Notes
soon to start weekly
Notes
January 10, 2022
Once we allow a void in our lives to grow it can indeed be filled by the one kicked out of heaven and his 7 friends who are worse than him! Allowing a void opens a vacant door to what ever fancy that comes along. Without putting our full trust in God, knowing that ALL things are for the glory of God, then we open the door to unbelief and collapse. Keeping the heart full of HIS word isn't easy, many fail. Only when we can trust and obey fully, in our hearts can the joy of life be with us, even in this lost world of chaos. We are each representatives of God, in our own circles of life. Responsible to the ones around us. It isn't the pastor who carries the torch alone, it is each of us. Join in both prayer and action of spreading heaven on earth with the good news of CHRIST'S gift to all.
January 12th Galatians 1:4 "Who gave Himself for our sins..."
Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins." There is nothing that should be added to His sacrifice. Nothing! He gave Himself. How wonderful and glorious that is!
He gave everything! There was nothing more to give! Why? The verse goes on: "...that He might deliver us from this present evil world..." He took the guilt of your sins and my sins. All of them! He paid our sin debt - completely; and each one of us who truly believe and have received His atonement, are born-again! The next verse says it is "according to the will of God." It is God's will that we be saved and delivered from this world! And He saves and delivers us by His grace - not according to the Law or anything else! Nothing more needed! One of the oldest heresies known is to add something to the Gospel of Grace: to "do" something rather than simply "believe" something: faith plus something rather than faith plus nothing. Paul said to the Philippian jailer, "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31). Christ told the apostles to preach the gospel of salvation by grace. They were not to "do" anything to gain their salvation; only to "trust" what Christ already had done for them. The Gospel shuts out all works of mankind! But man responds to legalism. All mankind thinks is that he needs a helper - not a Savior! Some preachers invite folks to commit their lives to Christ. Christ doesn't want your old life! You don't have anything to commit to Him! He wants to save you! He's not even asking you to "live a Christian life." You can't! He wants to live the Christian life through you! Today's churches are filled with people who aren't saved. Do you know why? They've never come to Christ and received Him as Savior! He's the One who died and is on the "giving" end! You can't add to the salvation that He's bought and paid for - and if you think you must, you are perverting the Gospel of Christ with "another" gospel - and rather than being "saved" - you'll be accursed! (Gal.1:18).
Pastor Tom
January 5th John 16:33 "...In the world you shall have tribulation."
You'd better believe it! When you look upward to your heavenly Father, and behold His holiness and purity, don't you realize that if you are truly born-again you will one day be "like Him?" That you will be "conformed to His image?" That's going to take a whole lot of "refining" in the furnace of affliction to get to that purification! It won't be an easy thing to get rid of all our corruptions, and make us perfect "even as our Father which is in heaven" is perfect! We Christians need to look downward and become aware of what enemies we have beneath our feet. Remember, we too were once servants of satan, and no king willingly loses his subjects! Do you think the devil is going to leave you alone? No way! He will continue to be in your face, for "he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Expect trouble Christian, while you're in this world. Look around you! Where are you? You're in an enemy's country, a stranger and a sojourner. This world is not your friend. If it is, then you aren't God's friend, for he who is the friend of the world is an enemy of God! Be assured that you will find your enemies everywhere! When you sleep, you're resting on a battlefield; when you walk, suspect an ambush in every hedge. As mosquitoes are said to bite strangers more than natives, so will the trials of earth be sharpest to you. Lastly, look within yourself, Christian, into your own heart and observe what's there. Sin and self are still there! Ah! If you don't have devilish temptations, no enemies who fight you, and no world to ensnare you, you'll still find in yourself lots of trouble, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Expect trouble then, but despond not on account of it, for God is with you to help and to strengthen you! He has said, "I will be with thee in trouble; I will deliver thee and honor thee."
CHS Pastor Tom
December 29
Matthew 10:34 "I came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword."
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It should be one of our objects to make none; but if to do the right and to believe that the Bible is true, it should be cause enough for us to lose every earthly friend, and count it as a small loss in order to put our great Friend Jesus first - though it might cost us the so-called comforts of this life. O you, who have taken up His cross, don't you remember what our Master said? "I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. Where the light comes, the darkness must retire. Where the Truth is, the lie must flee, for the Truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot. If you truly follow Christ you'll have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you live your life by standing the test of Christianity, you may depend upon it that the world will not speak well of you! If you have friendship with the world, you are an enemy of God; but if you are true and faithful to the Most High, the world will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it's a testimony against their in-
iquities. Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right! You will need faithful courage to unhesitatingly pursue a course which will turn your best friend into your fiercest enemy; but for the love of Jesus Christ you must be courageous! You will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; but don't be a coward! Follow in good Christian witness your Master's steps, for He has traversed this rough way before you. Better a brief warfare now on this side, than losing present opportunities to honor Christ and great rewards that will be eternal in our heavenly home that Christ has prepared for us!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
December 22 Mathew 1:21 "He shall save His people from their sins."
Many persons, if they are asked what they understand about salvation, will reply, "Being saved from hell and taken to heaven." This is one result of salvation, but there is very much more that pertains to this great gift of God! It's true that the Lord Jesus Christ does redeem all of His people from the wrath to come; He saves us from the fearful condemnation which our sins had brought upon us - but His triumph is far more complete than this. He saves us who believe on HIm "from our sins." Oh! Sweet deliverance from our worst foes! Where Christ works a saving work, He casts satan from his throne, and will not let him be our master any longer! Sin cannot reign in our mortal body! It will still be in us because it will never be utterly expelled until our spirit enters into glory; but it will no longer have dominion over us! There will be a striving for that dominion - a lusting against the new law and the new spirit which God has implanted - but sin will never again get the upper hand so as to be the absolute monarch of our new nature! Christ will be the Master of our heart, and sin must be mortified! The Lion of the Tribe of Judah shall prevail, and the dragon shall be cast out. If there is no change in the heart of a professed believer that person is unsaved. If the Savior has not sanctified, renewed, and given us a hatred of sin and a love for holiness, He has done nothing in us as a saving character. The grace that doesn't make us better than others is a worthless counterfeit! Christ saves His people, not in their sins, but from them! "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity!" If not saved from sin, how shall we hope to be counted among His people?
Lord, save me now from all evil, and enable me to honor my Savior!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
December 8
Revelation 2:4 "...thou didst leave thy first love."
Do you remember that best and brightest of hours, when you received the Lord, lost your burden, received His promises, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on your way in peace? It was springtime in the soul! The winter was past; you were reconciled to God; the Law threatened no vengeance, and justice no more demanded punishment!
Hope, love, peace, and patience appeared in your heart! The time of singing birds had come and you rejoiced with thanksgiving! You magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and your resolve was, "Lord, I am Yours, wholly Yours; all that I am, and all I have, I will devote to You. You have bought me with Your blood -- let me spend myself and be spent in Your service! In life and death let me be consecrated to You!" Have you kept this resolve? Is your love to Jesus still as devoted as it was at first? Might Jesus say to you, "I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first Love"? What have you done lately for our Master's glory? Is your love to Him as cold as ice when you ought to feel a summer's glow as your love for Him blooms as sacred flowers? Some Christians give God a penny when He deserves all of our heart's blood to be coined in the service of His Church and of His truth! Will your love for Him continue to dwindle?
Oh, Lord! After You have so richly blessed us, shall we become ungrateful and indifferent to Your good cause and work? Oh! Quicken us that we may return to our first Love and do our first works! Send us a genial spring "O Sun of Righteousness!"
CHS/tms
Pastor Tom
November 31
James 2:26 "...faith without works is dead..."
Faith in salvation (bought and paid for by Jesus Christ) is the "root." When a person has become truly "born-again" he or she has "died" to themselves and are completely surrendered to Christ. That is salvation! It is the "root" and the "root" produces the particular kind of fruit that the "root" itself is. When we come to Christ for salvation we begin to be conformed to be like Him. As the seed of an apple tree will someday become a tree that produces apples, so shall we become "like unto Christ!" We don't have to work at it, or strive to be like Him - we SHALL be like Him because He has ordained it to be so! When we became one of His, He put into us new desires; we want to honor Him by our "fruits". It is natural that Christians produce good works, or "fruits" for Him because we are of the same "root'. It would be un-natural for a Christian to not want to be fruitful for our Lord's sake! As a matter of fact, the proof that we are truly saved is that there will be "works". "For as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Living (real saving) faith produces works! The faith that brought you salvation will bring fruitful works for Jesus Christ's glory or it's a false faith. When you accept salvation, you accept it without any payment or partial payment on your behalf. It's a gift from God - one of the characteristics of salvation is your new desire to honor the Lord through good works. If you don't have that desire, you need to have a serious talk with God - ASAP!
"I am the Vine, ye are the branches: he that
abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit . . ."
John 15:5
Pastor Tom
November 24
1 Timothy 6:17 "...(God) giveth us richly all things to enjoy."
Our Lord Jesus is always giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw His hand. As long as there's a vessel of grace not yet filled to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun that always shines. He is manna that's always falling around the camp. He's a rock in the desert, always sending out streams of life from His smitten side. The rain of His grace is always dropping; the river of His bounty is always flowing, and the well-spring of His love is constantly overflowing! As the King can never die, so His grace can never fail. Daily we pluck His fruit, and daily His branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. There are seven feast-days in His weeks, and as many as are the days, so are many are the banquets in HIs years. Who has ever returned from His store unblessed? Who has ever risen from His table unsatisfied? His mercies
are renewed every morning and fresh every evening! Who can know the number of His benefits, or recount the list of His bounties? Every sand which drops from the glass of time is but the tiny follower of a myriad of mercies. The wings of our hours are covered with the silver of His kindness and with the yellow gold of His affection. The river of time bears from the mountain of eternity the golden sands of His favor. The countless stars are but as the standard bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings.
Who can count the dust of His benefits which He bestows on Jacob, or tell the number of the fourth part of His mercies towards Israel? How shall my soul extol Him who daily loads us with benefits and who crowns us with loving kindness? Oh, that my praise could be as ceaseless as His bounty! Oh my miserable tongue, how can you be silent? Wake up! Wake up! Before I call you no more my glory, but my shame! "Awake, psaltry and harp! I, myself will awake
right early!"
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
November 17
Micah 2:13 "The breaker is come up before them..."
Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had He never passed this way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up Christian! Not only has Christ traveled the road, but He has already slain your enemies. Do you dread sin? He has nailed it to the cross. Do you fear death? He has conquered it! Are you afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of His Children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition! Whatever enemies may be before the Christian, they are all overcome! There may be lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Jesus Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us! Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all of your enemies are conquered beforehand! What shall you do but march on to take the prey? They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil! You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe! His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count!
Proclaim aloud the Savior's fame,
Who bears the Breaker's wondrous name;
Sweet name; and it becomes Him well,
Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell.
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
November 10
John 15:19 "I chose you . . ."
Here is distinguishing grace and discriminating regard; some people are made the special objects of divine affection! Don't be afraid to dwell upon this high doctrine of election. When you are most heavy and depressed, you'll find it to be a bottle of the richest cordial! Those who doubt the doctrines of Grace miss a most precious part of God's love for His people. There's no balm of Gilead comparable to it! It's a honey that will enlighten your heart to love and a great mystery of the Kingdom of God. It's a meat from the King's table and will hurt none of HIs courtiers. You should desire to have your heart enlarged, that you may comprehend more and more the eternal, everlasting, discriminating love of God. When you have mounted as high as the munitions of stupendous rock behind which we lie entrenched; covenant engagements are engagements with the surety, Christ Jesus, which are the quiet resting places of trembling spirits.
"His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the raging flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
This still is all my strength and stay!"
If Jesus undertook to bring me to glory, and if the Father promised that He would give me to the Son to be a part of the infinite reward of the travail of His soul; then, my soul, till God Himself shall be unfaithful, until Jesus shall cease to be the truth, I am safe! When David danced before the Arc, he told Michael that election made him do so!
Come, my soul, exult before the God of grace and leap for joy of heart!
Pastor Tom
November 3
JOHN 17:24 "...Father, I will that they also, whom Thou
hast given Me, be with Me where I am."
O death! Why do you touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches the weary have rest? Why do you snatch away the excellent of the earth in whom is all our delight? If you must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; then you might be thanked! But why will you fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O death -
hold your axe, and spare the righteous! But no, it must not be! Death smites the best of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It's because of Jesus' prevailing prayer - "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." It is that which bears them on eagle's wings to heaven! Every time a believer leaves this earth and goes to paradise,
it's an answer to Christ's prayer. Christ says, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." A soul can't be both on the earth and in heaven: the beloved one can't be with Christ and
his friends who have not yet left this world. If you had your choice Christian, where would you rather be? In agony here - or the glories of your heavenly mansion?
If you are praying that your friend stay here longer, wouldn't the wisest prayer from you to Christ be: "Jesus, not my will, but Thine be done." You'd surely give up your prayer for your Christian friend's life, if you could realize the thought that Christ is praying in the opposite direction -- "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am."
Lord, Thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
October 28 Colossians 1:28 "...perfect in Christ."
Do you think that you're a long way from being perfect? Isn't that the lesson you receive every day? Every tear that you shed weeps "imperfection!" Every harsh word which proceeds from your lips, mutters "imperfection". More often than not you only dream for a moment that there might be some perfection in yourself. But amidst the sad conscious-
ness of your imperfection, there is comfort for you -- you are "perfect in Christ Jesus!" In God's sight, a Christian is "complete in Him;" even now you are "accepted in the Beloved.!" But there is a second perfection yet to be realized - which is a sure thing for all true Christians. Isn't it a wonderful thing to be able to look forward to the time when every stain of sin will be removed from the believer, and we will all be presented faultless before the throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? The Church of Jesus Christ will then be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a spot or blemish in Her; so holy and so glorious, that with our Savior's garments on us, we will know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this vast but short sentence, "Complete in Christ." Not until then will we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus Christ. Doesn't your heart "leap for joy" at the thought of it? As filthy as your mortal flesh is now, you shall be clean! Oh, what a marvellous salvation ours is! Christ takes a worm and transforms it into a glorious being; Christ takes a black and deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in His glory, peerless in His beauty, and fit to be the companion of angels! O my soul! Stand and admire this blessed truth of perfection in Christ Jesus!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
October 19 Corinthians 10:12 "Let him that thinks he stands take
heed lest he fall."
It's a curious fact, that there's such a thing as being proud of grace. A person says, "I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith might, but I never will!" "I have such a great love," says another, "that I will always stand, there's no danger of my going astray!" He or she who boasts of grace has little grace to boast of! Some who do this imagine that their graces can keep them no matter what may happen - they seem to forget that unless a constant fellowship with Christ is allowed to permeat in their lives their faith will become weak. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly today, it will only smoke tomorrow, and noxious will be its scent. Take heed that you don't glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for then only can you be kept from falling. Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration.
Read the Bible more earnestly and often. Watch your life more carefully. Live nearer to God. Take the best examples for your pattern. Let your conversation be redolent of heaven. Let your heart be perfumed with an affection for lost souls. Live so that all people will see that you have been with Jesus! If you, Christian, will put Christ first in all that you say and do, and live for Him, then one day soon you will hear Him say, "Thou hast fought a good fight, thou hast finished thy course, and henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away!" Christian, let your constant petition be to God, "Uphold me according to Your Word." He is able, and He alone, "To keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!"
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
October 13 Psalm 91:3 "Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of
the fowler."
God delivers His people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From, and out of. First, He delivers them from the snare - does not let them enter it: and secondly, if they should be caught therein, He delivers them out of it.
The first promise is the most precious to some: the second is the best to others. "He shall deliver thee from the snare." How? Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and He in mercy sends the rod. We say, "Lord, why is this?" not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. Many have been saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses: like frightened birds from the net. At other times, God keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" But what a blessed thing it is that if the believer shall, in an evil hour, come into the net, and then God brings him out of it! If you backslide, you ought to be cast down - but don't despair!
Remember what your Redeemer says to you - "Return, O
backsliding children: I will have mercy upon you!" - but you might say that you can't return because it seems impossible! If that's the case, then remember another promise: "Surely He shall deliver thee out of the snare of the fowler." You can be brought out of all the evil into which you have fallen, and though you'll never cease to repent of your wicked ways, yet He that loves you will NOT CAST YOU AWAY! He will receive you, and give you joy and gladness, that the bones which He has allowed to be broken in you may again rejoice. No bird of paradise will ever die in the fowler's net!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
October 6 Mathew 5:43 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor . . . "
"Love thy neighbor." Maybe he is rich in things, and you are poor, and living in a little shack a little away from his mansion; you see every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these gifts - Don't covet his wealth, or think hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with your own lot, but don't look upon your neighbor, and wish that he were poor like you. Love him, and then you won't envy him! It could be, if you were rich, someone poor may reside near you. Don't scorn him - Christ wants you to love him! The world may call the poor "inferior." In what way is he inferior? We are all equal, for "God has made of one blood all people that dwell upon the face of the earth." Your coat may be better than his, but you are by no means better than he. He is made in God's image just like you are! Take heed that you love your neighbor even though he may be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty. But, maybe, you say, "I can't love my neighbor because of his ingratitude and contempt." That's even more reason for the heroism of love! Are you a cowardly Christian, instead of bearing the rough fight of love? Remember, "He who dares the most, shall win the most" and if the path of love is rough, tread it boldly, still loving your neighbor through thick and thin! Heap coals of fire on his head, and if he's hard to please, don't try to please him, but please your Master; and remember if your neighbor spurns your love, your Master, Jesus Christ has not spurned it, and your deed is as acceptable to Him as if it had been acceptable to your neighbor. "Love thy neighbor" for in so doing you are following the footsteps of Christ!
September 29
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes . . ."
One of the most important things that we Christians can ever do is to tell the world about that true salvation which God has offered us - and by His Grace we have gladly accepted! Do you remember that time when you genuinely came to Christ? Surely, that was a day that you'll never forget! Very likely you were so excited that you told many of your friends and relatives about the wonderful experience you had when the Spirit of God filled you with that "peace that passeth under-
standing" and the "joy that is unspeakable" at the moment you became born-again! That's good! and just what God wants you to do! How long has it been since you've shared your conversion experience - lately? Are you still excited about it? Do you want your family and friends to know that Christ wants them to come to Him and be saved also? Remember how relieved you were when you were saved and could look forward to your heavenly home - instead of an eternity of horror at death - and beyond? Everybody needs the Lord - just as much as you! Surely you want your mother and father, sister and brother, friend or stranger, and even your worst enemy to find Christ and become saved! 2nd Peter 3:9 says that the Lord, "...is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." That's why He put it in YOUR heart to tell about YOUR conversion, and why He gave YOU a burden to share the Gospel. Surely, you don't want anyone to die without Christ! So, you ought to tell them while they still have opportunity to trust Him - before they run out of time!
Pastor Tom
September 22
Thessalonians 4:`14 Them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him.
Don't imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility.
"Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise," is the whisper to every dying saint. They, "sleep in Jesus," but their souls are before the Throne of God, praising Him day and night in HIs temple, singing hallelujahs to HIm who washed them from their sins in His blood. The body sleeps in it's lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass. But, what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is "rest," and that's the thought that the Spirit of God conveys to us. Sleep makes each night a Sabbath for the day. Sleeps shuts the door of the soul, and bids all intruders tarry for awhile, that the life within may enter its
summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer's body quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast. Oh! Happy are those who die in the Lord! They rest from their labors! and their works follow them! In the fullness of time, the sleeping bodies of the saved will be re-united with their souls who went to be with Jesus in heaven at death - and thus united they shall meet those other saints who were living when the trump was sounded and Christ called them in the Rapture! At that time all of Christ's people will be in our "glorified" eternal bodies! Those bodies of the saved went to their rest with furrowed brow, and wasted features, but wake up in beauty and glory! The shrivelled seed, so destitute of form and comeliness, rises from the dust a beautieous flower! The winter of the grave, gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory! Blessed be death, since it, through the divine power, disrobes us of this work-day garment, to clothe us with the wedding garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who "sleep in Jesus!"
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
September 15
Revelation 16:15 "Blessed is he that watcheth."
"We die daily," said the apostle. This was the life of the early Christians; they went everywhere with their lives in their hands. Today, we're not yet called to pass through the same fearful persecutions: if we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test; but the test of Christian life, at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible, is yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age. We have to bear the sneer of the world -- that is little; its blandishments, its soft words, its oily speeches, its fawning, its hypocrisy, are far worse. Our danger is lest we grow rich and become proud, lest we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world, and lose our faith. Or if wealth would not be our trial, worldly care is just as bad. If we can't be torn in pieces by a roaring lion, or hugged to death by a bear, the devil doesn't care which, just as long as he destroys our love to Christ, and our confidence in Him.
I fear that the Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those rougher times. We must be awake NOW, for we traverse the enchanted ground, and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing, unless our faith in Jesus Christ be a reality, and our love to Jesus a vehement flame. Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove to be tares, and not wheat; hypocrites with fair masks on their faces, but not the true-born children of the living God! Christian, don't think that there are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or with holy armour: you need these things more than ever, and may God the eternal Spirit display His omnipotence in you, that you may be able to say, in all these softer things, as well as in the rougher, "We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!"
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
First Thessalonians 4:17 "...and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
Even the sweetest visits from Christ ,- how short they are - and how transitory! One moment our eyes see Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but then in a little while we don't see Him, for our Beloved draws Himself from us; like a young deer He leaps over the mountains of division; He is gone to the land of spices, and feeds no more among the lilies. But Oh! How sweet the prospect of the time when we shall not behold Him at a distance, but see Him face to face: when He shall not be as a wayfaring man tarrying but for a night, but shall eternally enfold us in the bosom of His glory! Then we shall not just see Him for a little while, but "Millions of years our wandering eyes shall o'er our Savior's beauties rove; And
myriad ages we'll adore, The wonders of His love." In heaven there won't be any interruptions from care or sin;
no weeping shall dim our eyes; no earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts; we shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with unwearied eyes! Oh, if it be so sweet to see Him now and then, how wonderful it will be to gaze upon His blessed face forever, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never having to turn our eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe! Blessed Day, when wilt thou dawn?
Rise, Oh un-setting sun! The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is to make uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of sweet victory!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
Revelation 3:3 "...and they shall walk with me in white: for
they are worthy."
We may understand this statement to refer to justification. "They shall walk with Me in white": that is, they shall enjoy a constant sense of their own justification by faith: they shall understand that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, that they have all been washed and made whiter than the newly-fallen snow. Again, it refers to joy and gladness: for white robes were holiday dresses among the Jews. They who have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright: they shall understand what Solomon meant when he said "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. Let thy garments be white, for God has accepted thy works." He who is accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness, while he walks in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Why so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It's because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and that's why they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus - they do not here below walk in white. The promise also refers to walking in white before the throne of God. Those who have not defiled their garments here shall most certainly walk in white up yonder, where the white-robed hosts sing perpetual halleluiahs to the Most High! They shall possess joys inconceivable, happiness beyond dreams, bliss unimaginable here, blessedness which even the stretch of desire has not reached! The "undefiled in the way" shall have all of this - not because their merit, or works, but because of God's grace. They shall walk with Christ in white, for He has made them "worthy." In His company they shall drink of the living fountain of waters!
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, it's practical effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful servants, we certainly are unprofitable ones, but yet, blessed be His name, we are His servants, feeding at His table, and obeying His commands. We were once the servants of sin, but He who made us free has now taken us into His family and taught us obedience to His will. We don't serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we hear God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art My servant," we can answer with David, "I am Thy servant; Thou hast loosed my bonds." But the Lord not only calls us His servants, but His chosen ones - "I have chosen thee." We haven't chosen Him first, but He has chosen us! If we are God's servants now, we weren't always so; to sovereign grace the change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."
Long before time began or space was created God had written upon His heart the names of His elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of His Son, and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of His love, His grace, and His glory! What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will He yet cast us away? He knew how stiff-necked we'd be, He understood that our hearts were evil, and yet He made the choice. Our Savior is no fickle lover. He doesn't just feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty from His church's eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. No, He married her in old eternity; and it's written of Jehovah, "He hateth putting away." The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon His faithfulness which neither can disown.
CHS/tms Pastor Tom
Mankind is “without excuse” Everyone has within themselves an idea of God and the differences of “good and evil.' All people are acquainted with at least “some” truths concerning their moral duties; but man's sin nature squelches out much divine knowledge. People indulge in vain conjectures and reasonings in support of the lusts of their heart! According to the Word, God has been greatly dishonored by man's vile conjectures and reasonings in support of the lusts of their heart! According to the Word, God has been greatly dishonored by man's vile affections and abominable practices – much the more when so-called “Christian” teachers challenge certain parts of the Word of God. There are those that contend that the Bible is “out - dated” and some sins of the past are not necessarily sinful today! However, Psalm 119:89 states, “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven”.
There are those in the Church that have caved to the cravings of “vile affections” of the world and endorsed the wicked idea the some deviate lifestyles are just as venerated as the God-endorsed matchup of a man and a woman. Yes, God loves people – but not sin – and “vile affections” are especially disapproved of by God: He calls them abominable” - among the worst!
Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-sexual. Those are NOT God-approved “alternate lifestyles” It's Biblically evident that, although God DOES love people, He certainly does NOT approve of their “vile affections and abominable practices!”
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall NOT inherit the Kingdom of God?” Pastor Tom
Psalm 30:5 "... joy cometh in the morning!" We at 4 Mile Church are here by divine appointment! God is calling each one of us to serve Him an is I Corinthians 1:10 "... that we will speak the same thing (Christ) and that there be no divisions among us; but that we be perfectly joined together in the same mind..." It will include a lot of work and trials! But think about eternity! Cheer up and anticipate Christ's coming! The Husbandman WILL reap His harvest! Be patient; for He says " Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be" A little while longer, at most, and we'll be on Heaven's shore! Our heads may be crowned with thorns now, but someday soon they'll be replaced by jewels! Our garments may be soiled with dust now; but they'll be white by and by. Just a little longer. Ahhh! how despicable our troubles and trials will seem when we look back on them! They may seem difficult now, but when we get to heaven we'll, "with transporting joys recount , the labors of our feet." Our trials now will then seem like light and momentary afflictions! Let's go on boldly; even though the might seems dark, "the morning cometh" which is more than they can say who are shut up in the darkness of hell. Believer, you who have een "born-again" isn't it wonderful to have such a comforting hope? Christ has prepared a place for you in Heaven! It may be all dark now but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now, but will soon be all happiness... Hang in there, Christian!
"Weeping may endure for a night, "but "JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING!"
2 Timothy 1:9 "Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling..."
The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, "Who has saved us." Believers in Christ Jesus ARE saved! We're not looked upon as persons in just a "hopeful" state, and may ultimately be saved, but we are ALREADY saved! Salvation isn't just a blessing to be enjoyed on the dying bed, and to be sung in a future state avoure, but the believer's salvation has already been obtained, received, promised and enjoyed NOW! The Christian is perfectly saved in God's purpose; God has ordained him into salvation, and that purpose is complete! A Christian is saved also as to the price which has been paid for him or her. "It is finished" was the cry of the Savior as He died. The believer is also perfectly saved in His covenant head, so as mankind fell in Adam, so he lives when in Christ! This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Savior saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavor to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally before they delighted in sin. God neither chose them or called them because they were holy, but He called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by His workmanship in them! The excellencies which we see in the believer are as muc
