When I become bitter or unforgiving toward others, I’m assuming that the sins of others are more serious than my sins against God.
CJ Mahaney
Living The Cross Centered Life
I am ever humbled when I consider my own rebellion against Holy God. He chose to save me in spite of my sin and now I am forgiven. How arrogant I am if I do not, with a grateful heart, extend forgiveness to others.
Here is a beautiful song written by Josiah Conder that we sang in church today.
My Lord, I Did Not Choose You
My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed me, made me new;
Of old You have ordained me,
That I should live in You.Chorus:
My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my opening mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heavenly glories blind.My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst;
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.Josiah Conder (1789-1855)
“The doctrine of Christ crucified is the grand center of union among true Christians. Our outward differences are many without doubt: one man is an Episcopalian, another is a Presbyterian; one is an Independent, another a Baptist; one is a Calvinist, another an Arminian; one is a Lutheran, another a Plymouth Brother; one is a friend to Establishments, another a friend to the Voluntary system; one is a friend to Liturgies, another a friend to extempore prayer: but after all, what shall we hear about most of these differences in heaven? Nothing, most probably: nothing at all. Does a man really and sincerely glory in the cross of Christ? That is the grand question. If he does, he is my brother: we are traveling in the same road; we are journeying towards a home where Christ is all, and everything outward in religion will be forgotten. But if he does not glory in the cross of Christ, I cannot feel comfort about him. Union on outward points only is union only for time: union about the cross is union for eternity. Error on outward points is only a skin-deep disease: error about the cross is disease at the heart. Union about outward points is a mere man-made union: union about the cross of Christ can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.” – J. C. Ryle
David Platt asks if we really believe what we say about the Gospel.
Bible Conference
March 11-12
Cornerstone Baptist Church
Lawson, MO
Cornerstone Baptist would like to invite you and your church to their 4th Annual Fellowship/Bible Conference
The title of this year’s conference is Man…Born in the Image of Man. They will be taking a look at how God views man in and of man’s own nature. Jim Elliff from Christian Communicators Worldwide, Bob Jennings from Hwy. M Chapel in Sedalia, MO and a contributor to I’ll Be Honest , and Nathan Rages from St. Louis are will be this year’s speakers. Please join with them in fellowship and in studying God’s Word. The conference is, as always,free of charge and child care will be provided.
The schedule is:
March 11th—Friday Evening:
7:00 to 8:00 First Session—Jim Elliff
8:30 to 9:30 Second Session—Nathan Rages
March 12th—Saturday Morning:
9:00 to 10:00 Third Session—Jim Elliff
10:15 to 11:15 Fourth Session—Bob Jennings
11:30 to 12:30 Fifth Session—Q & A
The church address is:
Cornerstone Baptist Church
3rd and N. Ingles
Lawson, MO 64062
If you would like more information please email Pastor Jeff Parks at jparks02 at exop dot net or call (816) 522-5168.
When wars have ceased, international leaders have become dust and the poverty of their souls is revealed; when enterprises crumble and the last dream has evaporated; when death has claimed the final person, and those alive are changed for their eternal future; when everything earthly and mundane is over, and each person resides in heaven or hell—what will be important? And what among all that is important will be the most important?
This is a question worth thinking about, because finding out what is important in the end will, or at least should, tell you what is important now. That which is important for eternity, that is, for billions of years and more, is surely the most important thing to God for this brief wisp of time called human history. And it should be even more important for you, since you live here for only a small fraction of that wisp.
What if, in your hurry and your worry about so many little things, you actually missed the most important thing?
That which is most important for all time, as is well known only to some, is Jesus Christ. I mean, not just Jesus Christ as a being, but Jesus Christ in the light of what he has done—his life, death, and resurrection. It is a huge gamble to dismiss the one who is the center of everything. There is, in fact, no hope for such a person.
You know what it means to forget the most important element of some concoction—like the sugar in sugar cookies, or the coffee in your coffee and cream, or the lens in your glasses, or the warhead on your nuclear weapon. But some of you have forgotten Christ, and his death and resurrection, as if he were not essential to life and eternity. He is, rather, everything related to life and eternity. This is why I say there is no hope for such an omission.
Christ’s perfect life, his sacrificial and substitutionary death, and his victorious authenticating resurrection provide the foundation of all hope. As Dr. J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) stated, “Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative.” God declares that something is done on behalf of those who will come to him—Jesus lived without sin as the perfect lamb, took on their sin and died in their place as the adequate sacrifice, and was raised bodily over the power of sin and death for them.
To think little or not at all about the centerpiece of history, is to guarantee that you will have no place in heaven. It is not enough to merely be religious by going to church on holidays or even every Sunday, or doing a few other well-meaning duties. It is not religion that makes you acceptable to God. You must be “accepted in the Beloved,” that is, in Christ’s merits alone. (Eph. 1: 6) Only trusting in Christ, resting your confidence in the one who lived, died, and was raised again, can assure you of heaven.
To believe otherwise, to add your little bit of religious activity to Christ as if you could impress God, is actually insulting to God. Either Christ is sufficient or he stands in need of you to satisfy God’s wrath and to provide your acceptance before the Father. The declaration of Scripture is that he does not need you; rather, you need him, for without a living relationship with him through faith, you could not possible be received by the Father. Christ cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” meaning, it is paid in full. But “If righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal. 2: 21)
You may say, “Anyone can begin a religion like Christianity.” But you give away the fact that you think of Christianity as only a system of duties. You are wrong. It is about Christ and what he has done that could not be done by any other. If you are merely a moralist, using some Christian terminology at times, don’t think you have become a true Christian. Moralism damns, in and of itself. Christianity is not based on what you do, but on Christ, his death, and his resurrection. If this is too much to swallow now, you will avow it later, but sadly, when it is too late.
It does not have to be this way. You may put your trust in Christ, terminating your confidence in yourself as sufficient to please God. You may enjoy now, before the end of time and throughout the rest of time, an authentic relationship with him. There is a world, an eternal world, of difference between trusting him and dismissing him as will one day be completely understood.
It is Christ who will one day be seen by all, rightly, to be the center of everything, the apex of history, the hope of mankind, the reference point of the universe, the conversation and exaltation of heaven, the eternal joy of millions, and the eternal bane of even more. And it is now that you should trust him.
“The Most Important Thing”
Copyright © 2003 Jim Elliff
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc.
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form
including author’s name, title, complete content, copyright and weblink.
Other uses require written permission.
www.CCWtoday.org
And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. – Luke 9:23
There are many people who want to be saved from hell, but do not want to be saved from self; self-will, self-centeredness, self-righteousness, sin, worldliness. They hate the thought of spending eternity in hell, but hate even worse, as exhibited by their lives, the cost to follow Christ. What does your life say about who you are in Christ Jesus in light of Luke 9:23? I urge you to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). The consequences are eternal.
Jeff Parks
That being manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, Hebrews 9:26(NASB) Christ did through the eternal Spirit offer Himself without blemish to God, Hebrews 9:14(NASB) and through His own blood entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12(NASB)
That He has disarmed the rulers and authorities, and made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through His cross, and has cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against me, which was hostile to me, taking it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:14-15(NASB)
That He Himself is my peace, who, having broken down the barrier of the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, has made in Himself the two into one new man, has reconciled them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:14-16(NASB)
That He has loved me and released me from my sins by His blood, and has made His people to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. Revelation 1:5-6(NASB)
O the height and depth and length and breadth of that love of Christ which surpasses knowledge! Ephesians 3:18-19(NASB) O that great love with which He loved me! Ephesians 2:4(NASB)
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing; Revelation 5:12(NASB) for He was slain, and has purchased me for God with His blood. Revelation 5:9(NASB)
Romans 3:10-11 states that no one seeks for God. Yet there are many churches and ministries that strive to be “seeker sensitive”. We spoke briefly about that misplaced focus in Sunday School today. If man, in all his sin, does not seek God then to what is a church striving to be sensitive? Although I believe concern for the lost is necessary, what results is an attempt to make the church look more like the world so those that are lost will feel more comfortable. The church no longer looks like the body of Christ but a moral version of the world.
While thinking of these things I read this post by John MacArthur, “A Clarion Call to the Modern Church”. He uses the term “user friendly” to describe the trend to be more acceptable to sinners. He states:
Like the modernists a century ago, churches in the user-friendly movement have decided that doctrine is divisive–peace is more important than sound teaching. Wanting to appeal to a modern age, they have framed their message as a friendly, agreeable, and relevant dialogue, rather than as a confrontation with the gospel of Christ.
The only hope is a return to Scripture and sound doctrine. We evangelicals desperately need to recover our determination to be biblical, our refusal to comply with the world, our willingness to defend what we believe, and our courage to defy false teaching. Unless we collectively awaken to the current dangers that threaten our faith, the adversary will attack us from within, and we will not be able to withstand.
Preaching the Gospel and holding to that truth is not trendy and cool. But it is the Gospel message that the Lord promises to work through to accomplish salvation for the lost. Romans 1:16 So let us not forget that our sensitivity is to be to the Word and Will of God.
Russell Moore writes in God, the Gospel and Glenn Beck:
Leaders will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That’s why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don’t like to talk about sin. That’s why other Christian celebrities are seen to be courageous for fighting their culture wars, while they carefully leave out the sins most likely to be endemic to the people paying the bills in their movements.
Where there is no gospel, something else will fill the void: therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do. The prophet Isaiah warned us of such conspiracies replacing the Word of God centuries ago (Is. 8:12–20). As long as the Serpent’s voice is heard, “You shall not surely die,” the powers are comfortable.
This is, of course, not new. Our Lord Jesus faced this test when Satan took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth, and their glory. Satan did not mind surrendering his authority to Jesus. He didn’t mind a universe without pornography or Islam or abortion or nuclear weaponry. Satan did not mind Judeo-Christian values. He wasn’t worried about “revival” or “getting back to God.” What he opposes was the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected for the sins of the world.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 NASB
God’s Word
