AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?

When Cain asked the Lord, “Am I my brother’s keeper” (Gen 4:9), he was trying to shift blame for his guilt in murdering his brother. Let us never be guilty of doing what Cain did.

Yes indeed we are our brother’s keepers. We should keep our brethren in our prayers. We should keep our brethren supplied in times of need. We should keep near our brethren in times of sorrow and grief. We should keep our brethren encouraged as we go through this life together. Let us always be our brother’s keeper.

Christ Must be All!

We cannot keep our eye too exclusively or too intently fixed upon Jesus. All salvation is in Him. All salvation proceeds from Him. All salvation leads to Him. And for the assurance and comfort of our salvation we are to repose believingly and entirely on Him. Christ must be all! Christ the beginning – Christ the center – Christ the end.

Oh, sweet truth to you who are sensible of your poverty, vileness, and insufficiency, and of the ten thousand flaws and failures of which, perhaps, no one is cognizant but God and your own soul! Oh, to turn and rest in Christ – a full Christ – a loving Christ – a tender Christ, whose heart’s love never chills, from whose eyes dart no reproof, from whose lips breathes no sentence of condemnation! Christ must be all!

Octavius Winslow (1808-1878)

Accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6)

Jacob sent presents to his offended brother Esau (Genesis 32) desiring to earn Esau’s appeasement. Jacob’s only hope was that by doing or giving enough, “peradventure he will accept of me (Gen. 32:20). Is this not the carnal thinking of the world’s religion? Man thinks that God’s acceptance and favor is based upon the sinner’s work, will and ability. The carnal heart thinks that if it can be sincere enough, can dot every “I” and cross every “T”, peradventure the Lord will accept me. The Scripture never speaks of God’s acceptance of His people as being a “maybe” acceptance based upon the sinner’s ability and carnal work. God’s acceptance of the saints in Christ Jesus is a blessing spoken of as being according to God’s will and purpose and a blessing that has been eternally done…”accepted in the Beloved.” Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, redeemed by His precious blood and robed in His glorious righteousness, the Lord’s people are highly favored objects of His mercy accepted in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Marvin Stalnaker

CHRIST IS READY TO GIVE

For some of you, this is a time of great darkness; but in the gospel there is light for the present, yes, joy even for this moment in which you seem to be driven almost to despair. When I preach about the water of life so freely given by God, I mean just this – that all you need between here and heaven, Christ is ready to give you. All that your soul can possibly require to enable you to stand in the presence of God without fear and dwell in the bosom of God forever, made perfectly like Christ by His grace – all that is in the gospel for you; and we are bidden to invite you to partake of it in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pastor Bruce Crabtree

“It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors”