Sermon Sunday – J.C. Ryle – Faith and Assurance
October 23, 2011 at 6:30 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a commentTags: abortion, America, assurance, ateasetees, baby, Bible, blessed, Christian, church, compromise, contrite, council, death, doubt, drink, evangelism, faith, fear, Gallio, God, grace, heart, hell, holy, hope, horses, Jesus, job, joy, Judas, judgment, justified, land, life, love, malice, meat, mercy, minister, money, murder, pardon, pastor, Paul, peace, Peter, prayer, religion, repent, salvation, Satan, saved, scripture, sin, sink, soul, Stephen, ten commandments, truth
FAITH AND ASSURANCE
by
J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)
If you are a thoughtless, careless man about your soul, you will take no interest in the subject of this sermon. Faith and assurance are mere names and words to you: they are neither land, nor money, nor horses, nor dress, nor meat, nor drink: like Gallio, you care not for them. Alas, poor soul! I mourn over you. The day will come when you will think differently.
Reader, if you really desire to go to heaven, and to go there in the Bible way, you will find the subject of this sermon of the deepest importance. Believe me, your own comfort in religion, and your peace of conscience, depend exceedingly on understanding the matter about which I am going to speak.
I say then, that faith in Christ, and a full assurance of being saved by Christ, are two distinct things. Continue Reading Sermon Sunday – J.C. Ryle – Faith and Assurance…
Sermon Sunday: Thomas Watson
April 17, 2011 at 7:31 am | Posted in Sermon Sunday | Leave a commentTags: abortion, affection, agony, America, assurance, ateasetees, Bible, children, Christian, church, clay, communion, compromise, crucified, David, death, Delilah, desire, dishonor, estate, evangelism, evil, faint, faith, fasting, fig, France, frost, Gaul, God, gold, gospel, grace, grief, heart, heat, heaven, hell, hide, holy, hope, iron, Israel, Italy, Jacob, Jesuit, Jesus, jewel, joy, judgment, law, lethargy, life, love, Luke, marriage, merchant, mercy, money, mourning, murder, ordinance, pain, pastor, Paul, peace, Peter, Philistines, pit, prayer, prince, Rachel, repent, reverence, righteousness, sacraments, saint, salvation, Samson, scripture, sin, slothful, soul, Stephen, sweet, ten commandments, truth, weeping, wept, wicked, worldly
A Test of Assurance: How We Know Whether We Love God?
by
Thomas Watson
(1620-1686)
HE WHO LOVES GOD DESIRES HIS PRESENCE. Lovers cannot be long apart, they soon have their fainting fits, for want of a sight of the object of their love. A soul deeply in love with God desires the enjoyment of Him in His ordinances, in word, prayer, and sacraments. David was ready to faint away and die when he had not a sight of God. “My soul fainteth for God” (Psalm 84:2). Such as care not for ordinances, but say, “When will the Sabbath be over?” plainly reveal their lack of love to God.
He who loves God DOES NOT LOVE SIN. “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil” (Psalm 97:10). The love of God, and the love of sin, can no more mix together than iron and clay. Every sin loved, strikes at the being of God; but he who loves God, has a hatred of sin. He who would part two lovers is a hateful person. God and the believing soul are two lovers; sin parts between them, therefore the soul is implacably set against it. By this try your love to God. How could Delilah say she loved Samson. when she entertained correspondence with the Philistines, who were his mortal enemy? Continue Reading Sermon Sunday: Thomas Watson…
Looking ahead?
December 28, 2009 at 9:07 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a commentTags: Abraham, America, ateasetees, Athanasius, blood, Christian, Christmas, church, cloud of witnesses, couch potato, covenant, credit card, David, death, debt, Egypt, evangelism, Exodus, family, famine, fear, finance, future, Genesis 15, God, Goliath, grace, Hebrew, hell, history, Holy Spirit, hope, Hugh Latimer, Ignatius, Israel, Jan Huss, Jesus, Joseph, judgment, look ahead, love, marriage, mercy, Messiah, mistakes, mock, money, Moses, nation, new year, Nicholas Ridley, peace, Pentecost, Peter, Pharoah, Philistines, plague, play the man, Polycarp, Promised Land, Psalms, purpose, relationship, relevance, repent, salvation, Samuel, Sanhedrin, sermon series, sin, slaves, soul, Stephen, Thomas Becket, trial, tribulation, truth, ungodly, weight loss, William Tyndale
Ok…Christmas is over and things are starting to settle down. It’ll be another week or so before the credit card bills become a priority and you’ve still got a couple of days before the big New Year’s celebration. What do most people do during this time? They begin to look ahead. For the next month or so, you’ll see ad after ad telling you that they have the very thing that you’re looking for to make the new year go your way. Wanna lose weight? There will be a dozen different new weight loss machines on the market before you can say “couch potato”. Want to better your finances? There are programs and companies that want to help you get you money woes under control (including the huge debt you just built up). Want to see your marriage change? There are books, CDs, and counselors waiting for you to pick them up, pop them in, or give them a call so that they can spend the next 30 days getting your relationship in the best shape its ever been. And, once you choose which of the myriad new eye dazzlers will garner your attention, you can spend a little time plotting your course with fervor and determination because you know that this is your year.
I can’t help but wonder if all of this is really necessary? What are the real motives behind much of this New Year’s barrage? Seems like it’s just one more way for someone to try and make money. Do the methods work? I’m sure for some people they do, but is it “sure-fire” for everyone like the ad copy says? I doubt it. I also can’t help but wonder if ahead is the direction that we need to pour all of this effort (even though it’s really only a few days). Looking over scripture, I see something different and I hope that it helps balance all of the new fad hype. Continue Reading Looking ahead?…
Get the Word out! 