Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:18-20
Dwell Together In Unity
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).
I preached last week for such a delightful and enthusiastic crowd in Canada, Kentucky. After having dinner with about twenty people at the pastor's home, we adjourned to the porch for coffee and talk. The Pastor lamented the apparent divisions and schisms among the people who believe and preach the gospel of God’s free grace. “It ought not to be so!” he said. “For those who are loved by Christ and who claim to love Christ, not to love one another is beyond understanding. If the person and work of Christ, or the character of God, or the authority of Scripture divides us, then so be it; but let us not defend our personalities, programs, traditions, and personal peculiarities to the point of separation from true believers.”
It is always good while building new fences to check out and mend those which have served our cause for years! Brethren, let us love one another, for love is of God!
Pastor Henry T. Mahan (1982)
Preaching Christ Alone
Why do I continue to preach to you Christ alone? Why do I continue to preach to you, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved?”
I preach Christ alone, because salvation is so important. If it were not a matter of the life and death of your soul, and that of your children, I could come before you this morning and give you my theories. But I must tell you the truth. We are by nature, lost, without Christ, separated from God, without hope, without life, without God in this world. We are condemned members of a condemned race, and soon our life on this earth will be over, our body will return to the earth, we will be stripped of all this covering, and our immortal soul will stand naked before God in judgment. God will demand 2 things of us in that day: Completesatisfaction for all our sin, and a perfect righteousness. They are only found in Christ alone. If I die without Christ, I die without hope. But if I have Christ, I have eternal life.
I preach Christ alone because salvation is not something we can get by something we do. Those who come to God come through the merits and righteousness of Christ. We come when we see that He is the only way to God. Good works, religious reformation, baptism, prayer, tears, vows and resolutions will never bring salvation. If you are trying to do something in order to find favor with God, quit it! Trust in Christ alone. Only in Christ is salvation, and He is the way, the truth, and the life of salvation. The good news is rest, cease from your labors. There is no salvation in any other place. But there is salvation in Christ. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." We have no other hope but Christ who is our only hope. Pastor Milton Howard
“But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatsoever He has pleased”(Psalms 115:2).
When you tell men today that God is Holy and just, righteous and true, patient, gracious, and good, they agree. But here David sets forth that one attribute of God which this rebellious generation hates, and since this is man’s point of rebellion, we must insist upon it. The attribute which David describes is God’s absolute and indisputable sovereignty. “Our God is in the heavens; and He hathdone whatsoever he has pleased.” As His people, we rejoice in God’s sovereign mercy. Pastor Scott Richardson
THE BODY OF CHRIST
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:27).
All of God's elect make up the body of Christ, they are His church (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 1:3-6). All who Christ Jesus redeemed with His precious blood, make up the body of Christ (Acts 20:28; 1Peter 1:18; Rev. 5:9-12). All who are regenerated by the power of God the Holy Spirit, make up the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13; Eph. 2:1-4; 1Peter 1:23). All who are made to believe the true gospel by His grace (Eph. 1:19), make up the body of Christ (John 5:24; Gal. 3:26).
Therefore, any earthly organization or religious cult that sets itself as the "body of christ" proclaiming they have authority to put sinners into Christ or remove them at their own discretion, preference and stating they have power to wash away sin, is truly an abomination to Almighty God, a complete discredit and denial to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and totally contrary to the whole testimony of God.
Salvation, as it is taught from Genesis to Revelation is of the Lord and is all of GRACE; from election to justification.God’s sovereign love, mercy and grace are the whole foundation and the well spring of all our salvation, sanctification, reconciliation, regeneration and glorification (Rom. 8:28-30; 1Cor. 1:30-31; 2Tim. 1:9: Titus 3:5-7).