Month: January 2022

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COME LORD JESUS

“The babe in Bethlehem is a denial of the lie of Satan. He says, ‘I am here because God loves you.’ He has come to undo the works of the devil; He has come to contradict the lies of Satan, and His very appearing and coming . . .is in itself an undoing of the original lie—it is proof that God loves us” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p322).

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb 2:14-15 ESV).

“A human Savior was necessary, because human beings (children) are in need of a propitiatory sacrifice and a sympathetic high priest. Jesus was fully human as the ‘children’ are and as the high priest had to be. Jesus’ death, by cleansing his followers of sin, destroys the death grip of the devil and gives hope and deliverance to those who were in slavery to the fear of death. Satan’s power is not absolute, but is under the control of God, who ultimately rules over life and death. Nevertheless Satan ‘was a murderer from the beginning’. [H]e does have power to harm people to some extent. Satan has power to work in the realm of death, and to incite people into sin that leads to death. However, the emphasis is not on Satan’s power but on Christ’s triumph over Satan and over death” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2364).

“Christ came into this world in order to conquer Satan and his kingdom and in order to introduce His own kingdom. [T]he Bible is the story of the conflict of the two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p 318).

“He takes hold of us one by one; He rescues and delivers us out of this world and from Satan one by one. As we believe the message of this gospel, we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light—the kingdom of God’s dear Son. He is building up His own kingdom; he is drawing men and women unto Himself out of the world; He is going on with the work. He is in glory seated at the right hand of God, and He must reign until His enemies shall be made His footstool; He is going on until the number of the elect shall have been gathered in. And when that has happened, He will come again. He will return into this world as King and Lord, and He will finally finish the work. He will come with a mighty sword, and not only evil and sin but Satan himself and all his cohorts shall be cast into the lake of fire and will finally be banished from the sight of God for all eternity. And our guarantee of all this is the glorious fact of the Resurrection: He ‘was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil’.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref# 332, p324).

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PRESENT HELP

“It’s the evil inside me that connects me to the evil outside me. God’s grace is grace for the heart” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Mar 7th).

“Every moment in which we do not love God with all our hearts, we sin. Every moment in which we do not love our neighbor as ourselves, we sin. Every moment in which we do not exercise faith in Christ, we sin. When we do not set our affections on things above, we sin. When we are not constantly influenced by the fear of God, we sin. When we do not rejoice in God, we sin. When the contents of God’s Word [do] not properly affect us, we sin. When we do not forgive and love our enemies, we sin” Edward Payson (ref#362, p29).

“Sin is a matter of our nature before it is ever played out in our behavior. [S]ystems of behavior reformation won’t work for us because our problem is deeper than behavior. Systems of self-help won’t work because we are our own biggest problem. The grace that placed our iniquity on the Savior, so that we could be both forgiven and delivered, is more powerful than our sinful natures. Our cure is not a system; it is a person, and his name is Jesus” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 2nd)!

“Our struggle with sin is so deep that it was not enough for God to forgive us, so he also unzipped us and got inside of us by his Spirit” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

“He gets inside us, working within us, because there is no possibility that we will desire and do what is right without the inner working of his power. [W]e cannot take credit for any aspect or any instance of our obedience, because apart from the Spirit’s presence, we would have neither the motivation nor the power to obey. He has come, and his convicting and enabling grace is his moment-by-moment gift to you” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

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SHEEP OR GOATS

“The power of Christ will be manifested in all, by the destruction either of sin or the sinner. The hearts which now yield to the impressions of His Spirit are broken only in order to be formed anew, and to become vessels of honour fitted for the Master’s use. Those which continue stubborn must be dashed in pieces by the stroke of eternal vengeance” George Horne (ref#333, p292).

“Either God or sin must die in my life” Oswald Chambers (ref#7, June 23rd).

“People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-born to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test” (1 John 3:9-10 MSG).

“[H]e that has slight thoughts of sin, had never great thoughts of God” John Owen (ref#225, p298).

“[W]icked men cannot sigh for heaven” Robert Rollock (ref#333, p115).

“[S]in is horrible because I crucified the Savior. It is an awful thing to insult God to His face” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 2nd PM).

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OVERCOMING SIN WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

“The Holy Spirit strengthens us to holiness first by enabling us to see our need of holiness. He enlightens our understanding so that we begin to see God’s standard of holiness. Then he causes us to become aware of our specific areas of sin” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p72).

“Though you become greatly sanctified by the Holy Spirit, expect that the great dog of hell will still bark at you” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Feb 20th PM).

“As you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, take heed of vexing and grieving the Holy Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that is best able to discover Satan’s snares against us. Man is a weak creature and no way able to discover Satan’s snares nor to avoid them, unless the Spirit of the Lord gives skill and power” Thomas Brooks (ref#379, p32).

“If you would not be taken with any of Satan’s devices, then labor to be filled with the Spirit. It is not enough that you have the Spirit, but you must be filled with the Spirit; or else Satan, that evil spirit, will be too hard for you, and his plots will prosper against you. [L]abor for abundance of the Spirit” Thomas Brooks (ref#379, p33).

“The Spirit of the Lord is your counselor, your comforter, your upholder, your strengthener. It is only the Spirit that makes a man too great for Satan to conquer: ‘Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’” Thomas Brooks (ref#379, p33).

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:13 ESV).

“We are controlled not by our sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in us. ‘Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature’ (Galatians 5:16)” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p71).

“He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us. [T]his is another way of looking at our union with Christ, for His Spirit is the agent of this union. It is He who gives spiritual life and the strength to live that life. It is the Spirit of God who works in us that we may decide and act according to God’s good purpose (Philippians 2:13)” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p71).

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HOW TO OVERCOME SIN

“We must recognize that we have developed habit patterns of sin. We have developed the habit of shading the facts a little bit when it is to our advantage. We have developed the habit of giving in to the inertia that refuses to let us get up in the morning. These habits must be broken but they never will till we make a basic commitment to a life of holiness without exceptions” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p92).

“Jesus was tempted in the same way that we are: although Jesus was tempted, He never sinned; therefore, it is not necessary for us to sin. Jesus was a man, and if one Man endured these temptations and did not sin, then in His power, the members of His body may also refrain from sin. There is no sin in being tempted, only in yielding to temptation” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Oct 3rd PM).

“The Christian should never complain of want of ability and power. If we sin, it is because we choose to sin, not because we lack the ability to say no to temptation” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p80).

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:6 ESV).

“[W]e must have conviction. [C]onvictions are developed through exposure to the Word of God” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p85).

“The Holy Spirit is the effective Helper. Men may employ the aids of inward rigor and outward severity, and they may for a time stifle and suppress their evil habits; but unless the Spirit of God work in us, nothing can amount to true mortification. The Christian is not passive, but active in this work. We are bidden to ‘cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit’ (2 Cor. 7:1). We are exhorted to ‘build up yourselves on your most holy faith’ and ‘keep ourselves in the love of God’ (Jude 20, 21)” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p114).

“[N]ot allowing sin to reign in our mortal bodies—is something we have to do” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p52).

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HOW TO MORTIFY SIN

“’Am I willing to give up a certain practice or habit that is keeping me from holiness’?” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p91).

“The action we are to take is to put to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:13). ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature’ (Colossians 3:5). The King James Version uses the term mortify. According to the dictionary, mortify means ‘to destroy the strength, vitality, or functioning of; to subdue or deaden.’ To put to death the misdeeds of the body, then, is to destroy the strength and vitality of sin as it tries to reign in our bodies” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p84).

“Mortification is a task to which every Christian must address himself with prayerful and resolute earnestness. Nevertheless it is a task far transcending our feeble powers. It is only ‘through the Spirit’ that any of us can acceptably and effectually (in any degree) ‘mortify the deeds of the body.’ He it is who works in us a loathing of sin, a mourning over it, a turning away from it. He it is who presses upon us the claims of Christ, reminding us that inasmuch as He died for sin, we must spare no efforts to die to sin” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p115).

“The believer died to sin once and he has been translated to another realm. It is because we were in this realm of sin, under its reign and rule, that we began to sin from infancy. Because we were slaves we acted like slaves. We developed sinful habits and a sinful character. Even if we were what the world considers ‘good,’ we lived for ourselves, not for God. Our attitude toward Christ was expressed by the words of His enemies: ‘We don’t want this man to be our king’ (Luke 19:14)” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p54-55).

“True mortification consists in weakening sin’s root and principle. True mortification consists in suppressing the risings of inward corruptions: by turning a deaf ear to their voice, by crying to God for grace so to do, by pleading the blood of Christ for deliverance. True mortification consists in restraining its outward actings: ‘denying ungodliness,’ (Titus 2:12)” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p114).

“Because we are dead to sin, through our union with Christ, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p53).

“[P]resent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instrument for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:13-14 ESV).

“Departing from iniquity is the lifelong calling and pursuit of true Christians. Are you intimately involved in this pursuit? Do you long and strive to walk in the King’s highway of holiness on a daily basis” John Calvin (ref#164, Nov 10th)?

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FALSE TEACHERS

“[C]ertain people have crept in unnoticed, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4 ESV).

“None of the letters of St. Paul were written simply to maintain kindly relations with the various churches. Each of them was evoked by what appeared at the time to the Apostle a very pressing need. His objects in writing were [t]o correct false impressions which were working mischief in churches [t]o reform abuses which threatened to sap the morality of a church [t]o crush heresies in the germ, especially those relating to the person and office of Christ, and the relation of the Church to Him [t]o combat the party of Judaism which constantly labored in the church by insisting that faith in Christ was insufficient for salvation, without conformity to the ritual of the Mosaic Law” Arthur S. Way (ref#38, p1).

The Corinthians had been overcome by temptation. Deceived by the ingenious sophistry of teachers who presented errors under the guise of truth, they had become confused and bewildered” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p385).

“Hence practices—whether of ritual, of self-abasement, or of asceticism—founded on false beliefs are to be scouted. Instead of these there must be love and mutual helpfulness, and the fulfillment of the duties of daily life”Arthur S. Way (ref#38, p164).

“[T]here will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2 Pet 2:1 ESV).

“In the Galatian churches, open, unmasked error was supplanting the gospel message. Christ, the true foundation of the faith, was virtually renounced for the obsolete ceremonies of Judaism” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p385).

“To substitute external forms of religion for holiness of heart and life is still as pleasing to the unrenewed nature as it was in the days of these Jewish teachers” Ellen S. White (ref#331, p387).

“It is Satan’s studied effort to divert minds from the hope of salvation through faith in Christ and obedience to the law of God. [A]t the present time he induces many professing Christians, under pretense of honoring Christ, to cast contempt on the moral law and to teach that its precepts may be transgressed with impunity” Ellen G. White (ref#331, p 387).

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FEAR OF GOD

“Do you hope in the one you fear and fear the one you hope in” John Piper (ref #220, p197)?

“[T]he LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isa 8:13 ESV).

“When the fear of God overwhelms and controls your heart, it protects you from the paralyzing and debilitating fear of other things” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 26th).

“[F]ear reflects the greatness of his power and our hope reflects the bounty of his grace. God delights in those responses which mirror his magnificence. This is just what we would have expected from a God who is all-sufficient in himself and has no need of us—a God who will never give up the glory of being the fountain of all joy, who will never surrender the honor of being the source of all safety, who will never abdicate the throne of sovereign grace. God has pleasure in those who hope in his love because that hope highlights the freedom of his grace. When I cry out, ‘God is my only hope, my rock, my refuge!’ I am turning from myself and calling all attention to the boundless resources of God” John Piper (ref# 220, p199).

“’The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him,’ and to fear Him is not to dread Him as a slave, but, as a child, to walk blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 30).

“What kind of response can God demand from us so that the demand gives good news to us and glory to him? This is the answer: the demand to hope in his love with an earnest, profound sense of his awesome power: John Piper (ref#220, p199).

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18 ESV).

“[W]hen you hope in God you show that he is strong and you are weak; that he is rich and you are poor; that he is full and you are empty. When you hope in God you show that you are the one who has needs, not God” John Piper (ref#220, p200).

“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome” (Eph 3:12 NLT).

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RENOUNCING OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS

“[H]is heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly” (Dan 5:20 ESV).

“Possibly you may be confident of your own strength, and may think that you are not in danger, that there is no temptation but what you are able easily to overcome. But you should consider that the most self-confident are most in danger” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p71).

“If when others who have fallen into gross sins should be inquired of, and should declare how it was with them, doubtless they would say that they at first thought there was no danger; that they were far from the thought that ever they should commit such wickedness” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p71).

“O faithless daughter, who trusted in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’” (Jer 49:4 ESV).

“[N]ever can I swallow pride

My pride will swallow me

Unless I’m overwhelmed by grace

In forced humility” Doug Newton (ref#166, p132).

“God would rather let His children all into the devil’s hands than to see them proud. Better is that temptation that humbles than that duty which makes us proud. [A] Christian may get much good by temptation” Thomas Watson (ref#225, p202).

“The one great design of God in all His dispensations to His people, is to prevent and cure the pride of their hearts. We must condemn ourselves, before He will justify us; and renounce our own righteousness, if ever we will be made righteous” Richard Mayo (ref#225, p 237).

“[W]hen I see myself as I really am, nobody can insult me. It is impossible, because they can never say anything that is bad enough about me. Whatever the world may say about me, I am much worse than they think. Self-sufficiency, self-consciousness—oh, to get away from the self” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Nov 13th)!

“Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Ps 51:12 TLB).

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REALIZING THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF

“To be humble as we should be, we must know ourselves. There must be no disguising of our true condition from ourselves or from God. Where love declines, there must be a cause; and, when found, it must be immediately removed” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 16th).

“Some people feel pure, but they are filthy and unwashed” (Prov 30:11-12 NLT).

“[T]here is none who does good, not even one” (Ps 53:3 ESV).

“[T]here is only one way I know to realise the love of God, and that is to realise the truth about myself. We have to be made worse before we can be made better; there are times when we have to be cruel to be kind. We may have to clean that wound before we can put in the oil that will soothe it. We must get rid of certain things, and that is a painful process. Therefore, the highway to realising the love of God is to realise the truth about ourselves. [T]hat is to realise that you are a hopeless, damned sinner, that you can do nothing about yourself. You can never put yourself right; you can never make yourself fit to stand in the presence of God. You must realise that you are altogether lost and undone and heading straight for hell, and that is where you would arrive, were it not that God in His infinite, everlasting love sent His only begotten Son not only into the world, but to the cruel death of the cross, so that you might be forgiven, that you might be saved” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p524).

“God loves: an open, honest confession of sin. Though He searches and knows all hearts, He yet delights in the frank and detailed acknowledgment of sin from His backsliding child. Is this all He requires of His poor wandering child? That is all! I am a backslider, a wanderer, a prodigal. I have strayed from Thee like a lost sheep. My love has waxed cold, my steps have slackened in the path of holy obedience, my mind has yielded to the corrupting, deadening influence of the world, and my affections have wandered in search of other earthly objects of delight. [A]ll we do is defaced with sin” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 17th).

“ [S]top having fellowship with the unfruitful works of this darkness, but rather be rebuking them so as to bring out confession and conviction” (Eph 5:11 Wuest)

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” (Ps 19:13 ESV).