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HEAVEN

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THE FIRST RESURRECTION

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years….This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4-6 ESV).

“…we who are alive…will be caught up…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thes 4:17 ESV).

 “…the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever’” (Dan 7:18 ESV).

“The way we conceive the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and thought through the day.  If our sense of future is weak, we live listlessly.  Much emotional and mental illness and most suicides occur among men and women who feel that they ‘have no future.’…The Second Coming of Jesus…is the most important thing to know and believe about the future.  The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope” Eugene H. Peterson (ref#262, Introduction to 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, p504).

HEAVEN

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REJOICING IN THE FUTURE

“…stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36 ESV).

“…I do not read in so many words that the saints are predestinated to Paradise, but I do read that they are predestinated to be conformed to the image of His dear Son.  This is the end of the whole predestination of God: to make His elect like their elder Brother that He may be the first-born among many brethren” Charles Spurgeon (ref#232, p10).

FATHER, I think of Enoch who must have reached such perfect spiritual conformity that You took him to heaven before his bodily death (Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5).  What a smooth transition You have provided.  As You conform me to JESUS I gain eternal life on earth, then, just a small step to move to heaven.  Oh that I may be like kneaded clay in Your hands.

I thank You for Your unseen efforts to mold me into CHRIST’s image.  And, I thank You for the seen.  I rejoice in the future eternal life in heaven and I rejoice in the “now” eternal life.

“…as overpowering as a full unveiling of the majesty of the Lord Jesus would be to us in our present imperfect state, yet it ranks among our most prized and precious blessings that He sometimes so graciously manifests Himself to awaken the exclamation, ‘This is my beloved, and this is my friend!’ (Song 5:16)” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Dec 17th).

HEAVEN

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A PLACE OF REST BEFORE HEAVEN

“’Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.’ Song of Solomon 4:6…The Lord has fragrant places of safety and repose for His people until He comes to fetch them to glory.  What a ‘mountain of myrrh’ is Jesus” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Feb 2nd).

“…The promise of ‘arrival’ and ‘rest’ is still there for God’s people.  God himself is at rest.  And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God…” (Heb 4:8-11 MSG).

“It is clearly God’s revealed will that His people should be comforted….The Spirit comforts the believer by unfolding to his eye the near prospect of the coming glory.  Heaven is near at hand.  It is only a step out of a poor, sinful, sorrow-stricken world, into the rest that waits for the people of God.  It is only a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and we are absent from the body and present with the Lord.  Then the days of our mourning will end and sin will grieve no more, affliction will wound no more, sorrow will depress no more, and God will hide Himself no more. There will be the absence of all evil, and the presence of all good…” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Nov 23rd).

“…that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified….If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting….” (Heb 4:1-3 MSG).

FATHER, I thank You for JESUS the Rock where I can retreat to anytime and find unchangeable grace in my time of need.  What comfort!

HEAVEN

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FIRM UNTIL THE END

“The one whom God has exonerated…is not him who has merely ‘believed,’ but is the man who continues‘ believing,’…” AW Pink (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol XI, July, 1932, No. 7, p8).

“…Christ was faithful as a loyal son in the household of the founder, his own Father. And we are members of this household if we maintain our trust and joyful hope steadfast to the end” (Heb 3:6 Phillips).

The letter of Hebrews was written “to encourage earnest perseverance until the end.  This demands hope, which is closely allied with faith…and enduring patience…” The ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2370, [Heb 6:11-12]).

“The constant exercise of faith…is as essential to…final salvation as it was to…initial salvation….we can only be delivered…by a steady and persistent walking by faith” AW Pink (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol XI, July, 1932, No. 7, p8-9).

“…each of you…extend…intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them”(Heb 6:11 MSG).

“Hebrews warns against allowing the unbelief of a hardened, sinful heart to cause one to fall away…His counter to this danger is both to encourage personal commitment…and to call on the church to walk together in mutual encouragement…” The ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p2365, [Heb 3:12-13]).

“…in order to have a scripturally grounded assurance of God’s taking pleasure in us, we must continue cleaving closely unto Him” J. Calvin (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol XI, July, 1932, No. 7, p9-10).

“It is only they who persevere in believing that obtain the salvation of the soul.  Nothing but a persevering faith can enable a person…to obtain…the Gospel promises” John Brown (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol XI, August, 1932, No. 8, p5).

“…dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life” (Jude 21 MSG).

“…sufferings you have sustained…will all go for nothing if you endure not unto the end” AW Pink (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol XI, June, 1932, No. 6, p11).

ELECTION

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CHOSEN

“It pleased God in His eternal purpose, to choose…a company of lost sinners to be saved by and through Christ; therefore, He is said to predestinate them to be conformed to the image of His Son….’That we should be to the praise of his glory’ (Eph 1:12)” Thomas Boston (ref#236, p31-32).

“…you are a chosen race…a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9 ESV).

It is my due and privilege to return to Him a display of His excellencies that He has created within me.  Thomas Boston (ref#236, p33).

FATHER, thank You not only for choosing me but also giving me what I need to declare Your excellencies.

“…I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds’…I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more” (Heb 10:16-17 ESV).

Also, LORD, thank You not only for carrying out Your work but perfecting it and giving me the assurance of my salvation.  “…the feeblest signs of grace in the soul are indisputable evidences of the inward and effectual call of the Spirit….He who has begun the good work will carry it on and perfect it in glory” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Dec 18th).

FATHER, since I do not know who You save, and who You will not, You have commissioned me to “preach the Gospel” to everyone, for how can they believe if they have not heard (Rom 10:14).  Thank You for the privilege to declare Your excellencies.   I will declare the good news and You save who You will.

ELECTION

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UNDESERVED MERCY

“…’I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Rom 9:15 ESV).

“With these words, the Lord clearly claims the right to give or withhold His mercy, according to His own sovereign will….the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as seems best in His sight.  By their sins, men have forfeited all their claims on God.  They deserve to perish for their sins, and if they all do so, they have no grounds for complaint” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 25th PM).

“Choosing to sin changed basic human nature and left us unable not to sin—or totally depraved” (ref#228, p146).  “…totally depraved men and women will remain out of fellowship with God for all eternity.  The only way for any of these men and women to have their fellowship with God restored is for God Himself to take the initiative.  And the Bible declares that He has graciously chosen to do so (John 14:16).  For His own glory, God has chosen some of those depraved men and women to live in fellowship with Him” Carol J. Ruvolo (ref#228, p147).

“the people whom I formed for myself…declare my praise” (Isa 43:21 ESV).

“When we understand our own utter ruin, that we are deserving of punishment, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer quibble at the truth that the Lord is not obligated to save us…There is no more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none that promotes more gratitude, and consequently, none more sanctifying” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 25th PM).

“…we are…the conquered captives of His omnipotent love.  Thus chosen, purchased, and subdued, the rights of our divine Possessor are inalienable.  We rejoice that we can never be our own, and we desire, day by day, to do His will and to show forth His glory” Charles Spurgeon (ref#34, Nov 15th AM).

ELECTION

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ELECTION

Two theologies of Salvation: “One speaks of a God who saves; the other speaks of a God who enables man to save himself.  One view presents the three great acts of the Holy Trinity for the recovering of lost mankind—election by the Father, redemption by the Son, calling by the Spirit—as directed towards the same persons, and as securing their salvation infallibly.  The other view gives each act a different reference [the objects of redemption being all mankind, of calling, those who hear the gospel, and of election, those hearers who respond], and denies that any man’s salvation is secured by any of them.  The two theologies thus conceive the plan of salvation in quite different terms.  One makes salvation depend on the work of God, the other on the work of man; one regards faith as part of God’s gift of salvation, the other as man’s own contribution to salvation; one gives all the glory of saving believers to God, the other divides the praise between God, Who, so to speak, built the machinery of salvation, and man, who by believing operated it” J. I. Packer (Introduction to The Death of Death by John Owen, p4).

“We shall never feel persuaded as we ought that our salvation flows from the free mercy of God as its fountain, until we are made acquainted with his eternal election” John Calvin (ref#113, p607).

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom 8:30 ESV).

Romans 8:30 can be summarized:

“I believe, therefore I am justified;

I am justified, therefore I am sanctified;

I am sanctified, therefore I am called;

I am called, therefore I am elected;

I am elected, therefore I shall be saved” Thomas Adams (ref#225, March 29th)

“’…those who are justified will be glorified’ (Rom 8:30), so that all the conditions laid down for glorification will be met by the power of God’s grace….Election… guards against the error of thinking that we can earn our way into God’s favor through ‘works of the law.’” John Piper (ref#220, p151).

“…faith is not a condition of election.  Election is a condition for faith.  It is because God chose us before the foundation of the world that he purchases our redemption at the cross and quickens us with irresistible grace and brings us to faith”  Dan Cummings (sermon, God’s Sovereign Election).

“…whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47 ESV).  “‘…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom 10:13 ESV).

 

ELECTION

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FOREKNOWLEDGE

“Scripture affirms that God, in His sovereignty, singled out certain ones to be recipients of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), therefore, He determined to bestow upon them the gift of faith.  False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation.  However, God’s election is the cause, and our believing in Christ the effect” A.W. Pink (ref#235, p25-26).

“Why He chose the ones He did, we do not know.  We can only say, ‘Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.’” A.W. Pink (ref#235, p28).

FATHER, Your “foreknowledge” does not mean that Your actions are based on what You know I am going to do.  I’m sure You know what I have done and am doing now and what I will do but You do what You do independent of what I do, for You developed Your plans before You formed the earth.  And You choose me for salvation!!

“…God, before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation (2 Th 2:13)” A.W. Pink (ref#235, p28).  Because You foreknew me You predestined me to be conformed to the image of Your Son.   “…God did not predestinate those whom He foreknew were conformed.  On the contrary, those whom He foreknew (i.e., loved and elected) He predestinated ‘to be conformed.’  Their conformity to Christ is not the cause, but the effect of God’s foreknowledge and predestination” A.W. Pink (ref#235, p28).

“…he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…” (Eph 1:4 ESV).

FATHER, You have predestined me to be holy and blameless, now I have to prove by my actions that I am holy and blameless.  Help me in that joyous endeavor as I work out what You have worked in me—that hidden holiness shining bright in my members.

ELECTION

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GOD CALLS A PEOPLE

“’Your sins have made you disgustingly ugly.  But I love you anyway, not because you are attractive, but because it is my nature to love.’  And in the case of the elect, God adds, ‘I have set my affection on you from before the foundation of the universe, not because you are wiser or better or stronger than others but because in grace I chose to love you…’” D.A. Carson (The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, p61).

“…he does not ‘fall in love’ with us; he sets his affection on us. D.A. Carson (The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, p61).

“…it is only when…salvation…is ascribed to gratuitous election, we arrive at the knowledge that God saves whom he wills of his mere good pleasure…” John Calvin (ref#113, p607).

“…to extend the pleasure that God has in his own name, he calls out a people to enjoy and praise and proclaim that name” John Piper (ref#220, p125).  “…The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession…because the LORD loves you…” (Deut 7:6,8 ESV).

“God’s electing love is absolutely free.  It is the gracious overflow of his boundless happiness guided by his infinite wisdom.  Deut 10:14-15 describes the delight God had in choosing Israel from all the peoples of the earth” John Piper (ref#220, p128-129).

“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.  Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose…you above all people…” (Deut 10:14-15 ESV).

“…the way God decided to make a name for his glorious grace in the Old Testament was to choose a people for himself from all the peoples of the earth and to make that people the showcase of his redeeming work….In other words, in order to extend the pleasure that God has in his own name he chooses a people to enjoy and praise and proclaim that name to all the peoples.  And so God has pleasure in election” John Piper (ref#220, p132).