December 4^th 2022

9:30 am -----------------------------------The Gospel of Zephaniah – Zephaniah 1-3

10:00 am -----------------------------------The Good Shepherd – John 10

Wednesday: 7:00 pm---------------------

“ The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants: and NONE of them that trust in Him shall be desolate ” (guilty)– Ps. 34:2

My Goal

My goal and aim is to finish the race and obtain the supreme and heavenly prize—the incorruptible crown of life, righteousness, and glory! (Psa. 17:15). We look to Christ (Heb. 12:1-2). We follow and depend on Christ (1 Jn. 3:1-3). – H.T.M.

Murmuring

Ah, Brothers and Sisters, we have a great difficulty to keep murmuring down! There is very much meaning in that old English word, murmur. Just sound it . . . mur-mer. Any child can say that! It is one of the easiest words to speak and that is why, I think, we have that word for complaining and grumbling, because murmuring is such a very easy thing. Anyone can murmur, anyone can grumble, anyone can complain. Murmuring seems to have been bred in the bones of the children of Israel, for, in the wilderness, they were almost always murmuring . . . murmuring for water when they were thirsty, murmuring for bread, then murmuring for meat, murmuring because the Anakims were tall . . . murmuring first, for one thing, and then for another! They were always at it. They were continually murmuring for 40 long years in the wilderness. Yes, and many of us are all too apt to imitate them. But the surest way to cure us of murmuring is to let us know our own evil. A man who has been taught to realize his own wickedness and his own evil disposition will be less likely to murmur than anyone else. The poor wretch who has had the rope round his neck and has been ready to be hanged, when he gets his pardon and goes his way . . . you will not find him murmuring at the fare that is provided for him! He will say, “Oh, it is such a wonder to me to be alive at all! It is such an act of mercy that I have had my life spared, that this dry bread becomes like royal dainties, and this cup of cold water tastes to me like the richest wine might do to another man.” The Lord thus often take His children into the stripping-room and into the starving-room, and lets them see that all their afflictions are less than they deserve—that their troubles are but as the small dust of the balance compared with the mountains of tribulation and anguish which they deserve to have received in Hell! -- Spurgeon

Where Is The Fear Of God Today?

Where is the fear of God today? Is this not what is wrong with us? Is not this the whole story? This present generation is so taken up with the idea of our own importance and so occupied with the dignity of man, that we no longer fear God, if we ever feared Him. We are presumptuous, self-willed, unruly and dying a slow but sure death, and on the verge of complete ruin.

If there is one word that describes this generation of religious people, it is “irreverence.” Sophistication will yet kill this present generation. Men go to church today to patronize God, not to worship God. The majority of church-going people, judging from their attitude, believe that in attending church, they are conferring a great honor upon God. Church attendance is an excuse for a fashion parade and a show of pride. Men go to church to be entertained and amused. They insist that the preacher be a good mixer, entertainer, actor, and pulpit clown. The preacher who dares to declare the gospel of Christ is one thought of as one being hopelessly out of date.

I hear everywhere I go this statement, “He sounds like an old country preacher,” whatever that means. Read through the whole sermon in Acts 2; there is nothing in it but the Word of God, not one thing except the Scripture. How embarrassing this man would be to this generation; he would be considered odd. He didn’t even have on a clerical robe. What did he preach? The sovereignty of God, the Lordship of Christ, and salvation by grace. By modern standards, this was a bad sermon; this man preached Divine election. The cry of this religious generation is that you must not preach election—you will confuse sinners. How are you going to confuse sinners when they are already confused? They are dead to God. The result of the preaching in Acts 2 resulted in God calling some, maybe enough to try preaching this way.