Yesterday's Prophecy, Today's News

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6) We have been considering some characteristics that God wants to develop in our lives by His grace: namely, triumphant living, a fragrance of Christ, godly sincerity, and becoming living letters of Christ. How do these appear in our lives in an ever-increasing manner? As Paul wrote on these wonderful descriptions of godly living, his heart was …

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  Exodus 6:28–10:29   I’m convinced this dreadful display of judgment in Egypt, this battle between a righteous, holy God and the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, has at least two major truths to teach us. First, when God judges, He does a thorough job of it. Second, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let’s make this painfully personal. You may be in the danger zone as you read these words. You have played fast and loose with your life, ignoring warning after warning. You have shoved aside essential truths for so long …

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Salvation Cannot Be by Works and God’s Grace   “NOT BY WORKS of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). This Bible verse makes it plain and simple that good works will not save anyone. Listen to the message of Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.” Salvation is not by merit. “Knowing that a man is NOT JUSTIFIED …

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  There was a circus at the United Nations last week. There were no elephants or caged lions, no trapeze artists or sword swallowers. Not even any bearded ladies. But there were sights to see that we’ll not see outside the circus. Like U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry toting his 2-year-old granddaughter to the front of the General Assembly hall to sign an international agreement. Oh, and there were even brass bands playing inside the hall. Was this the annual visit of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus to New York City? Not quite. But for some …

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Restoration of The Harlot and Her Sisters This is the fifth section of the parable and is covered in verses 53-58. Ezekiel 16:53 53And I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them. (ASV, 1901) Now God begins to give Ezekiel the assurance that Judah would be restored. Judah and Jerusalem have been associated with their “sisters” of Sodom and Samaria, both of whom God said sinned less than Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16:46-47). In the process of restoring …

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John 15:5 (KJV) 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.     Jesus said, “I am the Vine and you are the branches…..without Me you can do nothing.” If we abide in the Vine by faith, then His life becomes OUR life — and all the fruit that is produced is a manifestation of HIM; of HIS life in us. A branch cannot bear fruit of itself. It has no life in itself. Neither does the …

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Reflections   Deuteronomy 8:3 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.   Despite all of His promises to provide for His sons and daughters, there are going to be seasons wherein God does not provide – where they may even be lack. But this is not because God is unfaithful or indifferent. Neither is it …

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  Whatever your especial need may be, you may readily find some promise in the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough and you are weary? Here is the promise–“He giveth power to the faint.” When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask him to fulfil his own word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer communion with him? This promise shines like a star upon you–“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Take that promise to …

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In pardoning the sin, and in justifying the sinner, the penalty incurred and the obedience demanded must be met. The law must be honored, justice satisfied, holiness secured, and the righteousness, dignity, and glory of the moral Government of God displayed and magnified in the eyes of the whole universe. Let an ingenuous and thoughtful mind pause and enquire how could God exhibit His infinite abhorrence of sin, and vindicate the holiness of the law; how exact the stern penalty incurred by the one, and meet the unbending requirements of the other- by saving the sinner on the sole basis …

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by Charles H. Spurgeon   CONTINUALLY have I spoken to the reader concerning Christ crucified, who is the great hope of the guilty; but it is our wisdom to remember that our Lord has risen from the dead and lives eternally. You are not asked to trust in a dead Jesus, but in One who, though He died for our sins, has risen again for our justification. You may go to Jesus at once as to a living and present friend. He is not a mere memory, but a continually existent Person who will hear your prayers and answer them. …

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