The Book Of Life

 The Book Of Life

"And another book was opened, which is the book of life" (Revelation 20:12).

The names of the elect are written in the book of life. They do not obtain salvation by chance, but were elected by God to eternal life and happiness before the foundation of the world. Now their names being once written in the book of life, they shall never, never be blotted out of that book! In the book of predestination there is not one blot to be found; the salvation of the elect is most sure and certain!

"I will never blot out his name from the book of life." (Revelation 3:5).

The book of life is the book of all those who were elected and redeemed to life, through Jesus Christ. This book of life contains a register of such particular persons in whose salvation, God from all eternity determined to have His mercy glorified; and for whom Christ merited faith, repentance, and perseverance - that they should repent, believe, and be finally saved.

"This book of life shall be opened;" that is to say, the decrees of God will be then published and made known, which now are sealed up in His bosom and locked up in His archives. Then it will be seen whom are appointed to eternal life- for the glorifying of God's free, rich, and sovereign grace; and whom He purposed to leave in their sins, and whom He purposed to leave in their sins, and to perish forever - for the exaltation of His justice.

"Nothing impure will ever enter heaven, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:27).

The book of life shall be opened in the great day, because then it shall be shown who were elect - and who were reprobates; who truly believed in Christ - and who did not; who worshiped God in spirit and in truth - and who did not; who walked with God as Noah did - and who did not; who truly reverenced God - and who did not; who followed the Lamb wherever He went - and who did not; who were sincere - and who were not; who are sheep - and who are goats; who are sons of God - and who are slaves of satan; who have mourned for their sins - and who have made a sport of sin; who preferred Christ above ten thousand worlds - and who did not; who preferred their farms, and their oxen, and their swine; yes, their very lusts - before a Saviour, a Redeemer!

"If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire!" (Revelation 20:15).

~Thomas Brooks~

Such Weather Vane Preachers Are Worthless!

 Such Weather Vane Preachers Are Worthless!

A weather vane preacher is any preacher who changes what he preaches or how he preaches when the wind changes direction. The preacher who alters his message or his method because of the ever-changing advice, counsel, and opinions of men is not a leader, but a follower. Such weather vane preachers are worthless! They only do harm to the souls of men, and they need not preach at all! True, gospel preachers are pillars in the church of God - not puppets in the hands of men! 

"On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts" (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths!" (2 Timothy 4:2-4).

~Frank Hall~

Precept and Prayer

Precept and Prayer

Precepts call for prayers, for as they point out God's requirements, and call upon us for obedience; they also teach us our weakness, and our need of Divine strength. David seems to have felt this, and therefore he says, "You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently" - and then immediately prays, "O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!" (Psalm 119:4, 5).

THE COMMAND. "You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently."

His precepts are to be kept - we should keep them in our minds and memories, and in our practice and daily behavior.

They are to be kept diligently, as our rule of conduct, as our guide in all of life.

They are to be kept with sincerity, promptness, and careful attention.

We should keep them as the command of God - of God who is our Father, the source and giver of all good things.

We should keep them too, as those who must give an account.

THE DEVOUT ASPIRATION. "O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes!" This expresses a love to the precepts, and an approval of them. It intimates that there are hindrances, or difficulties in the way of keeping them...satan hinders, the world hinders, the flesh hinders.

It is a recognition of our weakness - and a desire for Divine strength. Divine influence is necessary to enable us to keep God's statutes. He who gives the precept - must give the wisdom and the strength, necessary to observe it. He who requires obedience - is ready to give us ability to render it. Let us then take every precept to His throne of grace, and with a hearty desire to do all that God commands, just because He commands it, and with a view to His glory; and cry out from the depths of the soul, "O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes!"

Beloved, if we perform duty in a right spirit, it will soon become our delight. It will bring us near to God, keep us dependent on Jesus, and lead us into close fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

It will preserve us from a thousand snares - and introduce us to a thousand unknown, and unexpected joys!

Gracious Lord, direct us daily, that we may keep Your precepts diligently!

~James Smith~

Are We In Reality - What We Are In Name?

Are We In Reality - What We Are In Name?

"The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch" (Acts 11:26.)

We call ourselves Christians - but do we really understand the MEANING and sacred import of that name? Do we really know what it is to be Christians indeed? Are we in reality - what we are in name? Certainly it is time for us to consider the matter!

What is it to be a Christian?

To be a Christian, in the popular and fashionable sense, is no really difficult or excellent thing. It is to be baptized, to profess the Christian religion; to believe, like our neighbors, that Christ is the Messiah, and to attend upon public worship once a week, in some church or another. In this sense, a man may be a 'Christian' - and yet be habitually careless about eternal things. He may be a 'Christian' - and yet fall short of the morality of many of the heathen. He may be a 'Christian' - and yet be a drunkard, a swearer, or a slave to some vice or other. He may be a 'Christian' - and yet be a willful, impenitent offender against God and man.

But is this to be a 'real Christian' - in the original and proper sense of the word? NO! that is something of a very different and superior kind.

To be a Christian indeed - is to be like to Christ, from whom the name is taken!

To be a Christian indeed is to be a follower and imitator of Christ!

To be a Christian indeed - is to have Christ's spirit and temper; and to live as He lived in the world!

In short, to be a Christian, is to have our sentiments, our character and our practice, formed upon the sacred model of the gospel.

~Samuel Davies~

The Art of Preaching

 The Art of Preaching

We are overcome with a shallow, superficial ministry, which is destitute of all life, savor, and power. A dry, dead-letter scheme of doctrine, as mathematically correct as the squares of a chess-board, prevails, where what is called "truth," is preached. And to move Bible texts on the squares as pawns, is called "the art of preaching."

How simple is truth!

Man's misery - God's mercy.

The aboundings of sin - the super-aboundings of grace.

The depths of the fall - the heights of the recovery.

The old man - the new man.

The diseases of the soul - the balm of a Saviour's blood.

These lessons learned are the furnace of inward experience. How different from the monkish austerity of the Ritualist, the lip service of the Pharisee, and the dry Calvinistic formulary!

What a dreadful lack is there is true preaching now! I look around and see so few men qualified to feed the church of God. We are overrun with parsons, but, oh dear! what are they? I cannot but attribute much of the low state of the churches to the ministers!

Ezekiel 34 is a true picture of the false shepherds:

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

8As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

9Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

10Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

11For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

13And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

14I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

15I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

17And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

18Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

19And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

20Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

21Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

22Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

26And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

27And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

28And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

29And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

30Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.

31And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

~J. C. Philpot~

The Golden Key That Lets Us Into Paradise!

 The Golden Key That Lets Us Into Paradise!

See what great love Christ bore to His people!

"He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed!" (Isaiah 53:5).

Christ's Cross is the golden key that lets us into paradise!

His red blood washed away our crimson sins!

Oh precious blood!

it redeems us,

it cleanses us,

it justifies us, 

it sanctifies us,

it restores us to God, 

it bringss us to heaven!

Oh how lovely, how lovely was Christ in His sufferings!

Our blessed Saviour died that we might live!

He endured the greatest pains that we might enjoy the greatest pleasures!

Rather than His people be damned to eternal hell, He came from heaven to suffer all this for them!

Such a Pearl should sparkle in our eyes!

We do not sail to glory in the salt seas of our tears but in the red sea of Christ's blood!

~William Dyer~

What Does The Bible Say About the New Heavens and the New Earth?

What Does the Bible Say About the New Heavens and the New Earth?

What are the new heavens and the new earth the Bible mentions? The section of Scripture that addresses this topic includes the final two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21-22. We are provided a detailed look at the vision given to the apostle John regarding what will take place at the end of time or what is often called the eternal state.

Revelation 21-1 begins, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." The first heaven (the skies) and the first earth will be destroyed and the sea will disappear. Believers will live in an entirely new existence that includes a new heavenly city called the new Jesuralem (Revelation 21:2).

The existence of believers in this place is described in Revelation 21:3-4; "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,for the former things have passed away." This eternal dwelling will include God with His people in a perfect, eternal environment.

The dimensions or size of the new Jerusalem are given in Revelation 21:15-21. In modern terms, this city will be 1,400 miles (12,000 stadia), a size of two million square feet! It will also be 1,400 miles high, indicating the city will be a cube shape (or possibly a pyramid shape) more than 600,000 stories high. It will include 12 gates with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 foundations that include the names of the apostles. The city will consist of a wide array of jewels and colors and will be made of gold. Keep in mind that this description is John's attempts to explain the city's splendor; it cannot include all of the details of its greatness.

Revelation 21:22-23 shares, "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb." This new city will include no temple, no sun, and no moon. The Lamb (Jesus will be its light. Its existence will be perfectly safe and without sin!

Revelation 22:5 concludes the description of the new heavens and the new earth by saying, "They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." Ultimately, the greatest joy will be to dwell together with all believers in the Lord's presence forever. The earth that began with humans in a garden will end with God's people in a city where we will enjoy perfect fellowship with Him.

~Compelling Truth~