Category: Spiritual Disciplines

Mistaken Notions About Repentance, by C. H. Spurgeon, re: Ezekiel 36:31; Part 3

This post focuses on a different aspect of Ezekiel 36:31, it aims to clarify what repentance is and is not. In the contemporary church, many don’t even believe in repentance or sin anymore, as though their modern mindset has somehow changed God’s laws. Consider the following words of Jesus from John 18 – Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? 

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Self-Knowledge And Self-Loathing, by J.R. Thompson: Ezekiel 36:31, Part 2

This is an 800 word commentary on Ezekiel 36:31, I found it to be of great value in showing how repentance takes one to a place of self-loathing. The following 4 points are the subheads of J. R. Thomson’s comments: I. SIN BLINDS MEN TO THEIR REAL CONDITION, AND FOSTERS UNDUE SELF-SATISFACTION. II. GOD’S CHASTISEMENTS AND GOD’S MERCIES AWAKEN MEN TO REFLECTION AND TO SELF-KNOWLEDGE. III. SELF-KNOWLEDGE, BY REVEALING INIQUITY IN ITS TRUE LIGHT, LEADS TO SELF-LOATHING. IV. THUS SELF-KNOWLEDGE LEADS TO REPENTANCE AND TO A BETTER LIFE. [The last point is profound and worthy of meditating on; all these points indicate that it is absolutely essential to examine your sin for your motives in committing and more that God will reveal to you – see, Categories, Jonathan Edwards, Glimpses into his spiritual life for help in such things]

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Ezekiel 36:31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds…and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities….

In the sermon excerpt, by Voddie Baucham, that I posted yesterday, he stated that Christians ought to loathe themselves for their sins. I remembered the statement from Ezekiel; but am thinking that contemporary Christians may question the sternness of such repentance. This post aims to show that the thoughts of Ezekiel 36:31 are also New Testament theology. The following cross references are from Treasury of Scripture Knowledge at Bible Hub; also there are several sermons on Ezekiel 36:31

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This Is Why Most People Are Going To Hell – Voddie Baucham

In the 12 minute sermon excerpt of this post Dr. Voddie Baucham uses scripture to explain why most people are going to hell; that includes, most Christians also. He explains sin, repentance, faith in terms of how it looks in a person’s real-life experience. He talks briefly about the preachers who lead people onto the broad way of destruction and the kinds of beliefs that keep one there and he contrasts those beliefs with biblical truth

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Our Thorn – J. R. Miller

The apostle Paul spoke of his thorn and why God gave it to him in the following verses: 2 Corinthians 12:7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In his 5 minute devotional, J. R. Miller provides details about Paul’s meaning in the aforementioned verses; Miller’s words will be useful in your daily walk with Christ

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Ponder These Words For Your Spiritual Health

Since I read the following words from Jonathan Edwards diary, I’ve taken great comfort in them, especially at times of personal failure. Those words also make me want to learn how to lean on the Holy Spirit instead of myself. I am posting them without comment that you might read and reread them, because such observations are not easy to come by in modern evangelicalism. 

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What Does The Holy Spirit’s Intercession Look Like In Our Daily Life?

There are several posts from this blog linked to this post because they are directly related to the last post about how the Holy Spirit helps the weak. These linked posts are about the following: the five stage struggle of faith developed by Jonathan Edwards; instruction about self-observation, examination, journaling…from Jonathan Edwards; instruction in basic doctrines such as justification and faith; and lastly, some basic instruction on God’s purpose in affliction; and spiritual disciplines that help Christians deal with the aforementioned

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DISCERNMENT: Examples of Man-Centered Preaching And God-Centered Preaching Via Rick Warren & Paul Washer

This post shows a picture of man-centered and God-centered preaching, using two well known preachers: Rick Warren and Paul Washer. A linked video shows how they each addressed a conference of young preachers, providing guidance and encouragement. If you view 15 minutes of the 90 minute video, you will begin to get a sense of the definitions of these two very different styles of preaching which could also be labeled – unbiblical vs biblical; or progressive vs reformed; or possibly modern vs orthodox. Warren typifies modern evangelicalism; Washer typifies reformed evangelicalism (“reformed” derives from the Protestant Reformers, Luther, Calvin…).

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