Paul Washer on Election

I have to say, this is probably the best explanation of election that I've ever heard. Right on Mr. Washer!

And one more to help you remember.... Calvinism is not the issue!

Only One Life....

Two little lines I heard one day,

Traveling along life’s busy way;

Bringing conviction to my heart,

And from my mind would not depart;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,

Soon will its fleeting hours be done;

Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,

And stand before His Judgment seat;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice,

Gently pleads for a better choice

Bidding me selfish aims to leave,

And to God’s holy will to cleave;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,

Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;

Each with its clays I must fulfill,

living for self or in His will;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,

When Satan would a victory score;

When self would seek to have its way,

Then help me Lord with joy to say;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep,

In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;

Faithful and true what e’er the strife,

Pleasing Thee in my daily life;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,

And from the world now let me turn;

Living for Thee, and Thee alone,

Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;

Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,

Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;

And when at last I’ll hear the call,

I know I’ll say “’twas worth it all”;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,

If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

-I believe this was written by missionary C.T. Studd

Freedom & Bondage: The Paradox of Christianity

As Christians we often speak of the “freedom” and “liberty” we have in Christ. But what exactly does this mean? Let’s see what the following conversation has to say…..

Let me ask you, what are free from?

I am free from the law.

What law?

The law that condemns me as a sinner.

The law of sin then? Not just the law in the Old Testament?

Well, yes.

Yes, it goes deeper than just an external law does it not? Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that the law goes much further that just outward performance, rather inward perfection.

True.

Tell me, what does it mean to be free from this law?

It means that I am no longer under law.

How do you mean?

Well it no longer binds me to keep it.

Why not?

Because Christ has kept it for me.

So you are free to do whatever you want now?

No, no of course not.

Than are you really free?

I am free from the law.

What law?

Why do you keep asking that?

Because there are different laws. There’s the law of sin (which is connected with the moral law in the Old Testament) and then there’s the law of the Spirit of life. Romans 8:2 says that we have been set free from the law of sin and death, by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. So are you really free?

Well, I am free from the law of sin.

That is good, but would it be true to just say that you are free and no longer under any law?

Well, I suppose not.

So you are under a law – but it’s not like the law of death, it leads to life.

Yes, and there is freedom in that.

Yes, but there is also freedom in the other.

How do you mean?

Under the law of sin and death you were free from the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. Now it is reversed, you are under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ and free from the law of sin and death. But you are not entirely free, you are always under a law.

I've never really thought about it...

Being under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ what does that mean?

It means I have life?

Yes, but it means that you are under it, under its authority. More specifically, His authority. 1 Corinthians 6 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Cor 6:19-20) When God redeemed us, He redeemed us out of the bondage of sin. He purchased us with His blood and thus He owns us! Our lives are not our own, but we are under subjection to the Spirit of God. My question to you now is, how then should we live?

We should live in holiness and walk after the Spirit.

How?

By obeying Him.

Good. But remember the law goes much deeper than just externals. It’s an inner law, a spiritual one. In 1 Corinthians Paul discusses the issue of Christian liberty and he writes this, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (1 Cor 9:24-27) Paul is not simply talking about simple obedience here would you agree?

Yes.

So there’s something more than just obedience. There’s a full pursuit after the things of God. He says run after the prize– which is what?

The imperishable crown?

That’s part of it, but I think it’s more that that, we are seeking Christ. The Bible talks about Him being our inheritance and reward.

True.

So we are running after the prize – which is Jesus, more of Jesus in us and showing through us. Paul says that those who run in a race are “temperate” in all things. What does that mean?

It means disciplined, and having self-control.

Self-denial?

Yes.

So how are we to restrain ourselves in this race after Christ?

By not giving into sin.

Is that all?

By striving after Christ.

And being Christ-like.

Yes.

Right, because we are His body – that’s what Ephesians says, we are the body of Christ.

Yes.

Hebrews says, “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus…” (Heb 12:1-2). So there’s the race that we’re running and we’re looking to Jesus. What are we to throw off?

Sin.

What else?

Weights?

What are those?

Distractions?

Hindrances yes. But they are not “sin”, did you notice that? The weights and the sin are two different things and we are to throw both of them off.

Hmm.... 

How about you? What is it that hinders you from a full pursuit of Christ? Are there things in your life that distract you from Christ, take away time that you should be giving to Him? Remember, this is not a “liberty” issue, this is about running the race and pursuing Christ. We belong to the Lord, and we are not our own. We are called to a life of surrender and pursuit of the Lord who bought us.

Watchman Nee, a Chinese pastor who suffered and died under Communist rule wrote this statement: “The whole principle of the Christian life is that we go beyond what is “right” to do that which is well pleasing to Him.” That is our aim, Paul said, to be “well-pleasing to Him” (2 Cor 5:9). It’s not simply about “right” and “wrong” or about “sin” and “not sin”… but what is pleasing to our Savior. And living to please the Savior should be our ultimate goal.

Leslie Ludy once said, “A lot of us take the attitude, ‘I’ll just do the bare minimum so I can stay on God’s good side’ – especially when it comes to dressing modestly, living in purity, and caring for the needs of others. But in light of what Christ did for us on the cross, how can any sacrifice for Him be too extreme?” Similarly Elisabeth Elliot wrote, “What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us?  The same God who ‘did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; and with this gift how can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?’  He gives all.  He asks all.” Wow. That’s all I can say to that quote! That and - Take all of me Lord Jesus! 

Watch and Pray… pressing on when God is silent.

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my

rock and my salvation: He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my

salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

 -- Psalms 62:5-7

Recently I have walked through a pretty intense time of testing. God was testing and proving my faith in prayer and as a result there was very little sleep for about 5 days. When the time ended, the outcome was not quite what we had desired. God answered our prayer to an extent, but yet there was no YES. There was a WAIT. In other words, the answer you desire is not to be right now, but keep it in prayer until it comes. There was also a refining of my prayers because am still very much influenced by the flesh and thus my prayers are not always of the Spirit of God and in alignment with His Word and will. The Lord is very gracious to train us how to pray and so very patient.

As I was meditating on these days/nights of prayer and the testing of my faith and I was reminded of Hebrews 11:13 that says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”  They all had faith, but yet they did not receive all the promises that God gave them. They died. They died in faith; they died trusting that God would bring the promises to fulfillment. Sometimes people pray for things but often their faith is in their own faith, or their hope is in the desired outcome. Thus when it does not come they give up in defeat. But true faith is focused on one thing: Christ, not the outcome. It does not look to itself, but to God. Thus I can say that despite the outcome my faith this week was actually strengthened in the Lord. It was not centered on the outcome that I desired and as a result when the outcome was not what I would have liked, my faith did not fail me, but was still steadfast. I was still resting in the Lord, and trusting HIM, believing that He does all things well and according to the counsel of His will. My faith is built upon a rock on which is written the promises of God, and when He leads His people to fight, He is always victorious!

In Matthew 26:41, Jesus and His disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus says to them, “Watch and pray.” It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t tell them what to pray for, just to “Watch and pray”. And the purpose of this prayer watch? One purpose was to guard and strengthen them spiritual to resist temptation, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” Jesus said. The flesh and great Enemy is always tempting us to doubt, but this must be resisted. The second purpose is at the end of this verse where Jesus adds, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Often when God calls us to prayer it is not a convenient time. For the disciples, it was late at night and it had been a long day. Sure their spirits desired fellowship with the Father in prayer, but their bodies were weak and tired and the flesh demanded full attention. It is in those times that it is the most crucial to stand against the flesh, resist the temptation to serve self and instead die to it and spend your time praying instead of sleeping, eating, being with friends, or whatever it may be. Prayer is a discipline of dying to ourselves and giving our all for Christ in that moment.

When God’s answer to our prayers is WAIT it is a call to press on despite the fact that nothing is happening in the natural realm. To wait is to be quiet, silent. To rest in full dependence on another. For us, it’s waiting on and depending on Christ. Do we truly rest on Christ? Abide in Him so that everything we do, say, write is an overflow of the life of Christ? That is true faith. It is that which waits on God no matter what. It is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and it believes that He is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:1 & 6). Do you really believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him?

Oh, brother, sister, let me ask you: what is it that you are waiting for?  Are you waiting for your desired outcome? For your dreams to come true, for your prince or princess to show up, for the desires of your heart to be fulfilled? Then, my dear friend, you are waiting for the wrong thing. If you are longing for or leaning on anything more than Jesus Christ, that is idolatry. We should not desire our own dreams, but His will. We should not long for our story to unfold, but for His perfect plan to be made known. We should not wait for our desires to be fulfilled, but wait on Him. He is our expectation and our reward. If our faith is built on Christ than our faith shall never fail, for it is placed in a God who never fails. Since our faith is in Him we can say with Job, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). We accept no defeat, no loss. Our God is faithful, He cannot lie, and He always wins.

Spurgeon Quotes

Here’s some of my favorite quotes by Charles Spurgeon:  :-D

“There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possibly somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed."


"You are not mature if you have a high esteem of yourself. He who boasts in himself is but a babe in Christ, if indeed he be in Christ at all. Young Christians may think much of themselves. Growing Christians think themselves nothing. Mature Christians know that they are less than nothing. The more holy we are, the more we mourn our infirmities, and the humbler is our estimation of ourselves."

“The saint may expect to discover deeper experience and to know more of the higher spiritual life by being much in prayer. There are common frames in the Christian life, there are feelings of repentance, there’s the faith, the joy, and hope that are enjoyed by the entire family of God. But there is an upper realm of rapture of communion, of conscious union with Christ that is far from being the common dwelling place of believers. All believers seek Christ, but not all believers put their fingers into the prints of the nails or thrust their hands into His side…. In the Ark of salvation we find a lower a second and a third story, all are in the ark but not all are in the same story. Most Christians are only up to their ankles in the river of experience; some have waded till the stream is up to their knees, a few find the water up to their shoulders, but a very few find it a river to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot touch. There are heights in experiential knowledge of the things of God the eagle’s eye of acumen and philosophic thought have never seen. God alone can bring us there but the chariot in which He takes us up and the firry steeds with which the chariot is dragged is prevailing prayer.” 

“There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer – I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it.”

(from A Defense of Calvinism)


“The doctrines of original sin, election, effectual calling, final perseverance, and all those great truths which are called Calvinism – though Calvin was not the author of them, but simply an able writer and preacher upon the subject – are, I believe, the essential doctrines of the Gospel that is in Jesus Christ. Now, I do not ask you whether you believe all this – it is possible you may not; but I believe you will before you enter heaven. I am persuaded that as God may have washed your hearts, he will wash your brains before you enter heaven.”

"Free will I have often heart of, but I have never seen it. I have always met with will, and plenty of it, but it has either been led captive by sin or held in the blessed bonds of grace."

Bearers of His Presence

To [the Saints] God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

Did you know that you bear the presence of God? That Almighty God, the same One who created the world, parted the Red Sea and sent fire from heaven, dwells in you? So often, we as Christians affirm this truth, but yet the impact of it has yet to influence our lives.

I heard a story once of a pastor who was discipling a young man who was struggling with pornography. The pastor asked him if he believed in the omni-presence of God. “Of course,” the young man responded. “No you don’t,” the pastor replied, “because if you really did believe that God is everywhere and sees everything than you wouldn’t be looking at what you do.”

Do we really believe that God actually indwells us or is it just a nice Christian concept? Is it just a doctrine we hold or is it a reality in our life?

The Ark of the Covenant: Israel bearing the presence of God.

And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, to Kirjath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who dwells between the cherubim, where His name is proclaimed. So they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came to Chidon's threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God… David was afraid of God that day, saying, "How can I bring the ark of God to me?" So David would not move the ark with him into the City of David, but took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had.

-1 Chron. 13:6-14

Then David said, "No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever." And David gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it… And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. He said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order." So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders, by its poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

-1 Chron. 15:1-3, 11-15

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel bore the presence of God, but it wasn’t on an individual level but rather corporate. God’s presence was between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant and the Levites bore it on the behalf of all the people. But God did not intend to always dwell among His people this way. In 2 Corinthians Paul writes, “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people’”. (2 Cor 6:16) The New Testament with the death and resurrection of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit brought this prophesy to fulfillment. “You are the temple of the living God” says Paul. No longer does God dwell between cherubim but in the hearts of His people. Each of us, if we have put our trust in Christ and given ourselves to Him, receives the presence of God in return.

You bear the presence of the Son of God.

Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18) and at the end of the Great Commission promised, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt 28:20). Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you fail the test.” We should know and have assurance that Christ Himself dwells in us and we are to test ourselves against the Word of God.

You bear the presence of the Father.

It is not just the Son that you bear though, it is also the Father. John wrote, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). And Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

You bear the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promised not just His presence, but the constant presence of the Holy Spirit of God: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). In Romans 8 Paul equates the Holy Spirit as being the “Spirit of Christ”: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). The Scriptures also tell us that the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is an evidence of our salvation.

The gravity of bearing the presence of God Almighty…

If we really believed that God actually lived in us would we live the way we do? Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Cor 3:16-17) and, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor 6:19-20).

As the temple of God, we are called to “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord” (2 Cor 6:17). We are not to be of the stuff of the world and entangled in its delights. Rather, as Peter writes, “…as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:15-19). There is a requirement to bearing the presence of God, and that is holiness. We must die to the flesh and to self, reckon the power of sin over us as nullified and present ourselves in obedience and service to God.

The GLORY of bearing the presence of God Almighty…

Paul writes in Colossians, “To [the Saints] God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). To think that wherever we go, whatever we do, we have the presence of God in us and with us, leading us, comforting us, directing our every step. What a privilege, what a blessing! That we might bear the presence of our Lord in our body. Thus we can say with Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20)!

The Gospel Hymn

The Lord looked down on me and saw

A rebellious wretched child

‘Tis a woeful sinner here

No beauty here no bride.

Yet He took a spotless robe of white

And wrapped me there within,

He purified the darkest spot

And made me whole again.

Jesus cleanser of my soul

The blood that washes clean,

Find a grateful sinner here

‘Tis all I have to give.

I surrender Him His rightful throne

To wear the lawful crown,

If He ‘dost rule the foe must keep

Underneath His feet.

Jesus let me bear a cross

That I may like Thee be,

And walk the road of suffering

As though I bear a crown.

Blood-stained, rough though it may be

And cause my body wear,

‘Tis my joy to walk with Thee

My privilege and my prize.