‘Twas He That Sought the Lost

Posted on January 29, 2012 by brothershawn

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

I am of the opinion that many folks have never been “lost” much less “found”. When a person realizes that they are helplessly, hopelessly lost they will be glad to hear of a seeking Shepherd. Until then, the gospel will just be an “idle tale” for weak-minded people who “need a crutch”.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit dealing with sinners  Horatius Bonar states the following,

“He loves the sinner; therefore He lays hold of him. He pities his misery; therefore He stretches out the hand of help. He has no pleasure in his death; therefore He puts forth His saving power. He is longsuffering and patient; therefore He strives with him day by day; and though “vexed,” “resisted,” “grieved,” and “quenched,” He refuses to retire from, or give up, any sinner on this side of eternity. The extent to which we resist Him, and the amount of His forbearing love, we cannot know. This only we may say, that our stubbornness is something infinitely fearful and malignant, while His patient grace passeth all understanding.”

Have you ever been lost? Or are you still trying to work your own way out?

Shawn

I Was a Wandering Sheep

I was a wand’ring sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd’s voice,
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home;
I did not love my Father’s voice,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shepherd sought his sheep,
The Father sought his child;
They followed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er deserts waste and wild:
They found me nigh to death,
Famished and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wand’ring one.

Jesus my Shepherd is;
‘Twas he that loved my soul,
‘Twas he that washed me in his blood,
‘Twas he that made me whole;

‘Twas he that sought the lost,
That found the wand’ring sheep,
‘Twas he that brought me to the fold,
‘Tis he that still doth keep.

I was a wand’ring sheep,
I would not be controlled;
But now I love my Shepherd’s voice,
I love, I love the fold.
I was a wayward child,
I once preferred to roam;
But now I love my Father’s voice,
I love, I love his home.

Horatius Bonar  1808-1889

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Spurgeon’s Humor

Posted on January 15, 2012 by brothershawn

I would like to share several humorous stories regarding C. H. Spurgeon. Those of you who read my articles know that I admire Spurgeon a great deal. I must also concur with one modern evangelist; you could probably label me a “Five Point Spurgeonist”.

One afternoon he visited the home of one of his deacons at Orpington. His hostess took him out for a drive in a dogcart with a very spirited horse. Passing under a railway bridge just as a train was crossing, the horse began to rear, and Mr. Spurgeon in alarm said, “Oh, what shall I do?” “Do?” responded his hostess, a strong, self-reliant woman, perfectly familiar with horses, as she pushed him back into his seat. “Do what I do in the tabernacle when you are preaching, and I want to shout—sit still.”

One day, when dining with a friend, a foreign rabbi was also a guest. Hot ducks were part of the fare, of which the rabbi was not allowed to partake. He gave two or three significant sniffs, and got in that way as much of the ducks as he dare. Then, turning to Mr. Spurgeon, he said, “Moses very hard, Moses very hard.” “Yes;” Spurgeon answered, “there is a yoke upon the neck which neither your fathers nor you have been able to bear.”

The mention of a General Election recalls a characteristic anecdote which Mr. Spurgeon delighted to tell. He had gone to preach for his friend, Mr. John Offord, and, contrary to his almost universal practice, was a little late in arriving. He explained that: there had been a block on the road, which had delayed him; and, in addition, he had stopped on the way to vote. “To vote!” exclaimed the good man; “but, my dear brother, I thought you were a citizen of the New Jerusalem!” “So I am,” replied Mr. Spurgeon, “but my ‘old man’ is a Citizen of this world.” “Ah! but you should mortify your ‘old man.'” “That is exactly what I did; for my ‘old man’ is a Democrat, and I made him vote Republican!” {I have altered this anecdote slightly to “Americanize” it. – Shawn}

Links: http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/bio13.htm

http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/abio081.htm

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Bought and Paid For

Posted on January 15, 2012 by brothershawn

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  I Corinthians 6:19, 20

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot…”  I Peter 1:15-16, 18-19

In these two passages of scripture the Bible tells us why we should be holy. First the Apostle Paul reminds us that a Christian is the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Ghost. God the Holy Ghost lives in every believer. Also the Bible says, “And ye are not your own”. You do not belong to yourself. You have been bought with a price. Your body and Spirit belong to God. Therefore, {or for this reason} we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit. Christians do not have the freedom to do what they want. We are to glorify God with our lives because He has bought us, He is our owner.

In the second passage the Apostle Peter tells us to be holy in all manner of conversation. We use the word conversion today to express our speech or language and of course as Christians our language should be holy. But the word “conversation” in the former days meant “manner of life or our behavior”. We are to be holy because of redemption; we have been redeemed, bought with a price. Redeemed or bought and not with gold or silver or any other earthly thing. But with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us to be Holy. The Bible tells us we belong to God. He bought or redeemed us. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. So we are to glorify God and be holy in all our manner of life or behavior.

“We must be holy, as God is holy: we must imitate him, though we can never equal him. He is perfectly, unchangeably, and eternally holy; and we should aspire after such a state. The consideration of the holiness of God should oblige as to the highest degree of holiness we can attain unto.” – Matthew Henry’s Commentary

If we have been redeemed we must try to be holy,

Brother Shawn

 

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Bad Intentions Spoiled

Posted on January 2, 2012 by brothershawn

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”

“But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?” Acts 9:1-2, 21

A couple of Sundays ago my Pastor, Jeff Arthur made a statement that stuck in my mind. He said that when Paul was converted he wasn’t on his way to a revival meeting; instead he was on his way to arrest Christians and put them in chains and haul them off to Jerusalem. Paul was no different than any of us. The Bible tells us “there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Not a one of us. The Word of God says we are all enemies in our mind by wicked works {Colossians 1:21} If God saved you He saved you the same way he saved Paul.

C. H. Spurgeon gives us a short narrative of Saul’s conversion from his sermon, Predestination and Calling;  “…Christ determined that he would call the man. Oh, what an enterprise! Stop HIM? Why he is going fast onward in his mad career. But lo, a light shines round about him and he falls to the ground, and he hears a voice crying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” Saul’s eyes are filled with tears, and then again with scales of darkness, and he cries, “Who art thou?” and a voice calls, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.” It is not many minutes before he begins to feel his sin in having persecuted Jesus, nor many hours ere he receives the assurance of his pardon, and not many days ere he who persecuted Christ stands up to preach with vehemence and eloquence unparalleled, the very cause which he once trod beneath his feet. See what effectual calling can do. If God should choose this morning to call the hardest-hearted wretch within hearing of the gospel, he must obey. Let God call—a man may resist, but he cannot resist effectually. Down thou shalt come, sinner, if God cries down; there is no standing when he would have thee fall. And mark, every man that is saved, is always saved by an overcoming call which he cannot withstand; he may resist it for a time, but he cannot resist so as to overcome it, he must give way, he must yield when God speaks. If he says, “Let there be light,” the impenetrable darkness gives way to light; if he says, “Let there be grace,” unutterable sin gives way, and the hardest-hearted sinner melts before the fire of effectual calling.”

I like John Newton’s line from the hymn, In Evil Long I Took Delight.

“In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career.”

He stopped Paul’s wild career.

He stopped John Newton’s wild career.

He has stopped a multitude {that no man can number} of wild careers.

He stopped my wild career

Does this not give us hope for the most stubborn and indifferent sinners?

Shawn

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What Doth The LORD Require Of Thee?

Posted on January 1, 2012 by brothershawn

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8

As I begin a new year I think of what people call resolutions. Most folks say something like, “This year I’m going to lose weight or I’m going to eat healthier” etcetera. I am quite sure those are respectable goals but I’d like to shoot for something a little more eternal. There are things in this life {and the next} that are more important than your eating habits or how physically fit you are. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” I Timothy 4:8

God has shewed us what is good and what He requires;

Do Justly. My goal this year is to do what is right. It is never right to do evil that good may come. “If an act of righteousness would appear likely to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet to do it. It is yours and mine to do the right though the heavens fall, and follow the command of Christ whatever the consequence may be.” C. H. Spurgeon

Love Mercy. The Word of God tells me that my God “delighteth in mercy.” If He loves mercy and delights in mercy should I not make it my goal to love mercy? My old nature screams for revenge and retaliation, it says, “I’ll show you”. But my goal this year is to love mercy and to delight in it. “He that shows any kindness to a saint is sure to have God for his paymaster.” William Gurnall

Walk Humbly With My God. Humility is the opposite of pride. When you consider Satan’s fall, pride just may be the mother of all sin. Walking humbly with my God is a lofty resolution because pride is like a noxious vine that spreads its roots into every facet of our lives. I have found it possible even to be proud of my humility. God help me! “Humility is the proper estimate of oneself.” Charles Spurgeon

To quote a good old hymn;

“I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,
He is the living Way.”

May we grow closer to Him this New Year,

Brother Shawn

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The Dying Thief and A Living Thief

Posted on December 16, 2011 by brothershawn

“A few weeks ago one of our Baptist ministers preached a sermon from the text, “Will a man rob God?” The question was answered in the affirmative as regards some men. This was illustrated by an anecdote: A man asks another, “Are you a believer in the Christian religion?” “Oh, certainly!” “You are a member of some church, then, I suppose?” “Member of a church! No, indeed! Why should I be a member of a church? It is quite unnecessary. The dying thief wasn’t a member of a church, and he went to heaven.”

“But of course you have been baptized? You know the command ”

“Been baptized! Oh, no; that’s needless. I’m as safe as the dying thief was, and he never was baptized!” “But surely, since you will not join a church or be baptized, you do something in acknowledgment of your faith? You give of your means—you help the cause in some way?” “No, sir, I do nothing of the kind. The dying thief “”Let me remark, my friend, before you go any further, that you are on pretty intimate terms with the dying thief. You seem to derive a good deal of consolation from his career; but, mind you, there is one important difference between you and him; he was a dying thief, and you are a living one.”

The New Zealand Baptist, from Spurgeons the Sword and the Trowel.

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Sermon on the What?

Posted on December 11, 2011 by brothershawn

“…and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD…” Judges 2:10

Please read the following quote and maybe you will get an idea of what kind of shape our nation is in. {italics mine}-Shawn

“A few years back, I mentioned in class the Sermon on the Mount. The blank stares caused me to accuse them of laziness, until it was revealed that not one of those 32 students had any idea what the sermon said or who delivered it. Further questioning revealed that 25 of them had been raised as Christians, and 18 of them still considered themselves such. This is altogether typical of our rising generations of students, and the cultural ignorance gets worse from year to year.”  Professor Duke Pesta

{Duke Pesta He is a professor of English at the University of WisconsinFrom the article, Moral Relativism and the Crisis of Contemporary Education.}

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All Roads Lead to God?

Posted on November 25, 2011 by brothershawn

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

The popular cry in today is that “All roads lead to God.” Or that “we all serve the same God but there is many different ways or roads to God”.  Many of you may remember former President Bush said that he believed that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. I imagine our current President would make the same statement. Pope Benedict has stated more than once that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

This is a common belief here in this country and I assume around the world. Many believe that all religions are equal. I believe this has been taught in our schools and universities. I believe it is continuously pumped into our minds by the media…I’m okay, you’re okay.

But that is not what the Bible teaches.

That is not what Jesus said.

He said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me”

Jesus did not say …some may go by Me and some may go by Mohammed and some may go by the Pope and some may go Joseph Smith and some may go by Hinduism or Judaism or Buddhism….He did not say “it really doesn’t matter how you get there because we are all going to the same place anyway.”

We are not all going to the same place but we are all going to judgment.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12-15

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Not looking to good deeds or good works

Not looking to baptism

Not looking to a denomination

Not looking to a priest

Not looking to a preacher

Not looking to yourself

Have you been reconciled to God by Jesus Christ?

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  II Corinthians 5:20

He is the way the truth and the life…Look to Him!

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Freedom

Posted on November 20, 2011 by brothershawn

This article was written in November of 2009 – Shawn

 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:3-5

I know some people get aggravated when preachers talk about politics but I cannot help it. Please bear with me this issue. Thanksgiving is a time that we set aside to thank God for our blessings. I think we should also take a moment to appreciate those things that we hold dear, because they are slipping away from us daily and I believe our children and grand-children will not know the freedom that we have enjoyed. Read the following excerpt and understand this is the direction our country is heading.

“At 4 in the morning on July 24, 1948, my doorbell suddenly started ringing insistently over and over. Sleepily I arose, put on my robe and went to the door. There stood three strangers, two of them were in ordinary clothes and the other in a uniform. “We have come to search your house” the leader in civilian clothes said and pushed his way past me into the sleeping house. My wife Ruth heard the noise and joined me in the living room where we watched with bewilderment as the three men searched the entire house. As they were searching I thought, it’s finally come. The time is here at last.” – Haralan Popov from his book Tortured for His Faith

After the Second World War the communist took over the country of Bulgaria. It was nicknamed “Little Russia”. Religious freedom became a thing of the past. Preachers who preached the truth were arrested and “puppet” pastors were installed in their place. Those who wouldn’t go along with the government were slandered and imprisoned. Pastor Haralan Popov was hauled off for questioning that night and did not see his wife and two children again for more than thirteen years. Christians were accused of all sorts of wrongdoing and wickedness and then they were tortured until they confessed to the government’s false accusations. Communist Bulgaria {Haralan Popov’s homeland} murdered over 200,000 people between the years 1946 and 1990.

As I write this article the U.S. Senate has passed a hate crimes bill and the President has signed it into law. Senator Jim DeMint, Republican from South Carolina said the bill “was a ‘dangerous step’ toward thought crimes. He asked whether the bill would ‘serve as a warning to people not to speak out too loudly about their religious views’.”

I believe that our nation is sliding into socialism. It may not be long until three men are knocking at my door in the middle of the night. As a Bible preacher I must preach against homosexuality and all sexual sin. I preach against false religion. I preach there is only one Way to God, and that’s through His Son Jesus Christ.  I preach against the false religion of Islam. This may soon be considered “hate speech” and one day, I will probably be arrested for “hate crimes”. The communists accused Haralan Popov of many things, yet he was not guilty of anything but preaching the truth.

I know discussing this depresses some people. It’s hard to enjoy the big game or your favorite TV show if you have to think about things like this. But is it wrong of me to ask people to consider the future of their children and grandchildren, who in all likelihood will never know the freedoms that we have enjoyed?  Is it wrong to think of those who have sacrificed everything so that we can be a free people? And what about that man who said; “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” 

Give me liberty or give me death? …Are you kidding?

Won’t that mess up the little league schedule?

Now here is a question… do I allow strangers {uniformed or otherwise} to come into my home and drag me off in front of my wife and children or do I defend my home and freedoms?  You might be thinking, ‘that will never happen in this country. You just need to preach the Bible and not worry about all that.’

It sure has happened an awful lot in the past.

Democide is defined as “the intentional government killing of an unarmed person or people”.

Just to give you an idea what governments are capable of,

It is estimated that Hitler killed over 20 million people, {1933-1945}

In Russia, Lenin killed 4 million, {1917-1924}

Pol Pot of Cambodia 2 million, {1968-1987}

In Russia, Stalin killed 43 million, {1929-1953}

China’s Mao Zedong 73 million {1923-1976}

The total Communist body count is estimated over 149 million people worldwide. Men, women, boys and girls murdered by their government. {This figure doesn’t include other tyrannical regimes}

In 1938 the Reverend Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor was arrested and imprisoned in Nazi Germany. He spent eight years in the Nazi’s concentration camps. He made the following statement about remaining silent in a climate of fear:

“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me.”

I am thankful for our country.

I am thankful for the freedoms that we still have.

I am thankful for those who made it possible.

I am thankful for my family.

I am thankful for our church.

I am thankful for my job.

I am thankful for my health.

I am thankful for all of God’s blessings.

But we need to remember, we didn’t gain all of these things by luck or coincidence. Fortunately for us, there were some people in our past who were willing to fight and die for what they believed in. This is what makes us different as Americans...

And who knows “whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Sorry if I have depressed you.

Have a good Thanksgiving – Brother Shawn

Sources: Communist Body Count

Death by government by R. J. Rummel

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Being Thankful

Posted on November 20, 2011 by brothershawn

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:21, 22

In the verses following this passage Paul records the downward slide of any people or nation. Homosexuality, “fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful” The apostle Paul’s list pretty much describes our nation today.

What I have always found interesting about this passage is that they were first unthankful. When these people knew God they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful.

I have always liked the Thanksgiving holiday. It is the most “Christian” holiday we observe. They other holidays are marred by paganism or Roman Catholicism. I don’t like Thanksgiving because of the turkey, {I like ham} or the pumpkin pie, {hate it}. I like Thanksgiving because it allows me to stop and count my blessings.

As you look around at your family, your friends, your possessions…Do we not have a lot to be thankful for? My worst day is better than some people’s best day.

And if you are saved by the grace of God you have more than the richest men on earth. It really is beyond imagination!

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2,3

Happy Thanksgiving,

Brother Shawn

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

I Thessalonians 5:18

 

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