Spurgeon Agrees With The Bible

Spurgeon agrees with the Bible, where it says,

• Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.   Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

His quote: 

“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [its most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ. they will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore, the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place. The Law cuts into the core of evil, it reveals the seat of the malady and informs us that the leprosy lies deep within. They must be slain by the Law before they can be made alive by the gospel.”

This is why I use the law as a tutor (or school master) to lead people to Christ that they may be saved by grace through faith.

To the glory of God.

God bless...

Adrian and his Fat Tired Electric Bike

I was on my front porch this evening and noticed a young man sitting on the curb at the corner eating a snack, so I went in and got a Gospel tract to give to him.   I returned outside and he was still there so I went up and gave him a million dollar bill tract.   He said “oh, you must be that magician”.   I said no, that’s a gospel tract.  I asked if he was familiar with the gospel, he said yeah, I’m a Christian.  

We talked about what kind of church he attended, and he said none right now during the corona virus lockdown.

I said “oh, if I weren’t a Christian and I had a knife stuck in my chest, and had two minutes to live, and I asked you how to get to heaven and have eternal life, what would you tell me?”   He said I’d tell you to pray.   What should I pray?   He said “ask for forgiveness”.  I pressed him, what should I ask for forgiveness of, I haven’t really done anything wrong.  He said we’ve all sinned.  I said specifically, like what sins?   He said like lying.  Ah, there you go I said.

Then I turned the corner and asked him if he’d lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain, and/or dishonored or disrespected his parents.  He said yes, except he’d never stolen.  He seemed to understand what I was getting at, so I just exhorted him to repent and trust Jesus as his savior.

I said hope to see you around and chat again.   Good talking with you. And he rode away on his fat tired electric bike.

God bless...

PSALM 21 – THE JOYFUL KING

The title of this psalm is To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. It logically follows the previous Psalm 20.

Verse 1:

The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD;

And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

I want to share a little of my background.   I was raised in a Christian home. I remember going to Sunday school from a very early age.   We went to Baptist churches. When I committed my life to the Lord in 1984, I went back to attending a Baptist church, but I met a friend there who took me to an evening service at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.   A couple things I noticed. Besides the fact that the songs were more of choruses of praise and worship, rather than hymns, I heard people singing from their hearts. People lifted their hands. They seemed more passionate, expressive in their worship of the Lord.   Don’t get me wrong, I love the old hymns. I think old hymns can be sung as passionately as any worship chorus can, but there was a noticeably different style to the worship in Baptist churches than Calvary Chapels. When I came to the Lord, I just wanted to express the Joy and Peace and Love that God had put in my heart.   I just wanted to sing to the Lord.  

Verse 2:

You have given him his heart’s desire,

And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

Now wait just a second here.   There have definitely been times when God has withheld the request of my lips.   What is going on here? Well, there are several possibilities why God may not have done what I wanted Him to:

· Not abiding in Jesus (John 15:7).

· Unbelief (Matthew 17:20-21).

· Failure to fast (Matthew 17:21).

· Husband not honoring his wife (1 Peter 3:7).

· Not asking (James 4:2).

· Selfish praying (James 4:3).

· Disobedience (1 John 3:22).

· Not praying in God’s will (1 John 5:14-15).

· Unconfessed sin (James 5:16).

· Cold, passionless prayer (James 5:16-18; 2 Kings 20:5).

· Prayerlessness or a lack of persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-7; Psalm 55:17).

· Sin against others (Matthew 5:23-24).

· Lack of unity (Matthew 18:19).

· Not praying in the name of Jesus (John 14:13-14).

· Pride (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, Proverbs 3:34).

· Lying and deceitfulness (Psalm 17:1).

· Lack of Bible reading and Bible teaching (Proverbs 28:9).

· Trusting in the length or the form of prayer (Matthew 6:7).

Avoiding these things does not merit God’s response; He is not in debt to us for anything, but these are some hindrances.

c. Selah: The idea in the Hebrew for this word (occurring 74 times in the Old Testament) is for a pause. It could a musical notation, since the book of Psalms was/is the Jewish hymnal.

There are a few kids running around here named Selah.   That is a very cool, beautiful name. It should serve to remind us to pause and think about the Lord and what He’s done every time we call their name.

Verses 3-7:

For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;

You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—

Length of days forever and ever.

His glory is great in Your salvation;

Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.

For You have made him most blessed forever;

You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.

For the king trusts in the LORD,

And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

God brought blessings to David rather than David chasing down these blessings of goodness.

This is true for us as well; goodness and blessings meet us all the time.

· Victorious Jesus was met with the blessings of goodness when He ascended to heaven.

· Jesus wears the crown, both as King of Kings and glorious conqueror – and His crown is of pure gold.

· Jesus asked life from God the Father, and as God’s Holy One was delivered from the grave.

· Jesus gloried in the salvation extended to Him from the Father – not a salvation from sin, but a victory over sin and death.

· Jesus rejoiced in the presence of His Father, even though there was a sense in which it was turned away from Him on the cross.

· Jesus continues to trust in His Father and will not be moved.

· For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. This verse tells us that even though Jesus was a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3), yet at the same time He was a man who knew what it was to be most blessed forever and exceedingly glad.

Verses 8-10

Your hand will find all Your enemies;

Your right hand will find those who hate You.

You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;

The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath,

And the fire shall devour them.

Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,

And their descendants from among the sons of men.

Is it ever appropriate to fight your own battle ?  Is it never appropriate to fight your own battles?

Verses 11-12: Why the enemies of God deserve judgment.

For they intended evil against You;

They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.

Therefore You will make them turn their back;

You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.

Y’all, there’s a broad spectrum of people who are God’s enemies.   In fact there are some really nice people who are God’s enemy. Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

Verse 13) Praising the God of strength.

Be exalted, O LORD, in Your own strength!

We will sing and praise Your power.

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