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Joined: 2002/12/11 Posts: 39795 Canada
Online! | It is Christ | | Remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves theeit is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves theeit is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrumentit is Christs blood and merits; therefore, look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith; and if thou doest that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down
There is one thing which we all of us too much becloud in our preaching, though I believe we do it very unintentionallynamely, the great truth that it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ, and on Christ alone. We are apt to think that we are not in a right state, that we do not feel enough, instead of remembering that our business is not with self, but Christ. Let me beseech thee, look only to Christ; never expect delieverance from self, from ministers, or from any means of any kind apart from Christ; keep thine eye simply on Him; let his death, His agonies, His groans, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look for Him; when thou liest down at night look for Him. (The Forgotten Spugeon, Iain Murray
_________________ SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
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| 2010/9/1 20:32 | Profile | sojourner7 Member
Joined: 2007/6/27 Posts: 1573 Omaha, NE
| Re: It is Christ | | Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me.
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit,
Christ when I rise,
Christ in the quiet,
Christ in the danger,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
PADRAIG {Patrick of Ireland}
_________________ Martin G. Smith
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| 2010/9/1 22:40 | Profile | PaulWest Member
Joined: 2006/6/28 Posts: 3405 Dallas, Texas
| Re: It is Christ | | One of my all-time favorite Spurgeon snippets. Thank you for this, dear brother. Spiritual oxygen.
Brother Paul _________________ Paul Frederick West
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| 2010/9/1 22:41 | Profile | hmmhmm Member
Joined: 2006/1/31 Posts: 4994 Sweden
| Re: It is Christ | | Wolfgang Brandhuber, a servant of the Word among the Anabaptists in southern Germany and Austria, wrote in the late 1520s:
The one who fears God keeps his eyes always, always on God, walking carefully because he knows that the victory, in the end, is not his but God's. He does not trust his own flesh but looks to another: the Creator of creation. This man stands continually in the fear of God, like Job, fearing God's works and paying little attention to himself. He does not take himself for who he appears to be. He counts himself unworthy and sits at the lowest place in the wedding feast.
The one who fears God sees the true light and evaluates in it all his thoughts, his words, and his works. That true light is Christ, whose life is the will of God. In actual humanity Christ Jesus showed us what we should do, so that no one may have an excuse on the last day. Our thoughts on the inside and our deeds on the outside -- all our life is to become a picture of Christ who said: "I and the Father are one." _________________ CHRISTIAN
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| 2010/9/2 23:54 | Profile | UntoBabes Member
Joined: 2010/8/24 Posts: 1035 Oregon
| Re: It is Christ | | It is Christ who saves me, but if do not hold unto Him, He will not save me. It is Christ that saves me, but I do not place all my joy and confidence in Him, He will not save me. It is christ who saves me, but if I do not believe in Him, He will not save me. It is not prayer, but how can I not pray to and in the name of the one who signed my pardon . how can I not live and do through the one who gives me life and power. If I look to Him, I will abide in Him. If I abide in Him, I will do through Him the works of righteousness I was created to do. If I do not, He promises to cut me off and cast me in the fire as a useless branch. If I believe in Him, I will also believe Him, and all of His promises, the hopeful and the threatening. _________________ Fifi
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| 2010/9/3 11:17 | Profile | UntoBabes Member
Joined: 2010/8/24 Posts: 1035 Oregon
| Re: It is Christ | | God's truth is a double edged sword, Satan's lies are also a double edged sword. The sword of God purges, exposes and reveals the intents of the heart of man which is decietful above all and desperately wicked. Satan's lies will appeal to that wicked heart and it's decietful nature. To some he will come with the lie of suffiecency apart from Christ. He will appeal to thier flesh by saying: You have been living a holy life, overcoming sin, doing great Christian service for God, until you fall into pride and take your eyes off Christ. To others he will come saying: It is Christ that upholds you, whether you sin or not it does not matter to Him. Do you think the Lamb of God who paid infinite sacrifice, who chose you from eternity past will disown you if you partake in sin or love the world. It is His love for you not your love for Him that guarantees your etenal security. Yes my dear friend, Satan will use even the Scriptures, he will use God's truth taken out of balance to achieve his end, the destruction of your soul. If we truly look to Christ and are one with Him, if we have truly experienced the sweetness of that fellowship, we will neither pride our selves in our faith, works, achievments, or victories, nor will we partake in the pleasures of the world be it legal or sinful. We will live the life He lived doing only the will of the Father. _________________ Fifi
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| 2010/9/3 11:59 | Profile | PaulWest Member
Joined: 2006/6/28 Posts: 3405 Dallas, Texas
| Re: | | An unfortunate reaction toward those who adhere to the doctrines of grace is the automatic assumption of a liberty to continue in sin. But according to the Word of God this is so only with those who are unconverted, for it is clear that those who are born of God do not continue in sin. A converted man or woman therefore will not continue living in sin if the Holy Spirit dwells within; of course, they may be tempted to sin, and they may at times even miss the mark (sin) in word, thought or deed, but under no condition will they continue in gross unrepentant sin as they did in the former, unconverted days.
Those who are born of the Holy Spirit reading this post, is this not your experience now regardless of your theological leanings? Regardless if you are monergistic or synergistic in your understanding of salvation or sanctification, prior to conversion you could sin-indulge without compunction whereas now such behaviour is totally impossible. And why is it impossible? Because the Holy Spirit living within us does not permit it. Should He depart for even a moment we would tailspin back into the darkness, the same darkness that was banished at our rebirth/indwelling.
_________________ Paul Frederick West
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| 2010/9/3 13:30 | Profile | UntoBabes Member
Joined: 2010/8/24 Posts: 1035 Oregon
| Re: | | Regardless of our experience, God's word tells us of those who denied the Lord who bought them by going after the lusts of the flesh, those who will not be renewed again unto repentance for it is impossible to crusify the Lord Jesus a second time, those who will defile the blood by which they were sanctified, and those who made a ship wreck of the faith. The Bible exorts us to learn from the history of the people of Israel who after they believed and were delivered died in the welderness because of sin.. When are going to stop having theological biases and take God's Word as it is with it's comforting promises for whose who persever and warnings against falling away. _________________ Fifi
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| 2010/9/3 13:44 | Profile | Renoncer Member
Joined: 2010/6/26 Posts: 483
| Re: | | Amen, brother. It is Christ.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)
It is Christ. His Spirit in us, His strength, His work, His sacrifice, His life, His love, His mercy. It is Christ.
God bless you abundantly
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| 2010/9/3 14:52 | Profile | PaulWest Member
Joined: 2006/6/28 Posts: 3405 Dallas, Texas
| Re: | | Yes, one of the greatest truths I've discovered in the midst of crushing trials, failures, defeats and subsequent restorations is that it is not my grip on God that saves, but ultimately God's grip on me. It is by the pure and undiluted grace of God that I am who I am today and not by some intrinsic power or will independant of God's enpowerment. "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do..." _________________ Paul Frederick West
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| 2010/9/3 15:08 | Profile |
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