April 12
Amy Orr-Ewing tells of a conversation her husband had with a woman at a wedding reception: “At one point she had said, ‘The reason I am not a Christian is that I am studying English Literature, and I don’t believe that there is a Transcendental Signified, and so I can make the Bible mean whatever I want it to mean.’” She explained that words have no actual meaning. A word only has the meaning that a reader or a hearer gives it. It does not itself carry any ultimate meaning because there is no God (Transcendental Signified) to give ultimate meaning to words. “My husband looked at her and...
Read MoreApril 11
“Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance” (1 Thess 1:5). Note three aspects to assurance: “the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Col 2:2); “the full assurance of hope” (Heb 6:11); and the “full assurance of faith” (Heb 10:22). Assurance may be lacking for three reasons: if a person is not truly saved and the Spirit is convicting them of their need; if a person is truly saved and living for Christ but is being attacked by the devil to unsettle him;...
Read MoreApril 10
Charles Spurgeon tells the story of an old man who heard a young man preach. When he was asked what he thought of it, he was slow to answer. At last he said, “If I must tell you, I did not like it; there was no Christ in it.” “No,” answered the young man, “because I didn’t see that Christ was in the text.” “Oh!” said the old man, “but don’t you know that from every little town and village in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.” “But suppose you’re...
Read MoreApril 9
In John 6:37 our Lord says: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.” Doesn’t God want all to be saved? Hebrews 2:9 reads, “that He (Christ) by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” 2 Peter 3:9 also says: “The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” No one can read these declarations and say that He has not provided for the salvation of all, or that it is not His will that all should be saved. Regarding John 6:44, it should be remembered that it is the Spirit who woos us to Christ, and that the Spirit...
Read MoreApril 8
George Whitfield, who preached more than 18,000 times, was one of the most widely recognized public figures in colonial America. During the Great Awakening of 1740, he was addressing a large open-air meeting from the words, “And the door was shut” (Mt 25:10). A young man in the audience, standing not far from the preacher, said to a companion in a voice loud enough for Whitfield to hear, “Well, what does it matter if the door is shut? When one door shuts, another door opens.” Whitfield immediately sprang into action: “Some may say,” he called out to the crowd, ‘What does it matter if the...
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