Following, then, the holy fathers, we unite in teaching all men to confess the one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is also actually God and actually man, with a rational soul and a body. He is of the same reality as God as far as his deity is concerned and of the same reality as we ourselves as far as his humanness is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin only excepted. Before time began he was begotten of the Father, in respect of his deity, and now in these “last days,” for us and behalf of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of Mary the virgin, who is God-bearer in respect of his humanness. We also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son, Lord, only-begotten in two natures; and we do this without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories, without contrasting them according to area or function. The distinctiveness of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead, the “properties” of each nature are conserved and both natures concur in one “person” and in one reality. They are not divided or cut into two persons, but are together the one and only and only-begotten Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol of Fathers has handed down to us.
The Chalcedonian Creed.
Isn’t it strange how a $100 “looks” so big when you take it to church, but so small when you take it to the mall. Isn’t it strange how long it takes to serve God for an hour, but how quickly a team plays 60 minutes of basketball. Isn’t it strange how long a couple of hours spent at church are, but how short they are when watching a movie. Isn’t it strange how we can’t think of anything to say when we pray, but don’t have difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend. Isn’t it strange how we get thrilled when a baseball game goes into extra innings, but we complain when a sermon is longer than the regular time. Isn’t it strange how hard it is to read a chapter in the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a bestselling novel. Isn’t it strange how people want to get a front seat at any game or concert, but scramble to get a back seat at church services. Isn’t it strange how we need 2 or 3 weeks advance notice to fit a church event into our schedule, but can adjust our schedule for other events at the last moment. Isn’t it strange how hard it is for people to learn a simple gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is for the same people to understand and repeat gossip. Isn’t it strange how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, or to think, or to say, or do anything. Isn’t it strange how you can send a thousand ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Isn’t it strange how we set our clocks to arise at 4:00am or 5:00am to be at the job by 7:30, yet when Sunday comes we can’t get to church for 11:00am to praise the one who gave us the jobs! Isn’t it strange how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother, but find it hard to introduce them to our family. Isn’t it strange how small our sins seem, but how big “their” sins are. Isn’t it strange how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God. Isn’t it strange how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God’s direction for our lives. Isn’t it strange how so many churchgoers sing “Standing on the Promises” but all they do is sit on the premises. Isn’t it strange how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel. Isn’t it strange how we sing about heaven, but live only for today. Isn’t it strange how people think they are going to Heaven, but don’t think there is a Hell. Isn’t it strange how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant. Isn’t it strange how when something goes wrong, we cry, “Lord, why me?” but when something goes right, we think, “Hey, it must be me!”
Religion is us trying to prove to God how important we are…spirituality is being humble enough to allow God prove to us how important He is.
As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.”
Moody Bible Institute, Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18.
No Excuse Sunday: Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.” We have steel helmets for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.” Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot. We have hearing aids for those who say, “The preacher speaks too softly,” and cotton balls for those who say, “He preaches too loudly.” Score cards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. Some relatives will be in attendance for those who like to go visiting on Sundays. There will be TV dinners for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner also. One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to worship God in nature. Finally, the sanctuary will be decorated with Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without them.
From a Church Bulletin.
It takes 90 gallons of water to baptize a Christian and only 9 drops of rain to keep him at home!
Christians are differentiated from other people by country, language, or customs. They do not live in cities of their own or speak some strange dialect. They live in their own native lands, but as resident aliens. They marry and have children just like everyone else, but they do not kill unwanted babies.
Epistle to Diognetus
Eleven years ago while giving an anesthetic for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy (at two months gestation) I was handed what I believed was the smallest living human ever seen… Within the sac was a tiny human male swimming extremely vigorously in the amniotic fluid . . . This tiny human was perfectly developed, with long, tapering fingers, feet and toes. It was almost transparent, as regards to the skin, and the delicate arteries and veins were prominent to the ends of the fingers. The baby was extremely alive and swam about the sac approximately one time per second, with a natural swimmer’s stroke. It is my opinion that if the lawmakers, and people realized that very vigorous life is present it is possible that abortion would be found more objectionable than euthanasia.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, www.mccl.org. Used by Permission.
What makes a good work, good?
1. Done from faith.
2. According to the will of God in Scripture.
3. From the heart.
4. For the glory of God.
Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there.
Christian Reader, v. 32, n. 4.
The Believer’s Warfare: Internal, with the flesh – Gal. 5:17; Not after the flesh – 2 Cor. 10:3; with the armor of light – Rom. 13:12; external, with the world – John 16:33; not by resistance but submission – James 4:7; with the armor of righteousness – 2 Cor. 6:7; infernal, with the devil – Eph.6:12; with the whole armor of God – Eph. 6:13.
The Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W. Noble, Chicago.
Nothing is ever wasted in the kingdom of God. Not one tear, not all our pain, not the unanswered question or the seemingly unanswered prayers. Nothing will be wasted if we give our lives to God. And if we are willing to be patient until the grace of God is made manifest, whether it takes nine years or ninety, it will be worth the wait.
Many who say “Our Father” on Sunday spend the rest of the week acting like orphans.
I counted dollars, while God counted crosses;
I counted gains, while God counted losses.
I counted my worth, my things gained in store;
And He sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I counted honors and sought degrees,
He counted the hours I spent on my knees.
I never knew until one day by the grave
How vain are the things that we spend life to save.
You call Me master, and obey Me not;
You call Me light, and see Me not;
You call Me the way, and walk Me not;
You call Me life, and live Me not;
You call Me wise, and follow Me not;
You call Me fair, and love Me not;You call Me rich, and ask Me not;
You call Me eternal, and seek Me not.
If I condemn thee, blame Me not.
Unity is not found in uniformity of thought, but in the fellowship of the Spirit, based on sound doctrine which, in turn, is predicated on the clear teaching of Scripture. This is why Paul exhorts us to “mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Rom 16:17). The false prophets call for unity based not on Scriptural doctrine, but on their [the false prophets] claim for authority. Those who insist on fellowship based on sound doctrine are labeled legalists, while the false prophets are the ones imposing unscriptural demands upon those who follow them.
Media Spotlight Special Report, Latter-Day Prophets: The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets and the Kansas City-Vineyard Connection, September, 1990, p. 14.
Amid trials hard, temptations strong, and troubles constant, true faith is persevering faith.
Worldliness is what any particular culture does to make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.
Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.
Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.
Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.
John was put in a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos.
Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.
James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem.
James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club.
Bartholomew was flayed alive.
Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died.
Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.
Jude was shot to death with arrows.
Matthais was first stoned and then beheaded.
Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.
God has not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our life through; God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God has promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way; grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.
What’s in the well of the heart comes up in the bucket of the mouth (Luke 6:45).
God has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself), which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.
The problem with Christians is nobody wants to kill them anymore.
Throughout the world, in nation after nation, men and women have died for their Christian faith. The very least we can do is live for our faith.
When it comes to giving until it hurts, most people have a very low threshold of pain.
Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.
Written on the epitaph of William Borden’s grave.
He is the King of kings, the radiance of His glory, the Lord of the spaceless, fabulous, infinite universe, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, unspeakable holy, dwelling in light, unapproachable, changeless … and yet He condescended to be enclosed in lowly human flesh, to be born a despised Judean, in a filthy stable, in the womb of a simple Israeli woman and without fanfare or pomp.
He who gives when he is asked has waited too long.
When you determined in your heart to serve the Lord, be prepared for temptation from the evil one.
When we read the Bible we need to ask God to grip us by the Bible’s radically disproportionate focus on God’s saving love for sinners seen and accomplished in Jesus Christ.
20/20 Collegiate Conference 2012, Session 3, Southeastern Seminary.
It is an instructive and solemn fact, brought out in the history of more than one revival, that when a whole neighborhood had been well watered with the showers of grace, no drop of blessing has descended there where a spirit of controversy and strife had obtained a footing. The Spirit of God hovered around but fled from the scene of discord as from a doomed region where his dove-like temper could find no resting-place… Ever remember that “His work is sown in peace of them that make peace,” and no dwelling can be more distasteful, no vessel more unsuitable to Him, than a heart which delights itself with matters that provoke contention and strife… Labor with all diligence to keep your own minds in the peace of God, and in your intercourse and connection with others ever to strive for “the things which make for peace.”
Addresses by Scottish Evangelical Leaders delivered in Glasgow in 1840.
Stick with your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars; do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs; do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie, let sectarians quarrel, let critics malign, let enemies accuse, let the devil do his worst; but see to it nothing hinders you from fulfilling with joy the work God has given you. He has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself) which Satan’s or God’s servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord. Keep at your work. Let your aim be as steady as a star. You may be assaulted, wronged, insulted, slandered, wounded and rejected, misunderstood, or assigned impure motives; you may be abused by foes, forsaken by friends, and despised and rejected of men. But see to it with steadfast determination, with unfaltering zeal, that you pursue the great purpose of your life and object of your being until at last you can say, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.”
[In the eyes of some Congregants] you aren’t a human anymore when you become a pastor. You are thing. A thing that is there to baptize them, bless them, pray for them, and serve them, but if you cross them, fail them, or fall short for them they will leave you to go find another thing. No one goes to the doctor because they care how the doctor feels. They go to the doctor to get better…and once they are they will have no use for the doctor.
It is not so much our littleness that hinders Christ as our bigness. It is not so much our weakness that hinders Christ as our strength. It is not our darkness, but our supposed light that holds back His power.
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