Proverbs 28:17-18

Little Commitment, Much Indifference

We see so little true commitment, so much indifference, and so few dedicated people in today’s religious world that we may be prone to accept this attitude as normal. But it is not so! David wrote in Psalm 147:18, “He sendeth out His word and melteth them.” Paul wrote in Romans 8:6, “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” If God is pleased to move in love and grace upon a person, the very life of Christ is formed in him and unbelief is driven out by God-given-faith. Indifference departs at the revelation of God’s glory in the face of Christ. Ignorance vanishes as Christ is revealed in His work of redemption as Just and Justifier. Self-pride disappears before His grace and mercy. Self-righteousness has not the slightest claim in the light of His perfect obedience. Self-love takes an awful beating in the light of His love for us. No! It would be impossible for a true child of His great, invincible grace to be indifferent or uncommitted after the melting of His word and the revelation of His love. Pastor Henry T. Mahan

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Do You Need The Gospel?

Years ago I heard that Martin Luther was once approached by one of the church members and asked, "Why do you preach the gospel to us every week?" Luther replied, "Because, every week you come here looking like you need it!" I might add my own twist by saying that I preach the gospel every week because I ALSO need it. I need it as much as anyone to whom I preach. I am not a fountain of the gospel; I am only a pipe through which God is sometimes pleased to send His gospel. Apart from His provision of gospel truth and Spirit, I am empty and useless, or as the Psalmist put it, "poor and needy."

One reason we do not make church attendance a rule here is that we are convinced that God's people NEED the gospel and will come to hear it preached when they can. The danger is not so much in not attending the worship gatherings of the church; it is in discovering that one has no interest in attending them and must be forced to attend by threats or promises.

Do you need God's gospel? Then be where it is preached at every opportunity.

Pastor Joseph R. Terrell

CHRIST IS ALL

Not everybody believes this. To some men He is nothing. Others view Him as important. Still others view Him as very important. But to some, He is all. He is all in all things. He is all in their salvation; He is all in their faith; He is all in their rejoicing and confidence. For whom and to whom is Christ all? He is all for all and to all who really believe Him to be all! I truly believe Him to be all in my salvation, and have hope in nothing else!

Pastor Todd Nibert

The Coming Of The Lord

The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the most comforting doctrine for the believer to meditate upon and rejoice in. The Lord assures us that He has accomplished our salvation in His first coming (Heb. 9:11-12; 9:26; 10:10-17) and that He will certainly come back the second time without sin unto salvation to receive us and to enjoy us forever (John 14:1-4; Heb. 9:28).

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, (said to be his first letter written around 51 A.D.) he makes mention of the second coming of the Lord in every chapter. (1 Thes. 1:9-10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:16-17; 5:23)

Paul and the early church in their day were anticipating the coming of the Lord. These many years later the promise of the Lord has not faded or changed, He is still coming again and believers are still looking for the Lord who is coming. The book of Revelations reveals to us that the Lord is on His way, “Behold he cometh” (Rev. 1:7). The Book of God closes with this promise, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20).

Now the question that should arise in every heart, are we ready to meet the Lord? “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:40). How can a sinner be ready to meet the holy Lord who is coming back? Certainly not by any work that we perform or anything that we bring; sinners can only be ready to meet the Lord by being found in the Lord Jesus Christ, by being one with Him and counting all else loss. This was Paul’s hope and ours too; “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9).

The song writer put it this way, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”