the glory of God, but I feel I have never been further away from this goal. Are these new pressures of motherhood sanctifying me or making me more unholy? And how can I tell the difference? Because I often feel as though I am becoming more unholy by them.”
This post has a video-excerpt of Dr. Carl Trueman speaking on the mortification of sin. The excerpt is the final minutes of part 2 of a 5-part series Trueman was teaching on mortification of sin via the work of John Owen. This excerpt is intended to introduce readers to Dr. Trueman and mortification of sin; and it also emphasized something about the Christian battle against sin that is not generally known in the contemporary church, it is a life-long battle that must be fought.
The following 8-minute video for part one on this series on Holiness, the book by J C Ryle. This post covers the topic, Sin. Ryle stated that one must begin there if he / she would be holy. Apparently, Dr. Mayfield plans on explaining each of the10 chapters of the abridged version of Ryle’s book. If you are actually fighting the daily Christian battle, then you will want to know the contents of this series for aid. If you are clueless about that battle, that may be a more important reason to know the contents of this book via Dr. Mayfield’s series.
The following comments are from The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary, Psalm 18: 23. It is being posted because in his comments about besetting sins, he says some things that I believe to be of great benefit to anyone struggling with their sins, seeking to be obedient. …In the subduing of our besetting sin lies the great struggle of life. Our love to God, our allegiance to Him, is tested, not by ten commandments, but rather by one or two of them. The question of our moral character is fought out on some one question. …We must estimate our character according to our relation to the besetting sin. We sometimes flatteringly estimate our character by reckoning up the sins to which we have no inclination. This is a fatal miscalculation. Is it not a maxim in mechanics, that a thing is no stronger than its weakest part? This is as true in morals as in mechanics.
Pastor Ramsey’s sermon explains the doctrine of the communion of saints from scripture. We can have communion with Christ and other saints because of our union with Christ. It is the foundation of all the graces we may receive from God the Father.
The following post is on Leviticus 18, by Dr. James White. It is being posted inform Christians about what God expects from those in covenant with Him. Also, for those who engage with people who argue that God’s laws against homosexuality are passe,’ Dr. White provides foundational understanding that will enable you to explain to them, per scripture, that they are mistaken.
Death is gain for the believer because it frees him from his warfare with the world, the flesh and the devil; all suffering and sin are extinguished. While explaining how the believer gains by dying, Pastor Ramsey also discusses other aspects of death – suffering, pain, dread, fear…but the believer may have real hope in the promises of the Bible, because of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. [26 minute mp3 sermon preceded by sermon points]
This post contains a portion of the audiobook of The Pilgrim’s Progress. If you have never read it, then you will be amazed at how well Bunyan identified the threats that a Christian experiences on his pilgrimage through this earthly wilderness. If you have read through the Bible and are engaged in fighting against your sin, then you should get a lot from this audiobook; if you don’t read your Bible, and have no idea of the fight against sin that the apostle Paul often described (see Ephesians 6 for one example), then you might benefit by discovering that something is wrong with your profession. By the end of this excerpt, you should better understand the dangers that Christian’s experience on their journey of faith
According to the standard of the Bible, it does cost something to be a real Christian. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, and a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict in which it costs much to win the victory. Therefore arises the unspeakable importance of counting the cost…. It will cost him his self-righteousness. He must cast away all pride and prideful thoughts and any conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved only by free grace, owing all to the merit and righteousness of another. He must really feel the words of the prayer book that he has “erred and gone astray like a lost sheep,” that he has “left undone the things he ought to have done, and done the things he ought not to have done, and that there is no health in him.” He must be willing to give up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible reading, church-going, and sacraments, and he must trust in nothing but Jesus Christ.