By Daniel Cartwright on
10/30/2009 3:27 PM
One of the reasons we can trust the reliability of biblical accounts are supernatural acts of God (miracles) that are not only recorded in Scripture, but that also have historical and archeological evidence. The intent of this blog post is to peak your interest and encourage personal Bible study and research. In addition to increasing personal confidence in the truth of Scripture, such endeavors will serve to equip the believer for conversation/debate with non-believers.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/30/2009 7:14 AM
The word ‘meek’ usually refers to those who are patient in the reception of injuries, but the Hebrew word used here (ענוים ‛ănâviym) means properly the oppressed, the afflicted, the unhappy. It involves usually the idea of humility or “virtuous suffering”. Here it may denote the pious of the land who were oppressed, and subjected to trials. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/29/2009 6:14 AM
Not with a civil worship, as he was sometimes worshipped by men, in the days of his flesh, who, though they took him for some extraordinary person, knew him not to be the Son of God; but with religious worship as God: for by his resurrection from the dead, Christ was declared to be the Son of God, and both by that, and by his going to his Father, his ascension to heaven, the disciples were more confirmed in his proper deity, and divine sonship; and therefore worshipped him as God; by calling upon his name, ascribing blessings and honor, and glory, to him; by making him the object of their reverence and fear; and by trusting in him; and by doing every religious act in his name, and which they ever after continued to do. (Dr. John Gill)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/28/2009 6:56 AM
This is the prayer of a man in bitter grief, whose human nature cannot at present submit to the divine will. God’s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God’s sake should be delivered. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/27/2009 6:38 AM
Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Savior should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to show it. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, but the joy of those who abide in Christ's love is a continual feast. They are to show their love to him by keeping his commandments. If the same power that first shed abroad the love of Christ's in our hearts, did not keep us in that love, we should not long abide in it. Christ's love to us should direct us to love each other. He speaks as about to give many things in charge, yet names this only; it includes many duties. (Matthew Henry)
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/26/2009 6:37 PM
Indeed we are hesistant, therefore we must encourage ourselves, Mal. 3:16 "They that feared the Lord spoke often one to another." A gracious person has not only piety only in his heart—but also in his tongue, Psalm 37:30. "The law of God is in his heart, and his tongue talks of judgment:" he drops holy words as pearls. It is the fault of Christians, that they do not in company provoke themselves to good conversation: it is a sinful modesty; there is much visiting—but they do not give one another's souls a visit. In worldly things their tongue is as the pen of a ready writer—but in matters of piety, it is as if their tongue did cleave to the roof of their mouth.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/26/2009 6:40 AM
A love that can never be fathomed;
A life that can never die;
A righteousness that can never be tarnished;
A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted. (Unknown)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/23/2009 7:03 AM
“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William Johnson, June 13, 1823, University of Virginia on-line library).
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By Robert Flynn on
10/22/2009 6:16 AM
Oral Hygiene — "You'll wonder where the yellow went." I remember the jingle from the Pepsodent toothpaste commercial. I suppose with the advent of modern dentistry we would not think of letting the barnacles grow on our MacLean's smile. However, what about the moral decay we see in the world society each day?
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/20/2009 6:16 PM
Excerpted from “The Christian Soldier” by Thomas Watson
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:5.
This is a duty of great importance: it is a parleying with one's own heart, Psalm 77:6. "I commune with my own heart."
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By Robert Flynn on
10/20/2009 7:00 AM
"But obedience in the matter of prayer is costly and takes commitment. On Monday night as our week of prayer began, a mere thirty-four adults showed up out of a regular church attendance of twenty-three hundred. By Thursday, only seventeen adults were praying. I was totally discouraged." Stephen Arterburn, Every Man's Battle
Perhaps some would find a book on the temptations men face and their fight for purity a strange place to find the aforementioned comment on prayer. However, I find it most timely indeed.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/20/2009 6:09 AM
It is a pitiful situation if the very light is darkness. This happens when the eye of the soul is too diseased to see the light of Christ. (A. T. Robertson)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/19/2009 7:00 AM
"There is in the Christian life great need of watchfulness and of prayer, of selfdenial and of striving, of obedience and of diligence. But "all things are possible to him that believeth." "This is the victory that overcometh, even our faith."
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/18/2009 12:38 PM
Excerpted from “The Christian Soldier” by Thomas Watson
Meditation may be described as a holy exercise of the mind; whereby we bring the truths of God to remembrance, and do seriously ponder upon them and apply them to ourselves. It is a serious thinking upon God. It is not a few transient thoughts that are quickly gone—but a fixing and staying of the mind upon heavenly objects.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/18/2009 7:00 AM
What a difference there is between a deeply exercised and spiritually burdened heart pouring out itself before God in fervent supplication and the utterance of verbal petitions by rote! Arthur W. Pink
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By Robert Flynn on
10/17/2009 7:00 AM
A much loved prayer of St Francis of Assisi:
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By Robert Flynn on
10/16/2009 7:00 AM
"By consequence, 'whatsoever he doeth , it is all to the glory of God.' In all his employments of every kind, he not only aims at this (which is implied in having a single eye ), but actually attains it.... (John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection)
The battle ensues in our culture to secularize the religious for the sake of tolerance in the public arena.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/15/2009 7:00 AM
We are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend....Robert Lewis Stevenson - Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
When we look into the mirror, what do we see?
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By Robert Flynn on
10/14/2009 7:00 AM
To-day we go forth separate, some of us to pleasure, some of us to worship, some upon duty.... (Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/13/2009 9:44 AM
Lord, receive our supplications for this house, family, and country. Protect the innocent, restrain the greedy and the treacherous, lead us out of our tribulation into a quiet land.... (Robert Lewis Stevenson, Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/12/2009 7:00 AM
The headline read, “Parish Rift Forms Between Descendants of Prominent Evangelical Leaders.” The underlying text conveyed that the descendants of two well-known ministers were wrestling for control of “a mega—church that is a bedrock of the religious right.”
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By Robert Flynn on
10/11/2009 7:30 AM
That is why it was not surprising that, at that time, I did not rejoice over the wonder of redemption, and that others could not see the joy of Jesus in me. And it was no wonder that I was not happy. I had taken the wrong path, the path of cheap grace, which was not the way of Jesus Christ and which could never lead me to the goal. If we do not fight, we will not be crowned. And what a fight the Lord demands of us! It is a fight to the point of shedding blood, as the letter to the Hebrews tells us (chapter 12: 4).
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/11/2009 6:24 AM
Excerpted from “The Christian Soldier” by Thomas Watson
Prayer is a duty which keeps the trade of piety flowing. When we either join in prayer with others, or pray alone, we must use holy violence. It is not eloquence in prayer—but violence carries it. Theodorus, speaking of Luther, "once (says he) I overheard Luther in prayer: with what life and spirit did he pray! It was with so much reverence, as if he were speaking to God—yet with so much confidence, as if he had been speaking to his friend." There must be a stirring up of the heart, 1. To prayer. 2. In prayer.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/10/2009 7:23 AM
Giving thanks for the providence and tender mercies of the day is fitting lest we presume upon the watchcare of His Sabboth Rest while we sleep defensless were it not for His Grace.
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/9/2009 2:47 PM
Excerpted from “The Christian Soldier” by Thomas Watson
When we come to the Word preached, we come to a business of the highest importance, therefore should stir up ourselves and hear with the greatest devotion. Luke 19:48. "All the people were very attentive to hear him." In the Greek it is "they hung upon his lip."—When the Word is dispensed, we are to lift up the everlasting doors of our hearts, that the King of glory may enter in!
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By Robert Flynn on
10/9/2009 8:07 AM
All the Jews and Gentiles who have been invited by the preaching of the Gospel to receive justification by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and have come to the Gospel feast on this invitation. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/9/2009 7:18 AM
How do you start your day? Is it with coffee only? We would think ourselves misused if we did not fill our stomachs with food. But what if we began our day without fellowship with the Father? Take a short sojourn with the Lion of Dundee and see if you might find some encouragement for your souls.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/8/2009 7:11 AM
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By Robert Flynn on
10/8/2009 7:09 AM
We are His lambs, and therefore ought to be ready to suffer, even to the death, without complaining. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
"Do everything without complaining and arguing," (Philippians 2:14 NLT)
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/7/2009 8:32 PM
Excerpted from "The Christian Soldier" by Thomas Watson
What an infinite mercy it is that God has blessed us with the Scriptures. Our Savior bids us "search the Scriptures", (John 5:39). We must not read these holy lines carelessly, but peruse them with reverence and seriousness. The noble Bereans "searched the Scriptures daily," (Acts 17:10-11). The Scripture is the treasury of divine knowledge; it is the rule and touchstone of truth; out of this well we draw the water of life.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/7/2009 7:08 AM
Lord, enlighten us to see the beam that is in our own eye, and blind us to the mote that is in our brother’s. Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
How quick we are to see fault in others! How crafty we are to justify our own actions and rationalize their effect.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/7/2009 6:43 AM
And that he might make known the riches of his glory,.... That is, his glorious riches, the perfections of his nature, his love, grace, and mercy, his wisdom, power, faithfulness, justice, and holiness; all which are most evidently displayed in the salvation of his people, here called vessels of mercy, which he hath afore prepared unto glory. (Dr. John Gill)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/6/2009 7:36 AM
The second answer is this, that God, moreover and besides that he justly decrees whatever he decrees, uses that moderation in executing his decrees, as is declared his singular mercifulness even in the reprobate, in that he endures them a long time, and permits them to enjoy many and singular benefits, until at length he justly condemns them: and that to good end and purpose, that is, to show himself to be an enemy and avenger of wickedness, that it may appear what power he has by these severe judgments, and finally by comparison of contraries to set forth indeed, how great his mercy is towards the elect. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/6/2009 7:06 AM
No matter how much we anticipate the pending loss of a loved one, knowing the result of age, ill health, or injury will have its way in the end, their death still comes unexpectedly. Our hearts are never ready to say goodbye. Isaiah says that "we all do fade as a leaf." James says that our life is like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Why is it then that as vapors we should cling so tightly to our sojourn here?
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB)
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By Daniel Cartwright on
10/6/2009 4:30 AM
The call to battle, the order to go to war issues from the Commander and Chief and moves downward through the chain of command until iit rests upon the military unit(s) that will engage the enemy. Unit commanders prepare their combat forces to engage and defeat the enemy, with the goal of walking victoriously off the battlefield. However, no matter how well trained their combat soldiers might be, no matter how advanced their weaponry, victory in battle will elude them if individual soldiers will shrink from their duties in the face of the enemy. In addition to being sufficiently trained and well equipped, the combat soldier also needs to have the 'heart of a warrior'.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/5/2009 7:03 AM
Lord, the creatures of thy hand, thy disinherited children, come before Thee with their incoherent wishes and regrets:
"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves." (1 Corinthians 6:9 NLT)
We often wallow in our "vain resentments" and miss the blessing of Christ's work of Grace upon our hearts.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/4/2009 7:00 AM
PRAYER has to do with the entire man. Prayer takes in man in his whole being, mind, soul and body. It takes the whole man to pray, and prayer affects the entire man in its gracious results. E. M. Bounds — The Essentials of Prayer
"Yes you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!" "Psalm 71:6 NLT)
The heart of prayer is found in the bending of the knee. It is found in the contrite heart of him who would confess that his heart is like a valley of dry bones that needs to be brought back to life (Ezekiel 37).
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By Robert Flynn on
10/2/2009 10:44 AM
Why is it that we cannot see the light of Christ? Because the church in America is full of “dark corners!” For the two hundred sixty-three years since the death of the great awakening, we have been seeing the fallen light and following a counterfeit gospel and worshipping an Anti-Christ and all the while telling ourselves that we are serving the Lord with great zeal!
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By Robert Flynn on
10/2/2009 7:45 AM
Alluding to the creation of Adam, he compares mankind not yet made (but who are in the creators mind) to a lump of clay: who afterwards God made, and daily makes, according as he purposed from everlasting, both such as should be elect, and such as should be reprobate, as also this word "make" declares. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/1/2009 7:37 AM
But when men shall call a solid answer to their groundless conceits about the meaning of the Scriptures, a replying against God, it savours more of the spirit who was seen falling like lightning from heaven, than of His, who saw him in this his fall. (John Goodwin)
Now the heart of the story as we go through the whole of the Scriptures is this, that we are in the midst of a rebel province. The prince of this world is the devil, and he is the god of this age. We are in the midst of the rebel province, and we are God’s underground movement in this world. (Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, Th.D.)
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