"The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved." (Psalm 99:1).
***** THE TRIALS OF A BELIEVER "It is GOOD for me that I have been AFFLICTED, that I MIGHT LEARN thy ways" (Psalm 119:71). God’s ways and God’s Word are best learned by experience and in time of trouble. When our Lord is pleased to lay His hand heavily upon us, we do not soon forget the lessons learned. When the Lord singles out a believer or a church for special affliction and adversity, it is not for punishment, nor lack of love for them; it is for eternal blessings and because He does love them. "Whom the Lord loveth" He chastens, corrects and teaches! When Job sat before his friends, who was afflicted? THE ONE GOD LOVED! When Paul stood before King Agrippa, who wore the chains? THE ONE GOD LOVED! Humanly speaking, which path of life would you prefer to live on earth, that of Esau or Jacob? Esau had the life of prosperity and ease; Jacob was full of trouble and conflict, BUT GOD LOVED JACOB! Thank God He has loved us in Christ and is pleased to teach us His ways by dealing with us in such a way that we are weaned from the world and find our life, comfort and hope only in Him. A person who measures his blessings and relationship with God by his prosperity, health, happiness and worldly comforts makes a fatal mistake. "If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons" (Hebrews 12:8). Paul said, "Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). He who sends the trial for His glory and my good will supply sufficient grace. Those who know the Redeemer, also know that when we are weak, we are strong; when we are poor, we are rich; when we are empty, we are full; when we die, we live! –Henry T. Mahan
DOCTRINAL ERROR All doctrinal error can be traced to a twofold ignorance: [1] not knowing who God is and what His attributes are and [2] not knowing what happened in the fall and the devastating effect it had upon all men. It is in the Word of God that we find the Lord identifying Himself, and it is in this same book that the Lord describes all mankind as being spiritually dead sinners. If we have shallow thoughts about God and His holy character, then we will have shallow thoughts about our depravity and guilt. If we do not have some understanding of the perfections of God, then we will have wrong thoughts about our own sinfulness and corruption. If we do not perceive God to be holy and just, we will consequently have wrong views about the way He saves sinners. Holding unscriptural beliefs concerning God and sinful self always leads to wrong conclusions about salvation. It is only in the light of God’s holiness that we see and know what sin is and it is only in the Book of God that the way of sin’s removal is set forth in a manner consistent with His law and justice. The reason men staunchly maintain their beliefs in free-willism, justification by works and salvation accomplished by man is because they lack a Biblical knowledge of God and a Biblical knowledge of themselves. Every man by nature has too low an opinion of God and too high an opinion of self, and those errors always lead to wrong conclusions about the way of salvation. It is only when the Spirit of Illumination shows us from the Scriptures something of the purity of God that we will see our own sinfulness and realize that salvation has to be all of grace, fully accomplished lineby Jesus Christ and His triumphant work of redemption. Until then, men will continue to try and establish a righteousness of their own and refuse to submit to righteousness established by the Savior when He died as God’s sacrifice for sin and the Substitute of His people. –Pastor Jim Byrd
Older
Top
