Words of Wisdom

Job 23:12
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.

Job experienced a tremendous time of testing. He essentially lost everything near and dear to him. He lost his wealth, his family, and his health. His response is quite unexpected. Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15a).

What forged that iron will in Job to trust God in the midst of tragedy? What helped Job to continue to believe in the goodness of God when his entire world was falling apart? I believe that he valued God and His Word more than those things that he lost.

Note in Job 23:12 our text states that Job “treasured” God’s Word. The Hebrew word for treasure means to hide or store up. Job had filled his heart with treasure that could not be lost, stolen, or destroyed. The same Hebrew word for “treasured” is translated “hidden” in Psalm 119:11. “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Job also indicates that this treasuring or hiding of God’s Word was a daily priority. He states that he treasured God’s Word more than his necessary food. I do not miss many meals unless I am sick or purposely fasting. Most days I will eat at least twice and with snacks three or four times more. If you do not feast on God’s Word daily it may indicate an unhealthy spiritual appetite. When the winds of adversity blow you need the strength to trust God. That spiritual strength is built up by the daily nourishment of His Word.

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.

Spurgeon on Faith

"Have faith in God."
-- Mark 11:22

Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well; and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot, and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things; without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor Little-faith could not have fought "Apollyon;" it needed "Christian" to do that. Poor Little-faith could not have slain "Giant Despair;" it required "Great-heart's" arm to knock that monster down. Little faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to hide itself in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little-faith says, "It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of dangers; I am afraid to go;" but Great-faith remembers the promise, "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:" and so she boldly ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood; but Great-faith sings, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:" and she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then "have faith in God." If you love darkness, and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, "great faith."

Ten Reasons Not to Join A Reformed Baptist Church

By James White summarized by Joel Taylor

1.You don’t get to leave after every sermon feeling good about yourself. You may even desire repentance.
2.You don’t get to hear the sermons in the same way you may be used to. It’s frequently verse by verse, maybe not even relevant to your current situation.
3.You don’t get to be entertained. We don’t want to entertain you.
4.You don’t get to go to church every weeknight for programs. We don’t have ‘em.
5.You don’t get to be ‘lost in the crowd’. We tend to have accountability to one another.
6.You don’t get to hear social commentary. Sermons are mostly biblical and serious.
7.We’re not considered ‘seeker-friendly’. We don’t believe in seekers. Apart from regeneration, they don’t exist.
8.You’re asked to apply the sermons to your life.
9.You’re asked to attend services regularly, to support your elders in prayer and give sacrificially to the advance of the Gospel.
10.You will experience conviction of sin with regularity.

Listen to the whole message at http://tquid.sharpens.org/Reformed%20Baptist%20Church.mp3

Grace to Fortify You Against Satan's Temptations

Last night at our Wednesday evening service we talked about the fact that the death
of Christ also accomplished power over sin in this life for the Christian.

"From GRBC Doctrinal Statment:

We teach that on the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the believing sinner is freed from the power of sin."

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die;
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
(Romans 8:13, NKJV)

I thought it was interesting this morning that the following prayer devotional arrived. It is helpful to both think through these concepts as well as pray through
them.



Pray for God's Grace to Fortify you Against Satan's Temptations
From Matthew Henrys Method for Prayer

We pray that we may not enter into temptation; Matthew 26:41(NASB) or, however,
that no temptation may overtake us but such as is common to man.
And may the faithful God never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the
temptation provide the way of escape for us. 1 Corinthians 10:13(NASB)
Put upon us the full armor of God, so that we may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil; Ephesians 6:11(NASB) to resist in the evil day, and having
done everything, to stand firm. Let our loins be girded with truth, put on us
the breastplate of righteousness, and let our feet be shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Give us the shield of faith with which we may
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and the helmet of salvation;
and let the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, be always ready to
us. Ephesians 6:13-17(NASB)Enable us to resist the devil, so that he may flee from us; James 4:7(NASB) to resist him, firm in our faith. 1 Peter 5:9(NASB) And may You, the God of peace, tread Satan under our feet, and may You do it soon. Romans 16:20(NASB)

Happy Thanksgiving

Psalm
100

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

1 Make a joyful
shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His
presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who
has made us, and not we ourselves;
We
are
His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His
gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be
thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is
everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Notice
the first three verses begin with a command. The commands to Praise, Serve, and
Know are not exclusive to the people of God. These are commands to all people
in all lands. Glorifying God in whatever we do (1 Cor. 10:31) is the duty of
all mankind.

Halfway
through verse three the attention focuses on “we” that is God’s redeemed
people. The people of God not only share the duty to glorify God with all
mankind, but delight in that worship because of their unique relationship with
God. God’s people receive protection and provision. We are the “sheep of His
pasture.” Consequently we delight to gather with His people at His place of
worship and praise His name. We respond in thankfulness and worship.

The
psalmist ends with three reasons why we should be thankful. First, God is good.
All that He does is for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Second, God is
merciful. His mercy is new every day. We know that because every day we receive
better than what we deserve (Lamentations 3:22-23). Third, God is truthful and
His Word will endure forever. God never lies or changes His mind. When God
makes a promise we can be assured that He will keep it (Numbers 23:19).

Thanksgiving
is the duty of all mankind, and the delight of all the redeemed!

Happy
Thanksgiving,

Wayne

Sins of Omission

James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do
good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Lying, cheating, lusting, and steeling are all sinful
activities. When we think of engaging in sinful activity, perhaps the first
things that may come to our mind is doing the things that we should not do. In
our text, James reminds us that there is another category of sinful activity to
avoid, the sins of omission.

Failing to do the right thing is wrong. The recent sexual abuse scandal surrounding the Penn State football program is a reminder of this fact. At this point there is conflicting information as to what did and what did not happen. The person who apparently first discovered the abuse allegedly reported it to his superiors. Given the nature of the crime it appears that he should have taken more aggressive action to prevent future abuse. He failed to act to the degree a reasonable person should act in protecting the most vulnerable. Those to whom the information was relayed likewise apparently failed to act in an appropriate way in confronting the abuser and reporting his actions to the police for further investigation.

Christians are called to a higher standard. We must not only not do the wrong thing, but we must also not fail to do the right thing.

Just Say No!

Ephesians 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.


Every day I feel like I have to squeeze 100 hours of good things into a 24 hour day. It is just not possible. You have to SAY NO to some good things. You cannot do everything. Recently I was discussing this issue with one of our Elders at GRBC. He sent me a helpful article he wrote several years ago while he was a busy pastor in New York. Perhaps you will find it helpful as well. If so please pass it on.


Just Say No!
(First Baptist Church Johnson City, NY Sunday School Newsletter)
Spring 2003
Dr. Andrew T. Alexson

When my friend Esther approached me, I knew I should say no to whatever her request would be. But when she asked me to write an article on "How To Say No", how could I refuse?

There are two surefire biblical ways to get everything done that is in your Day planner. You can pray like Joshua in Joshua 10:12-14. Or while you are waiting for the sun to stop, you can say, "Yes"… "Yes" to God.

God's sovereignty means that He has both the power to stop the sun and the right to call us to serve Him. Saying no to the manifold demands of this world means saying yes to God's plan for our lives. It follows then that knowing God's plan is important. We have by our phone a list of prayerfully derived family goals (immediate, short-term and long-term) and a calendar. We use our posted goals to filter the good requests from the great. We use the calendar to schedule (guarantee) our priorities and activities. It is much easier to say "No" when the time has already been committed. By the way, this system of prioritization works with the checkbook, too!

For example, I have recently said "No" to a certain ministry activity request and a missionary support request. Both opportunities were very good, but they didn't align with how I believed God would want me to spend my time and money. I could easily say "No", because in essence I was saying "Yes" to God's plan for my life. It is vital to say, "Yes" to the GREAT things and "No" to the GOOD things. At the ripe old age of 44, I don't have much discretionary time left to spend on good things. The rest of my days should be spent serving God in great things.

Like Paul in Philippians 3:10-14 and Hebrews 12:1-2, we should know God's plan for our lives, drop all the excess baggage, and serve Him wholeheartedly.
This can only be accomplished by saying, "Yes" to God's demands, thereby letting good things pass on by choosing the best.