"Fruit"

An unconverted state will bear fruit corresponding with its own essence. It must, in the nature of things, be so. The enmity against God of the carnal mind, the rejection of the Lord Jesus, the governing principle of SELF, the supreme ascendancy of the world, the slavery of sin; indicate, unmistakably, the unrenewed, unregenerate nature from which they spring. We do not expect one to yield the fruits of holiness from an unholy nature. 

The life that an unbeliever lives is in keeping with the unrenewed heart he possesses. He is of the earth, earthly. It is consistent with his unregenerate nature that he should be of the world, that he should love the world, that the world should love him and claim him as its own, that the things of the world its pursuits, its pleasures, its sins; should harmonize with his nature, charm his tastes, delight his senses, and bind his affections in their spell. 

[Octavius Winslow]

Matthew 7:16-18 ... Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ❤

The Task

O my reader, be not deceived on this vital matter: to mortify the lusts of the flesh, to be crucified unto the world, to overcome the Devil, to die daily unto sin, to live unto righteousness, to be meek and lowly in heart, trustful and obedient, pious and patient, faithful and uncompromising, loving and gentle; in a word, to be a Christian, to be Christlike is a task far, far beyond the poor resources of fallen human nature! 

The demands of Christ are too humbling to our natural pride, too searching for the callous conscience, too exacting for our fleshly desires. A miracle of grace has to be wrought within us before this awful depravity of our nature, this dreadful state of affairs, is changed! 

[A. W. Pink]

John 15:5 ...  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13 ...  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ❤

Are We Christians or Are We Worldlings?

What do we say to our self-indulgence, our spiritual sloth, our love of ease, our avoidance of hardship, our luxury, our pampering of the body, our costly feasts, our silken couches, our brilliant furniture, our gay attire, our expensive jewelry, our idle mirth, our voluptuous music, our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of rich viands? Are we Christians or are we worldlings? 

Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days? Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship, to be seen except in useless religious ornaments for the body, or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary? "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Is not this the description of multitudes who name the name of Christ? They may not be "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." But even where these are absent, there is 'high living' luxury of the table or the wardrobe in conformity to this present evil world. "At ease in Zion!" 

Yes! there is the shrinking from hard service; from spending and being spent; from toil, and burden-bearing and conflict; from self-sacrifice and noble service; for the Master's sake. There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity to Christ! There is a laying down of the cross, instead of a taking up of the cross. Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet, lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it! Or there is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste and the manners of our refined and intellectual age. Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross! 

We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and the narrow way broader so as to be able to walk more comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove that modern enlightenment has so refined 'the world and its pleasures', that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give ourselves up to the inebriation of the siren song. "At ease in Zion!" Even when the walls of our city are besieged, and the citadel is being stormed! Instead of grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches! Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe! 

We are cowards, when we should be brave! We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold! We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent! We are cold, when we should be full of zeal! We compromise and shuffle and make excuses when we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin in order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the age, or 'unify' the Church. Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name, but the living thing. 

Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious, self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day! A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry after Him renouncing ease and denying self. Our time, our abilities, our money, our strength, are all to be laid upon the altar. 

[Horatius Bonar] 

Amos 6:1 ... Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

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Essential to Eminent Usefulness

A revived church is the best hope of a lost world. A revived ministry, the best hope of a dormant church. Under 'a great show of outward profession', there is a lamentable deficiency of vital godliness in our churches. Much of the prevailing benevolence and activity of the church, are a mere substitute for spiritual religion rather than the expression of vital godliness. 

In our churches, it is easy to perceive how much more welcome is the 'humorous' than the serious; how much more anxious the audience is to be 'entertained' than to be edified; how much greater homage is paid to the 'talent' of the preacher than to his piety! In fact, our public meetings sometimes assume rather the character of 'religious amusements' than pious worship! 

It ought never to be forgotten that a church meeting, if rightly understood, is a company of people brought together to carry out the design for which the Son of God expired upon the cross! Surely the frame of our minds, and the tone of the sermons, and the spirit and tendency of the whole worship service, ought to be in strict harmony with such a purpose. Yet many of our church meetings have rather lowered, than elevated the tone of our piety and thus enfeebled our real strength for carrying on this great work. 

Eminent piety is essential to eminent usefulness! It is eminent piety alone which will enable us to take a clear and impressive view of the object to be sought and supply the energies necessary for obtaining it. It is eminent piety alone which will purify our motives, and produce that spirit of profound humility, self-denial, dependence and entire consecration which are necessary to qualify us for the work. It is eminent piety alone which will keep up the spirit of faith and prayer, to which the divine promises are made. We must become more devout, more prayerful, more holy, more heavenly, more spiritual. 

[John Angell James] 

Titus 2:13-14 ... Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

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"All Things"

In a complicated situation this morning? Have a problem that there seems no way out? Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for good for those that love the LORD.” 

 “All things” means even our mistakes. Even the times we blew it and got off course. GOD knows how to work it for our good. GOD has it all figured out! Give it to Him and go on about your business and watch what happens. 

Oh Yeah, when He gets you out of your situation be sure take time to thank Him and pass the word about Him to others. He wants to help them to! 

[Chaplain Dave Baker]

1 Peter 5:7 ... Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. ❤

Swept Off

Dear Friend, 

We shall both very soon, I anticipate, be called away from seeing all things through a glass darkly to meeting God face to face and shall have to answer to Him for the deeds done in the body. 

We would certainly exhibit the most inordinate vanity, if we thought that the great mass of our fellowmen would be losers by our being swept off the great chessboard of this world. This board, indeed, is always so crowded that, with the exception of our attached relations and a few friends, the greater number of our neighbors will be glad to know that our being cleared away has left more elbowroom for them. 

Think how soon the world gets over the death of an eminent minister and let us be content that the place that knew us once, shall know us no more. 

[George Wilson]

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Psalm 103:15-16 ... As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

Ecclesiastes 1:11 ... There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Ecclesiastes 2:16 ...  For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

Psalm 90:10 ... The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. ❤

BE The Church!!

The church is a people, not a place.

The Church has two important missions: the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. 

The Lords' design for His church is to make disciples who love God and love others.

 

 The Great Commission:

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commandment:

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Mark 12:28-34

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Commenting Upon the Bible

Chrysostom compares the Scripture to a garden every truth is a fragrant flower which we should wear, not on our bosom, but in our heart! David counted the Word "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb". There is that in Scripture which may breed delight. It shows us the way to riches, Deuteronomy 28:8, Proverbs 3:30; to long life, Psalm 34:42; to a Kingdom, Hebrews 12:28. 

Well then may we count those the sweetest hours, which are spent in reading the holy Scriptures. Well may we say with the prophet, "Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart!" (Jeremiah 15:16) Conform to Scripture. Let us lead Scripture lives. 

Oh, that the Bible might be seen printed in our lives! Do what the Word commands. Obedience is an excellent way of commenting upon the Bible. "Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth." (Psalm 86:11) Let the Word be the sundial by which you set your life. What are we the better for having the Scripture, if we do not direct all our speech and actions according to it? What are we the better for the rule of the Word, if we do not make use of it, and regulate our lives by it? What a dishonor is it to religion, for men to live in contradiction to Scripture! The Word is called a "light to our feet".  (Psalm 119:105) It is not only a light to our eyes to mend our sight but to our feet to mend our walk. 

Oh, let us lead Bible lives! Be thankful to God for the Scriptures. What a mercy is it that God has not only acquainted us what His will is, but that He has made it known by writing! The Scripture is our polestar to direct us to Heaven, it shows us every step we are to take. When we go wrong it instructs us; when we go right it comforts us. Adore God's distinguishing grace, if you have felt the power and authority of the Word upon your conscience if you can say as David, "Your Word has quickened me." (Psalm 119:50)

Christian, bless God that He has not only given you His Word to be a rule of holiness but His grace to be a principle of holiness. Bless God that He has not only written His Word, but sealed it upon your heart, and made it effectual. Can you say it is of divine inspiration, because you have felt it to be of lively operation? 

Oh, free grace! That God should send out His Word and heal you. That He should heal you, and not others! That the same Scripture which to them is a dead letter, should be to you a savor of life! 

[Thomas Watson] 

Psalm 119:97 ...  O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. ❤

A New Year's Resolution

Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me health or sickness, peace or trouble, comforts or crosses, life or death may His holy will be done! 

All my time, strength, and service, I devote to the honor of the Lord Jesus and even my common actions. It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me. In everything I have to do my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for strength. And whatever I do in word or deed, I desire to do all in His name, to make Him my Alpha and Omega. I have all from Him and I would use all for Him. 

If this should prove a year of affliction, a sorrowful year to me I will fetch all my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace. And if it should be my dying year then my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble reliance upon His mediation, I would venture into the eternal world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living, Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and be advantage to me. 

Oh, that the grace of God may be sufficient for me, to keep me always a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly, and infirmity together with a humble dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for both righteousness and strength. 

[Matthew Henry] 

Psalm 31:15 ... My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. ❤

~~~~ Happy New Year 2025 ~~~~

For God's Sake Do Not Trifle With Us!

When the Savior was on earth, He always taught upon vital matters. He never dealt with minutiae, but only with crucial facts. He had no time for trifles, but with essential truths. He never spoke of opinions or speculations, but of momentous verities. 

Yet how many preachers week after week, discourse about trivialities of no importance! I have sometimes, when hearing sermons, wished that the preacher would come to the point, and would deal with serious matters that really concerned our soul's welfare. What concern have dying men, with the thousand trivial opinions which are flitting around us? 

We have Heaven or Hell before us, and death within a stone's throw! For God's sake do not trifle with us but tell us the truth at once! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Mark 8:36 ... For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

2 Timothy 4:1-2 ...  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ... For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Matthew 25:46 ... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ❤

Our Bible!!

Our Bible is an armory of heavenly weapons, a pharmacy of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth, a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady, and a balm for every wound! 

Rob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun! 

[Thomas Guthrie]

2 Timothy 3:16 ... All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Romans 10:17 ... So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Psalm 119:105 ... Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ❤