Posted December 6th, 2006 by nate

What is the Gospel?

Romans 1:16:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Here are two sermons I’d like to recommend to you - preached by David Vance of Redeemer Church in Blacksburg, VA. These sermons lay out a Biblical stance of what the true Gospel of Jesus Christ entails - including aspects that are often left out in modern day Christianity. For the Biblical gospel includes not only the wonderful and amazing love and grace of God displayed in the death and resurrection of His Son, but also contains awareness of the fearful judgement and wrath of God.

I hope these strengthen and encourage you to look to the Scriptures to understand and know the true nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…

The True Gospel, Part 1
The True Gospel, Part 2

Posted November 14th, 2006 by nate

Standing Firm

Ephesians 6:10-17:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,

15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Posted October 24th, 2006 by nate

Wisdom’s Call

Proverbs 1:20 - 2:11:

20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the public squares;

21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?

23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.

24 But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

25 since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,

26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-

27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.

29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,

30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Proverbs 2

1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

These verses have been immensely powerful in encouraging me to seek true wisdom from God’s Word. I hope and pray that they are an encouragement to you as well.

Posted September 18th, 2006 by nate

For the Sake of Christ…

Luke 6:20-26:
20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

23 “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

25 “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

Posted September 8th, 2006 by nate

John 17:16-18

(In Jesus’ prayer for His disciples)

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”

Posted August 30th, 2006 by nate

Warning Against Falling Away

Jeremiah 13:8-17:
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

9 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10 ‘This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.

11 ‘For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”‘ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’

13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land–the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem–with drunkenness!

14 “I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”‘”

15 Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,
For the LORD has spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God,
Before He brings darkness
And before your feet stumble
On the dusky mountains,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into deep darkness,
And turns it into gloom.
17 But if you will not listen to it,
My soul will sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

1 Corinthians 10:1-6:
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;

2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 and all ate the same spiritual food;

4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

Posted August 30th, 2006 by nate

Awake, Sleeper!

“Many do not recognize the fact as they ought, that Satan has got men fast asleep in sin and that it is his great device to keep them so. He does not care what we do if he can do that. We may sing songs about the sweet by and by, preach sermons and say prayers until doomsday, and he will never concern himself about us, if we don’t wake anybody up. But if we awake the sleeping sinner he will gnash on us with his teeth. This is our work - to wake people up.”
- Catherine Booth

Ephesians 5:11-16:
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

Posted July 26th, 2006 by nate

Psalm 83

O God, do not remain quiet;
Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.
For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,
And those who hate You have exalted themselves.
They make shrewd plans against Your people,
And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,
That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant:
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites;
Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
Assyria also has joined with them;
They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.
Deal with them as with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,
Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became as dung for the ground.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”
O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind.
Like fire that burns the forest
And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,
So pursue them with Your tempest
And terrify them with Your storm.
Fill their faces with dishonor,
That they may seek Your name, O LORD.
Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,
And let them be humiliated and perish,
That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD,
Are the Most High over all the earth.

Posted June 26th, 2006 by sean

Examine Yourself

I’m always in need of reminding:  Are you a carnal Christian or a Spirit-led Christian? 

1 Cor 3: 1-3
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Romans 8: 4-14
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

Posted June 1st, 2006 by nate

“I tell you the truth”

While I was reading some verses on BibleGateway this morning on God’s Word and truth, I came across this interesting statistic. In the four gospel books alone, it is recorded that Jesus said “I tell you the truth” a total of 78 times!

John 14:6:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Posted May 31st, 2006 by nate

Powerful Words

Isaiah 66:1-2:
1 This is what the LORD says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?

2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the LORD.
“This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word.”

Posted May 24th, 2006 by nate

How do You View the Bible?

Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

John 17:17:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

“Let the man who would hear God speak, read Holy Scripture”
- Martin Luther, 1545

“Always stand to it that your creed must bend to the Bible, and not the Bible to your creed, and dare to be a little inconsistent with yourselves, if need be, sooner than be inconsistent with God’s revealed truth.”
Charles H. Spurgeon

Posted May 16th, 2006 by nate

Back from the Beach

I haven’t posted in quite awhile - just got back from a week at Oak Island, NC, a beautiful beach south of Wilmington, NC. It was awesome to just get away, spend time with family and reflect on the awesome beauty of God’s creation.

While sitting on the porch one morning I was just thanking God for the blessing of being able to sit in such beauty and watch the waves rolling in, and I opened the Bible directly to Psalm 104. The following verses came right out:

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.

7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.

9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

24 How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

I couldn’t help but just sit there in awe, thanking God for His awesome beauty.

Posted April 21st, 2006 by nate

Psalm 119: Total Dependence Upon God’s Word

In reading through Psalm 119 this morning I reflected upon a model of this type of devotion to God’s Word. What I found completely clear in these passages of Scripture is a singular focus upon God - an complete and total reliance upon God’s Word.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted April 12th, 2006 by sean

Our “Secret” Sins

“Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Proverbs 9:17

This verse jumped out of the Bible at me a few years ago and continues to remind me of the temptation of committing sin in secret.  Walking in darkness rather than walking in light.  What does the Bible say about eating this bread in secret that tastes so pleasant?

“But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.”  Proverbs 9:18

What did Jesus say about one such sin? 

“…whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”  Matthew 5:28

This particular verse always seemed a bit “strict” to me until I read the book, Every Man’s Battle.  God really used this book to open my eyes to the truth of Jesus’ words and the reality of living by them. 

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:  that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.”  (Rom 6:3-7)

Posted March 29th, 2006 by nate

Psalm 25:4-5

Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Posted February 24th, 2006 by nate

Counterfeit vs. Real

My father told me this once and it’s stuck with me ever since. It kind of went like this:

“So, how do you tell a counterfeit dollar from a real one?

You look at the real one. There are those who study what a real dollar looks like so they know what is not real. The same can be applied to the gospel. Want to know if the message you’re hearing is truthful - is the real thing? Look to the real one. The Bible.

The interesting thing about the counterfeit dollar is it is nearly exactly the same as the real dollar, but only with subtle differences that most often go unnoticed. If you’ve been hearing a counterfeit gospel - a counterfeit message - you might not even know it’s counterfeit, because it seems like the real thing. In fact, you might even pass on that counterfeit message to others or encourage them to hear it, just like you could unknowingly pass on a counterfeit dollar and not even know about it.

Want to know if what you’re hearing isn’t the full truth? Want to know if it is counterfeit? Look to the real thing - the Scriptures.”

Look to the truth of God’s one true Word. Look to it first and foremost.

1 Corinthians 2:4-6
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.