Bible Treasures and Pearls

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Charles Spurgeon

This past week I've been listening to many of Phil Johnson's sermons, and my absolute favorites (thus far anyway) are his talks about Charles Spurgeon. I would have loved to have met Pastor Spurgeon and attended his meetings! What a sweet man Spurgeon was... his enemies broke his heart which is why he died so young, at only 58 years (!) of age. I'm posting the links, mostly for myself to be able to enjoy them again and again, but also for anyone else to hear about God's greatest preacher (in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others too). I thought all of the sermons on this site were accompanied with transcripts, but unfortunately there aren't any for the ones listed below...however, the second one, "The Conversion of Charles Spurgeon", does has a transcript link to click onto which provides the photos which Pastor Johnson showed in a slide presentation while giving this sermon so it adds to being able to follow along and have the full experience of the teaching.

Charles Spurgeon: His Childhood and Youth

The Conversion of Charles Spurgeon

Spurgeon the Warrior

And this link has more sermons about Charles Spurgeon which I have yet to look forward to listening to.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

A Thorn in the Flesh

   Phil Johnson   talks here about how God's power and strength is perfected in our weakness. I love this site because you can listen to the sermon (by clicking link at the top of the page) and follow along in the written transcript.

The mention of the thorn in the flesh is from 2 Corinthians 12:7. This sermon covers 2 Corinthians 12: 1-12.

Excerpt:

"Now: If you're paying attention and following my outline, you might want to stop me right there. Because we're on point 2 of a three-point outline, and we're supposed to be talking about the second of three gracious gifts God gave to Paul. First was paradise. That makes sense. The second, we said, was pain. And this thorn, whatever it was, is the source of Paul's pain. So was Paul's pain a provocation from Satan, or was it a gracious gift from God?
     What's the correct answer to that question?
     Both.
     Satan meant it for evil; God meant it for good. And here is a little secret: that is true of every vexing problem the powers of darkness ever cause for you."

...

Pastor Johnson goes into the exact meaning of the word "thorn", as well as the hints in that passage that seem to say that the thorn in his flesh involved persons, false teachers (whom he calls "super apostles" ESV or eminent apostles in NASB, which he says Paul here uses in a sarcastic way to underline their abuse to the people with false teachings) which Paul brings up in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, and then directs it back to them in verse 11 of chapter 12.

Pastor Johnson does say that whatever the thorn is, whether it is persons, or a physical affliction, or whatever it is, because Paul describes it as a "messenger of Satan" he is saying this is some kind of spiritual attack.... and that the Lord won't remove it because...well, I'll let him tell you as it is given in the text. It is a blessing that Jesus shares with us a little of the suffering that He had to suffer. We only get a small taste of it. He bore the full effect of the suffering, the onslaught of Satan, on our behalf. How often I gripe about the little bit of suffering I have compared with what He suffered completely and unjustly on my behalf. "Oh what a foretaste of heaven divine."

Monday, 3 December 2012

The Necessary Ingredient

photo link

The past few days I've been cooking up a storm. Listening to a sermon given by Phil Johnson this morning on justification through faith, it suddenly dawned on me....faith is like "that" ingredient that makes the recipe. You cannot make roasted turkey without the turkey. There was an episode on "Everybody Loves Raymond" that brings this illustration to my mind. Doris (Raymond's mom) decided she would make a healthy Thanksgiving supper using tofu instead of turkey. She even shaped it to look like a turkey and made it look golden brown on the outside.

photo link

Raymond saved the day by ordering a real roasted turkey, and Doris had to admit that her tofu-"turkey" was a miserable failure.

*****

God gives us faith. Without faith it is impossible to be saved. Just like you can't have roasted turkey without the turkey, you cannot have salvation, no matter how much work you do to try to buy it or manipulate your way there, without the gift of God's faith. You might have something that you can make look like it. I've done some amazing things with tofu cutlets....but it was never turkey, and no matter how hard I tried to make it into turkey, it just wasn't. It might be something that looks similar, and it might even taste good, but it just isn't the same thing. So it is with a relationship to God. If that relationship is based on my works, my ability, my ANYTHING, it falls short of the glory of God and is unacceptable. It has to be me stepping out of the way and admitting my horrible condition, my depravity, my works earning hellfire, and that ability is from the Lord revealing this truth to me through the gift of His substitutionary life. The "not so secret ingredient" is provided by God to us for a true relationship with Him.

If it isn't His life substituted for my sin I have no salvation, just like I couldn't have roasted turkey without the turkey.

You can hear Phil Johnson's sermon here at Sermon Audio.

Saturday, 1 December 2012

God's Love....

... envieth not; ... vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up (1 Corinthians 13:4 KJV)

The ESV puts it this way:

...love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

I see these things warring against my members!

Romans 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

and

John 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Just a few verses that the Lord was reminding me of this morning. :)

Monday, 19 November 2012

How Long?

image link

to order print of artwork click here

Last night while driving home from work, I was pondering the things that I've been looking into...things like "transhumanism", and "channeling", and the new age infiltration into "the churches", and the violence and rampant deception, and the thought "How long, Lord? How long is this going to continue until your return?"
... and then the answer that the Bible gives came to mind:

" and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." Rev. 6:11

I think that time will be coming soon...praying for the strength and perseverance of the saints, and praying for the grace and blessing and honor to be counted among that number...

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said,

Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

They say unto him,

We are able.

Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Romans 9

Kent Clark

"God didn't choose you because you were different because Romans chapter 3 says you were no different" - Pastor Kent Clark.

I love this sermon...and listening to it again last night it made it a little more clear, that there is nothing I do that makes me right with God, nothing. It's what He does. He draws me to Himself, and He changes me from the inside out. He transforms me into something new, and it is completely His doing, not me. To God be all the glory. :)

Excerpt:

"....and out of nowhere when you least expected it GOTCHA! And I know what some of you are thinking...some of you are thinking 'That is the MOST unsophisticated church service I've been to in my life.' You can go to hell sophisticated. I'm not trying to get us sophisticated here. I'm telling you that there's a big God, who knows the heart, and He didn't send His Son down here for you to be religious. He came down here to die for somebody. And He's dead serious about Who gets the glory. You're not going to praise the church....You're not going to praise the preacher....You're not going to praise your baptism....if you get to heaven, you are going to praise HIM."

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=31512735540

Friday, 26 October 2012

Prayers of the Saints

Link to this image

(this link focuses a bit too much on evil for my taste, but I like the picture)

“the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11)

A few years ago I had read something somewhere which talked about the contrasts in the Bible; the juxtaposition of opposites regarding good and evil, and light and darkness, etc. I've been wanting to explore that more, just one of those things that I have said I would get to someday...and then a few mornings ago, I couldn't stop thinking about that phrase about the smoke of their torment, which then got me thinking about it's opposite, the prayers of the saints.

Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

Rev 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

The prayers of all the saints are rising from the fire on the golden altar before the throne of God. The angel takes some of that fire that the prayers are rising up from, puts it into a censer, and throws it into the earth! And these verses come just before the 7 angels with 7 trumpets are introduced.

That fire brings this to mind:

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Again we see that contrasting of “us” and “them”. They speak evil of the name of Christ, but the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us and we glorify His name! The fiery trials that cause the world to curse, causes us to rejoice, because we can pray, and call upon His name, and He rescues us from our time of trouble, and this brings to mind another phrase regarding “them”:

“There but by the grace of God go I”

For anyone who has doubts about there being a hell, I would recommend reading this link.