Tune and Prepare!

The Holy Spirit and the words of the Lord Jesus The Holy Spirit is closely identified with the words of the Lord Jesus. “It is the Spirit who gives life; (quickens); the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63 The Gospel proclamation can not be divorced from the Holy Spirit. Unless He attend the word in power, vain will be the attempt in preaching it. Human eloquence or persua­siveness of speech are the mere trappings of the dead, if the living Spirit be absent; the prophet may preach to the bones in the valley, (Ezekiel 37:1-6) but it must be the Breath from Heaven which will cause the slain to live. In the third chapter of the First Epistle of Peter, it reads, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive (quickened) in/by the spirit.” 1Peter 3:18 Here we see that Christ was raised up from the grave by ...

Secret of Efficiency I can not help but believe there are many Christians who want to be more efficient in the Lord’s service, and the object of this book is to take up this subject of the Holy Spirit, that they may see from whom to expect this power. In the teaching of Christ, we find the last words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the 28th chapter and 19th verse, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 Here we find that the Holy Spirit and the Son are equal with the Father—are one with Him, “teaching them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Christ was now handing His commission over to His Apostles. He was going to leave them. His work on earth was finished, and He was now just about ready to take His seat at the right hand of God, and He spoke unto them and said: “All authority/power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” Mat...

"I believe that at this present moment, God's people ought to cry to him day and night that there may be a fresh baptism into the Holy Ghost. There are many things that are desirable for the Church of Christ, but one thing is absolutely needful, and this is the one thing, the power of the Holy Ghost in the midst of his people. " Charles Spurgeon

"Oh it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good things incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked it has already done this, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works however is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are, yet he talks and talks with many words about faith and good works." Martin Luther

The Christian stops making spiritual progress as soon as he stops repenting — Maurice Roberts

Abraham sacrificed virtually everything in Isaac that was important to him. It was then that he came very close to the Eternal God who sacrificed His only son, only heir for us. When we offer our treasures for God and make sacrifices for others that require total devotion, we move out of the confines of our religion and come close to the redeeming God. unknown

This is what I learnt: The main difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is not just that in this actual age we can communicate directly with God. It is also crucial to learn the essentials in person, by doing, in practice, rather than having to complete a List of Things to Do. A man under the Law is a man of tasks. When he has come to know Christ, his actions are motivated by love and they are inner driven. If not, it is out of fear or compulsion to perform sg, driven by self-righteous motives. The Christian, New man acts from an accepted & adopted position, in the beginning as a child, but later, often "independently", out of a desire: inspired by the Saviour as the godly character is being developed in him. The man without God needs a mediatorial layer to access heavenly things. The Christian man is himself an intermediary because Christ the Lord is the Mediator between God and man. When this relationship is built and flourishes, the...

Whenever you pray , you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you pray , go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray , don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. Mt 6:5-8 ( The model prayer: Our Father ) Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done     on earth as it is in heaven... Mt 6:9-10 Whenever you fast , don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! But when you fast ...

"Why You May Want To Tear Down That Monument" by Jonathan David Lewis Forbes Agency Council By 1933, the precursor to the United Nations, the League of Nations, was considered largely defunct. In 1937, it moved into a lavish new headquarters called the Palace of Nations. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) has struggled with an identity crisis. In 2018, it moved operations into a massive new headquarters in Belgium. In 2016, Lego celebrated its largest sales year in its history by announcing a new, state-of-the-art headquarters. The next year, sales dropped 8% and Lego announced 1,400 layoffs. What is going on? Why do organizations often build incredible structures as they decline? This strange phenomenon was actually first noted by British naval historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson . He called the phenomenon “Parkinson’s Law of Buildings” . Parkinson’s Law states that “…a perfection of planned ...

God is Love – 1/3 ..how the two loves are linked A study on divine love and the intertwined Christian character Kindness and faithful love (hesed) pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of YHWH for all time to come. Psalm 23:6 For this is how God loved (agape) the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16 What is Hesed? The word that is translated to “faithful love” is the Hebrew word “ Hesed (or ' checed' ).” This word is translated in other places as “kindness,” “faithfulness,” “mercy,” “goodness,” “loyalty,” and “steadfast love.” God's love for His covenant people in the Old Testament is expressed by the Hesed . This love expressed in the Hebrew texts as hesed we'emet for example in Gen 24:49; 32:11; 47:29; Ex 34:6; Jos 2:14; 2 Sam 2:6; 15:20. However hesed has a narrower definition than the English word " love ". In th...

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He Himself is the atoning sacrifice {propitiation} for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. 1Jn 2:1-2 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1Jn 1:9 The Faithful Who Stands in the Gap When we drop our guard and we sin (which the Apostle John knows will happen & we should confess), praise God that our saviour Jesus faithfully stands in the gap,* defends us, and is the one who forever states our innocent plea before God the Father. Indeed, from His fullness we have all received grace after grace (grace *upon grace: in place of grace already given) for the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:16-17 Through Moses came the Law. The ...

From the book: "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan I saw then in my dream, that he went on thus, even until he came at a bottom, where he saw, a little out of the way, three men fast asleep, with fetters upon their heels. Te name of the one was Simple, another Sloth, and the third Presumption. Christian then seeing them lie in this case, went to them, if peradventure he might awake them, and cried, "You are like them that sleep on the top of a mast, for the Dead Sea is under you — a gulf that hath no bottom." Prov 23:34 "Awake, therefore, and come away; be willing also, and I will help you of with your irons. He also told them, If he that “ goeth about like a roaring lion ” comes by, you will certainly become a prey to his." 1Pt 5:8 With that they looked upon him, and began to reply in this sort: Simple said, “I see no danger”; Sloth said, “ Yet a little more sleep ”; and Presumption said, “Every fat must stand upon its own botto...

From the book: "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan And as he (Christian) was troubled thereabout, he espied two men come tumbling over the wall, on the left hand of the narrow way; and they made up apace to him. Te name of the one was Formalist, and the name of the other Hypocrisy. So, as I said, they drew up unto him, who thus entered with them into discourse. CHRISTIAN. Gentlemen, whence came you, and whither go you? FORMALIST and HYPOCRISY. We were born in the land of Vain-glory, and are going for praise to Mount Sion. CHRISTIAN. Why came you not in at the gate, which standeth at the beginning of the way? Know you not that it is written, that he that cometh not in by the door, “but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber?”. Jn 10:1 FORMALIST and HYPOCRISY. They said, that to go to the gate for entrance was, by all their countrymen, counted too far about; and that, therefore, their usual way was to make a short cut of it, and t...

Joseph Marie Vien: Sára bemutatja Hágárt Ábrahámnak A Galata levél 4 alapján áttekintést + tanítást olvashatsz itt a hívők régi és új állapotáról. Az apostoli tanítás szerint a régi, gyermeki állapot Izraelt jellemzi, az új állapot pedig a Krisztusban ajándékba kapott örökbefogadásra utal. Ezen felül, a két nő, a két anya (Ábrahám ágyasának valamint a feleségének) szimbolikus képe részletes képet ad a zsidó és a keresztény hívők közötti összetett szellemi- családi kapcsolatról. Az un. "Egyszerű fordítást" fogjuk használni. Előszó Amikor Pál apostol Ábrahám életéről és a Törvényről beszél, két állapotot kell meglássunk. Egyik az Isten önkéntes irgalma és kegyelme alapján álló áldás, másik egy rendszer , amelyet Isten népének szabadítására és a zsidó nemzet felépítésére készített el. Láthatjuk, hogy az ígéret, Ábrahám áldása 430 évvel a Törvény adása előtt történt. Azt is látni fogjuk, hogy a Törvény nem Ábrahám áldásának következménye , mert...

since we have a right to speak (we have confidence to enter) the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way... since we have a Great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean,.. our bodies washed with pure water. Heb 10:19-22

Jonathan Edwards: “We ought not to limit God where He has not limited himself!” "Expanding our Expectations of what God might do through His Church" Article by Lex Loizides There’s a somewhat tired caricature of the Reformed believer as an overly religious and narrow-minded fundamentalist. Such a person supposedly takes solace in the Sovereignty of God in light of the failure of the message he proclaims. After all, it is supposed, not many are being converted because it’s ‘not the will of God’…so goes the caricature. But actually, as we have seen already from the writing of Jonathan Edwards*, an affectionate love for the doctrines of grace not only expands our view of the majesty of God (in His transcendence), but also includes real, passionate, personal experiences of God (in His immanence, His closeness). And a Biblical view of the nature of God both as the One who graciously forgives us and as the mighty Head of the Church, will enable us...

brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, dwell in these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Phil 4:8

Joseph Marie Vien: Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham Based on the Galatians 4 you can read here an overview +teaching about the old and new status of the believers. According to the apostolic teaching the old, child like status describes Israel and the new status refers to the adoption we have got in Christ. Meanwhile, the symbolic image of the two women, the two mothers (Abraham's concubine and his wife), gives a detailed picture of the complex spiritual family relationship between the Jewish and the Christian believer. We will use the ESV Bible. Pre When the apostle Paul speaks of the life of Abraham and about the Law, we need to see two states. One is a blessing: based on the voluntary mercy and grace of God, the other is a system: which God has prepared for the deliverance of His people and the building up of the Jewish nation. We can see that the promise, Abraham's blessing came 430 years before the giving of the Law. Moreover we will see that...

We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; Is 53:6 ..a woman named Martha welcomed Him (Jesus) into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Is 1:18 the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant*, full of mercy and good fruits. Jms 3:17 *"easy to be intreated", "open to reason" the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; Act 17:10-12