by Michael Mickey
In Giles County, Virginia, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit against the school system for having a copy of the Ten Commandments displayed on school property, a federal judge has suggested that the display be permitted to remain at the school if (keyword: if) the first four Commandments are removed from it. Those Commandments are:
-
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
-
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
-
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)
-
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
Continue Reading »
by Oswald Chambers
If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful . . . —2 Peter 1:8
When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.
Continue Reading »
by Vance Havner
It is possible to be a walking encyclopedia of Bible knowledge and know all the answers without knowing Him who is the Answer. It is possible to work in a travel office, sell tickets, hand out posters, and talk glibly of foreign lands without ever leaving the old home town. It takes more than a suitcase covered with foreign labels to make a world traveler. We can make a living by handling the things of God without knowing them first-hand. One can make a business of starting others toward the Promised Land without ever leaving Egypt.
by Vance Havner
by Martyn Lloyd Jones
[In verse 19 (of Matthew 6)] our Lord introduces … this great question of the Christian living his life in this world in relationship to God as his Father, involved in its affairs and feeling its cares, its strains and its stresses. It is, in fact, the whole problem of what is so often called in the Bible, ‘the world’ … Now what do the Scriptures mean by the expression ‘the world’? It does not mean the physical universe, or merely a collection of people; it means an outlook and a mentality, it means a way of looking at things, a way of looking at the whole of life. One of the most subtle problems with which the Christian ever has to deal is this problem of his relationship to the world. Our Lord frequently emphasizes that it is not an easy thing to be a Christian. He Himself when He was here in this world was tempted of the devil. He was also confronted by the power and subtlety of the world. The Christian is in precisely the same position.
Continue Reading »
by Martyn Lloyd Jones
We must emphasize the fact that there is only ‘one Lord’. This was the very essence of apostolic preaching. Peter states it unequivocally and boldly when he and John were arraigned before the authorities.
‘There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12) There is no other! There is no second!
You cannot put anybody by His side. He is absolutely unique. He is no mere man, teacher, or prophet. He is the Son of God! He is the Lord of glory who has taken to Himself human nature! ‘One Lord Jesus Christ’ — and there is no other. Paul puts it thus in a memorable statement:
‘For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth … but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him’ (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6).
Continue Reading »
by J.C. Ryle
The heart is the main thing in true religion. I make no excuse for asking the special attention of my readers, while I try to say a few things about the heart. The head is not the principal thing. You may know the whole truth as it is in Jesus, and consent that it is good. You may be clear, correct, and sound in your religious opinions. But all this time you may be walking in the broad way which leads to destruction. It is your heart which is the main point. Is your heart right in the sight of God? Your outward life may be moral, decent, respectable, in the eyes of people. Your minister, friends and neighbors, may see nothing very wrong in your general conduct. But all this time you may be hanging on the brink of everlasting ruin. It is your heart which is the main thing. Is that heart right in the sight of God?
by J.C. Ryle
by A.B. Simpson
Strangers and pilgrims—Hebrews 11:13
If you have ever tried to plough a straight furrow in the country-I feel sorry for the man who does not know how to plough and more sorry for the man who is too proud to want to know-you have no doubt found it necessary to have two stakes in a line and to drive your horses by these stakes. If you have only one stake before you, you will have no steadying point for your vision, and you can swerve about without knowing it, making your furrows as crooked as a serpent’s coil. But if you have two stakes and always keep them in line, you cannot deviate an inch from a straight line, and your furrow will be as an arrow speeding to its target.
This can be a great lesson to us in our Christian lives. If we would run a straight course, we must have two stakes-the near and the distant. it is not enough to be living in the present; it is likewise a great and glorious thing to have a distant goal.
by A.B. Simpson
