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"Where
the truths of God’s word are taught" |
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You Were Asked To Pray For:
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A
Thought From C. H. Spurgeon: A COVENANT
HE REMEMBERS "He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he
will ever be mindful of his covenant" Ps. 111:5
As to the higher and
greater blessings of the covenant of grace, He will never cease to supply
them as our case demands. He is mindful that He made the covenant, and never
acts as if He regretted it. He is mindful of it when we provoke Him to
destroy us. He is mindful to love us, keep us, and comfort us, even as He
engaged to do. He is mindful of every jot and tittle
of His engagements, never suffering one of His words to fall to the ground. We are sadly unmindful of
our God, but He is graciously mindful of us. He cannot forget His Son who is
the Surety of the Covenant, nor His Holy Spirit who actively carries out the
covenant, nor His own honor, which is bound up with
the covenant. Hence the foundation of God standeth
sure, and no believer shall lose his divine inheritance, which is his by a
covenant of salt. |
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A Thought For The Week:
Some of the passages that
previously troubled me are now some of the most comforting passages in God's
Word. One of these is I Peter 1:22-25. Usually when one teaches on the new
birth, he quotes only a portion of this passage--verse twenty-three. The
person who believes in gospel regeneration interprets "the word of
God" to mean the preached word--the word which a minister preaches. A
person who does not believe in gospel regeneration usually interprets
"the word of God" to be the same Word as in John 1:1, 14. He does
this because the word for "word" in both places is "logos"
in the Greek language. If I Peter 1:23 stood alone, either interpretation
could be correct. However, a verse must not be interpreted out of its
context. Look at the passage again
and notice verse twenty-two; these people had purified their souls in obeying
the truth. The only way a person can obey something is to know about it.
Therefore, to obey the truth, one must have it taught to him. Look at verse
twenty-five. It states that the word is that which the gospel minister
preaches. You may ask, "Is not Christ preached by the gospel?" The
answer is yes, but we cannot pass this verse that easily. The word translated
"word" in verse twenty-five is a different Greek word from the one
in verse twenty-three. The word in verse twenty-five is "rhema," but in verse twenty-three it is
"logos." "Logos" may be translated to mean Christ as in
John 1:1, 14, but "rhema" means the
written or spoken word. It is never translated nor interpreted to mean
Christ. Likewise, "logos" does not always stand for Christ. It can,
and most of the time does, mean the written or spoken word. In Matthew 7:24,
26, 28; John 4:37, 39; and I Timothy 1:15, it is translated
"saying." In Matthew 12:36; 18:23; Romans 14:12; and Hebrews 13:17,
"logos" is translated "account." It is translated "saying"
fifty times, "account" eight times, "speech" eight times,
along with other synonymous terms. The word "logos" is used 330
times in the New Testament and 225 times it is translated "word"
and only seven times out of the 225 times is "logos" translated
"Word" to mean Christ without question. Therefore, by studying the
word "word" in its context in I Peter 1:23, the conclusion is that
it means the written or spoken word. By Jimmy Barber, 1970
from his article titled “The Power of the Word” |
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What’s
In The News? Source: The Agape News
Press. Added Note: When is the government
going to stop trying to control the churches? We cannot pray on government
property but here the government is considering a church case. It will not be long until freedom of
worship is gone in |
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Just Another Thought:
These maxims are certainly
true and indisputable: (1) That nothing in time can be the cause of what was
done in eternity. To believe, to do good works, and persevere in them are
acts in time, and so cannot be causes of election, which was done in
eternity. And (2) That nothing out of God can be the cause of any decree or
will in him. He is no passive Being, to be wrought upon by motives and
inducements outside of himself. If his will is moved
by anything outside of him, that must be superior to him,
and his will must become dependent on that; which to say of God is to speak
very unworthily of him. God wills things because it so pleases him.
Predestination is according to the good pleasure of his will. Election is
according to his foreknowledge, which is no other than his free favor and
good will to men (Eph.1:5; 1 Pet. 1:2). No other reason can be given of God's
will or decree to bestow grace and glory on men, for his own glory, and of
his actual donation of them, but what our Lord gives: "Even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Matt. 11:25-26).
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