February 4, 2018


HYMN OF THE DAY
He Set His Face As A Flint
Isaiah 50:6-7

Christ choose to be the Surety
Of the eternal cov'nant.
To bring God's sons to glory,
God's Son became the Servant.

He set His face as a flint;
Their Lord would not be deterred.
He must be their Atonement.
Their sins could not be deferred.

He came to seek and to save
Those given to Him by God.
For His sheep His life He gave.
Yes, for them, He shed His blood.

His face was marred by many.
The stripes of His own He bore.
He took their place on the tree
(What He purposed heretofore).

Salvation is all of Him.
He has redeemed His people.
He set His face as a flint.
There is no one His equal.

Praise His name. He would not quit.
'Tis good news for all His own.
For His kingdom He made fir
All those who by grace were known.

Tune: Depths of Mercy, #233
By: Gary Spreacker

THE MOST BELIEVED LIE

There are many soul damning lies being told about our Lord that are believed by most. There is, however, one big lie that is more unanimously believed than all the others.

It is that man has a free will. Men pride themselves in believing that they can override the power of God with this all powerful "free will". This lie claims that in the final analysis man decides the destiny of his own soul, and that God has made himself subject to this irresistible force.

If by "free will" man believes that he is free, when given two or more options, to choose the one he wants, that is without dispute. As a matter of fact, that is always the case. We could even go so far as to say that it is impossible to select an option that is not your preference. When given an opportunity to select from among two or more possibilities we always choose the one for which we have the greatest desire. ALWAYS! Man's will is not free. It is subject to, yes in bondage to, his natural inclinations.

Therein lies the problem. It is not in man's fallen, sinful nature to desire salvation God's way. John 5:40 "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." In choosing what he wants he always chooses against the light. John3:19 "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." It is impossible for man to force his choice against his own will. He is in desperate need of a new nature; one that is born from above. One that has as its only inclination a desire for coming to the Christ of scripture. John 3:16 "Ye must be born again". Some will attempt to honor God by agreeing that He must give us a new heart, only to dethrone Him by saying that you must be willing to let Him. John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him".

But doesn't the Bible say, 'whosoever will'...? Yes. But the problem is not with the whosoever, it is with the will. – Greg Elmquist

FREE WILL OR FREE GRACE

According to the free-will scheme, the Lord intends good, but He must wait on His own creature to know what His intention is. They say God willeth good, and would do it, but He cannot because He has an unwilling man who will not have God’s good thing carried into effect. What does this do, but drag the Eternal God from His throne and lift up into it the fallen creature man. For man, according to that theory, nods and his nod is destiny. You must have a destiny somewhere. It must either be as God wills or as man wills. If it be as God wills, then Jehovah sits sovereign upon His throne of glory, and all hosts obey Him, and the world is safe. If not God, then you put man there to say, “I will” or “I will not”. If I will it, I will enter heaven. If I will it, I will despise the grace of God. If I will it, I will conquer the Holy Spirit, for I am stronger than God, stronger than Omnipotence. If I will it, I will make the blood of the Son of God of no effect, for I am mightier than the blood, mightier than the blood of the Son of God Himself. Though God make His purpose, yet will I laugh at His purpose. It shall be my purpose that shall make His purpose stand or fall.

Why sirs, if this is not atheism, it is idolatry. It is putting man where God should be, and I shrink with solemn awe and horror from this doctrine which makes the grandest of God’s work – the salvation of man – to be dependent upon the will of His creature whether it shall be accomplished or not. Glory I can and must in this text in its fullest sense.