OUR HARD HEARTS

All men are born with a heart of sin that is cold, dead, and hard. It is an evil, wicked heart that is hardened in sin. Nothing on earth can soften that natural heart. The tears of our mothers can’t soften that heart. The pleadings of a false preacher pleading with us to make a false profession won’t soften that heart. The threat of the law doesn’t soften that heart, but rather makes it even more hardened in sin and rebellion. God Himself does not soften that old heart of stone. When God saves His people, He gives them a brand new heart – a new nature. The new heart that God gives is a heart of faith and love. That heart is softened by the Word of God and the preaching of the gospel. This is a heart that only God can give. “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

Pastor

Love and Justice

Someone may ask; “How could A loving God send someone to hell?” God has never, nor will He ever, send anyone He loves to hell. The problem with that question is twofold. First, it assumes God loves everyone. That simply is not true. There is no sense in which God loves everyone. His love is perfectly holy, eternal, and immutable. I am the Lord and I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Mal. 3:6. I have loved thee with an everlasting love Jer. 31:3. His love is particular for His elect. Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated. Rom. 9:13. Most important, His love is only found in Christ. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:39

The second problem with that question is that it ignores God’s justice. Truth is, a loving God would never send someone to hell, but a JUST God will and must. He will by no means clear the guilty Ex. 34:7. His justice must be satisfied. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 Jn. 4:10. Pastor Greg Elmquist

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PEACE WHICH PASSETH

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). While the peace of God itself certainly is beyond our comprehension, this verse speaks of God’s peace excelling beyond our understanding in another sense. When we don’t understand our circumstances, when we don’t understand God’s providential workings in our lives, when we don’t understand our trials, when we don’t understand what to do, we have peace from God that is greater than our understanding. It is better to have His peace, than to understand everything. We don’t need to understand, because knowing Him, we have peace that He doeth all things well. We have peace that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We have peace that He works all things together for our good. We have peace that in Christ, we are without blemish and without spot and are well pleasing unto God. This peace is more excellent than understanding. I don’t need to know what, why, how, when or where, if I know Who.