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106 items found for ""

  • December 1, 2024 - 1 Corinthians 1:30 - But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus

    1 Corinthians 1:30 "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption." Can you think of anything else that we need? In Christ Jesus the LORD we are made what we are not in the flesh. In our flesh, we are all nothing, whether we know it or not. Some believe themselves to be wise and mighty, but that's only a delusion, "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) Those who are hated, despised by the world because they are weak, were chosen by God deliberately and given Christ Jesus the LORD, the Word of God, the Treasure, "But we have this Treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the Power may be of God, and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) Those who are glorying in their titles, wealth, education, or accomplishments, will be brought low, if they are the LORD's, by the weak and despised. All the things they glory in will be taken, as the Word says, "That no flesh should glory in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:29) The Spirit directs that we glory only in the One that deserves it, Christ alone! "That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the LORD," (1 Corinthians 1:31)

  • November 30, 2024 - Luke 17:22 - The Comforter

    Luke 17:22 "And He said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not see it." Christ is talking about after His ascension when there will be persecution. John experienced it. He lay his head on our Savior's breast and yet in the book of Revelation, we find him on the isle of Patmos, exiled for the Kingdom's sake. The whole book of Revelation is about Christ, the very first verse of the first chapter says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." It was written for the comfort of His children of the Kingdom that would perhaps be questioning like John the Baptist, "And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that should come?" (Luke 7:19) I'm sure the disciples were thinking back to when they had Him, when they walked with Him on this earth. He was there every day and now He was gone, but this is what He told them: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18) So how does Christ come? By His Holy Spirit: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit teaches the children of Christ the Word, and brings Him to their remembrance to comfort them. I would not be preaching this to you right now were it not for His Spirit. I would be still following along in the Pharisses' doctrine because I believed that for years. You would hear people preaching about a future earthly kingdom and going back to Jerusalem, that's just the Pharisaical doctrines that are still flowing today. Why on earth would I ever want to go worship again in some earthly place called Jerusalem, in some earthly temple where sacrifices are being offered again, after Christ the Perfect Righteous Sacrifice has shed His precious blood unto an obedient death that has paid the price of my sin and made me free? NO! That doctrine is just pollution, self-righteous pollution! "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning." (2 Peter 2:20) "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1) Christ alone!

  • November 29, 2024 - Titus 1:10 - Christ Alone

    Titus 1:10 "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:" Some say, "Well we believe in Christ. We are just adding circumcision. That is all, what's the big deal?" The big deal IS circumcision. And you can replace circumcision with faith. You can replace circumcision with baptism. You can replace it with tithing. You can replace it with witnessing, and whatever else you want to add to it. That is what is wrong, because it is CHRIST ALONE . Its is CHRIST EXCLUSIVELY. It is Christ and His blood shed unto His obedient death that has satisfied a Holy God, that has paid the entire debt of His people. It is not Christ plus your believing or Christ plus your confessing Him in baptism or Christ plus your faith. I once read a writer who said, “your little part is your will. Just bring your little part and God will accept you. Your part plus what Christ has done equals salvation.” NO! Dear friends, salvation is not a cooperation between God and you. It is the operation of God from beginning to end. "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified," (1 Corinthians 2:2) In Galatians 2:21 Paul said, "I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." To 'confuse' is what that word 'frustrate' means. So what is a law? It is a rule. It is an obligation. It is a condition. If righteousness come by any rule or obligation or condition, then Christ is dead in vain. It is just very simply that. And that is why we read, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the Truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" (Galatians 3:1) There is an obedience of the Truth that is a bowing to the revelation of God concerning Christ and His earned righteousness that He alone established, He alone worked it out and God the Father imputed it to the spiritual account of every elect sinner upon completion of His death. Based on that one time Offering of the LORD Jesus Christ, God forever justified every sinner who He has chosen.

  • November 28, 2024 - Psalm 70:4 - Let God be Magnified

    Psalm 70:4 "Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: and let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified." There are two precious states of being, in the mind and in the heart through which the LORD will bring every one of His children. The first is to be lost. You may say, "How is that a blessing?" Well, when you are going through it, it is not easy to be lost, to be exposed, to see your utter helplessness before a Holy God, as a dead body in a grave. When the Holy Spirit opens your blind eyes, you see your own sinfulness and depravity and darkness. Oh, but then comes the second state which is to be found! "I will make darkness Light before them," (Isaiah 42:16) "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah 42:7) Your dead eyes are opened to see the Light. Christ is revealed by the Holy Spirit and we see, by contrast, our darkness which magnifies the Light, and we know it is Good! "For Thou art my Lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will Lighten my darkness." (2 Samuel 22:29) Lost and found are the two states which every one of the LORD's children will be brought through in their lifetime and in both cases do you know what such a one will declare? "Let God be magnified." I thank God He did not leave me to myself to continue in the darkness of self-righteousness, in the way of death that I was going. The LORD showed me who I was. He showed me that I was lost and caused me to be found by the Only Savior, to be found by the Great Shepherd of the sheep: "Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the dead our LORD Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant," (Hebrews 13:20)

  • November 27, 2024 - Genesis 13:13 - The Wrath of God

    Genesis 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." Where would we have to look if we really wanted to have a good idea of how a Holy, Just God looks upon sin? You know, there are some that would say Sodom and Gomorrah was the ultimate picture of the wrath of a Holy God against sinners, in how He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:29) Others would go back to the days of Noah, how the LORD destroyed the whole world sparing only eight people, as the ultimate indication of the wrath of God seen in 2 Peter 2:5, "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of Righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." Certainly that is a chilling picture of His wrath. But, my friends, if we want to have the most vivid picture, the clearest view of how holy and just God is and how sinful we are, we must consider that He spared not His own Son, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." (Romans 8:32) Our LORD Jesus Christ suffered beyond what any can imagine physically, "As many were astonied at Thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." (Isaiah 52:14) But more so spiritually, "And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44) Christ willingly sacrificed Himself in the place of His chosen ones, suffering their agony, for their sins without one complaint, "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) May the Spirit keep these blessed Words in our hearts, and when we think we can't go one step further in this evil world, may He cause us to sing to Him: "Hallelujah! What a Savior!"

  • November 26, 2024 - Romans 6:23 - Christ's Obedience

    Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.” All flesh from Adam’s seed has earned the wages of sin, which is death, because we were made sinners: ”…by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…”  (Romans 5:19). So, how could a just God make the sinners He has chosen to be righteous and live? How could they pay the price with guilty blood? There is only one way: the Substitute, Christ Jesus the Lord. “Jesus saith…, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’”  (John 14:6). ”…so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous”  (Romans 5:19). By Christ’s obedience, we are saved. He was obedient to the law—every law—always, and perfectly. We are all born sinners, so perfect obedience is not an option for us. Sinners from the womb, there is no hope in ourselves. Christ saved sinners by obeying His Father’s commands, even the one command given only to Him: to sacrifice His innocent blood unto death to pay for His children’s sin debt. “He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”  (Philippians 2:8). Christ’s blood, shed unto death, finished His obedience. That is how we were made righteous. He paid our debt, bringing our account to zero. Only then could His obedience—His righteousness—be imputed to our account. Only then could sinners be made right in God’s eyes. If Christ had not been obedient up to and including His death, the Father could not have accepted His blood. It had to be innocent, righteous blood, shed completely unto death. It wasn’t simply being chosen by God in eternity or Christ’s praying for us that saved us; it was His perfect obedience that bought life for His sinners. We could never be perfectly obedient. We could never pay the price for our sin. But Christ was commanded to do so, and He obeyed perfectly. “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”  (Romans 5:8). ”…He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”  (Philippians 2:8).

  • November 25, 2024 - Ruth 2:10 - THE Kinsman Redeemer

    Ruth 2:10 "Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" In this passage of Scripture, Ruth is talking to her kinsman redeemer, Boaz. Boaz is a type of Christ, THE Kinsman Redeemer of all His children. Christ is a Kinsman, related to His children by way of His body of flesh, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:14) All of Christ's children were given to Him in eternity, before they were born on this earth, "Behold I and the children which God hath given Me." (Hebrews 2:13) But none of these were saved from the "power of death," until Christ came to this earth to redeem them by His own death. Ruth sees herself as a stranger, unworthy of this man taking knowledge of her. She is an example of the redeemed of Christ, in awe that such a One could care for them. But we are never strangers to Christ, no matter how it may seem to us, "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an Everlasting Love: therefore with Lovingkindness have I drawn thee." (Jeremiah 31:3) We are drawn by Lovingkindness, with Lovingkindness and to Lovingkindness, which is Christ Jesus our LORD

  • November 24, 2024 - Philippians 4:7 - The Peace of God

    Philippians 4:7 "...the Peace of God, which passeth all understanding..." The peace that comes from Christ being revealed in the heart never goes away. Though this flesh we are in remains what it always was and always will be: our adversary, yet, there's a calmness of the awakened soul that never goes away. Peace may fade when our eyes are on the world, but He never leaves you. Our lives and the things of this world are the storm of sin that swirls around the soul constantly, sometimes with great force, but Jesus is like the eye of that storm, always there, and the closer we come to Him, the calmer we get. Jesus is the calm before the storm and the calm within the storm, the sinless center for His children. When the Spirit wakes us up to how sinful we are is when the storm begins, but then comes the Calm, Christ Jesus Who saved us, our Robe of Righteousness, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the Garments of Salvation, He hath covered me with the Robe of Righteousness." (Isaiah 61:10) There's a feeling of calm in the soul that the words of men can't explain, a feeling of well-being and though it may fade, it never leaves once planted. No one can take it from you, try as they may. It's miraculous what the Word of God in the heart does to a sinner saved by Grace, "He maketh the storm a calm..." (Psalm 107:29)

  • November 23, 2024 - Psalm 58:3 - When Were the LORD's People Saved?

    Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Some say, "You know, I am not a thief!" But, oh, yes you are! We all are. You have robbed God of His glory from the time you came forth from the womb because you came forth speaking lies. We all have. But, if you are the LORD's, He bought you with His precious blood, with His obedient suffering unto death, and He will cause you to see that. He will cause you to see that just going your own way is enough for Him to send you to hell but, "...He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him." (Isaiah 53:5) Now, this peace spoken of is not some subjective peace where people run around trying to feel at peace with God. No, the chastisement is what was required by God that would secure a legal peace by a legal justice before Him. What it would take for God to be just and declare us righteous before Him, what it would take for the price owed for sin to be paid: "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven." (Colossians 1:20) In Heaven is God the Father and on earth are His elect in the flesh. We were reconciled to God by Christ, by the blood of His cross, which means His death. The chastisement that the children of God deserve, fell upon Him. And, notice: "...with His stripes we are healed." By Christ's obedient suffering unto death we were healed! If someone asked me when I was saved, do you know what I would tell them? I would say, "Some 2,000 years ago, when it pleased God to take my sin and put it to the account of the Savior and take His Righteousness and impute it to this poor sinner's account." I was not even there, I was not even born yet. That shows that Salvation is completely outside of myself, in Christ alone. Outside of anything I do, or did, or didn't do. Outside of anything I think, outside of anything I feel or anything I don't feel. But in time I was brought by His Spirit to see that I was a sinner for whom He died, to see the imputation of Christ's earned Righteousness applied to my account by the Father at the moment of Christ's death on the cross at Calvary. He is my Peace and Rest. We do not have to deal with a God that has to be satisfied again every day by what we do or don't do, it was finished at the cross and in Christ we rest!

  • November 22, 2024 - Isaiah 42:1 - God's Elect

    Isaiah 42:1 "Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; Mine Elect, in Whom My soul delighteth..." Who is this Servant of God in Whom God's soul delights? Of course, it's His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ, His Elect. What is it to be assured of being one of the chosen of God? It is to know Christ, God's Elect. When God by His Holy Spirit says to one of His own, "Behold My Servant," He provides the ears to hear Him as well as the eyes to see Him, Christ His Servant Who carried out the work of salvation on this earth, for His elect sinners. Only His redeemed will truly know Him at some point in their life. If you know Christ Jesus the LORD, God's Elect, you know you are one of His. You will know Him as the Truth of Scripture. The fact that you know Him as He is set forth in Scripture, is the evidence that you are His. Assurance, for the awakened sinner, IS CHRIST. We are awakened to the fact that He accomplished ALL that was necessary for us to live when He died on the cross. We are awakened to the fact that we did nothing to merit salvation, on the contrary, we earned condemnation before we were even born into this world, by our sin nature inherited from Adam, "For all have sinned..." (Romans 3:23) Each of us would have taken that fruit and ate, each of us would have preferred to be a 'god' by eating it, each of us would have believed God was the liar instead of Satan, " And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4) So, in case you're trying to give yourself credit by thinking you would have done differently, you're just calling God a liar, again. When the Spirit awakens you, you'll know that you are the liar and God is the Truth. You'll know that He is Grace and He is Mercy. You'll know that even though no one deserved it, yet, it was His good pleasure to save a remnant, out of the Goodness of His Heart: Christ Jesus. So therein we know our Assurance: He is our Mercy and our Grace, He is God's Elect, He is Jesus Christ our LORD!

  • November 21, 2024 - 1 Peter 1:19 - The Lamb Without Blemish and Without Spot

    1 Peter 1:19 "But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" The griefs and sorrows of Christ were allotted to Him by the Father. He did not suffer because of anything inherent in Him, but in the place of His chosen ones. He carried the grief and sorrow of sin all the way to the cross where He paid the ultimate price for our sin, His precious blood shed unto death. You know, there are some that are trying to say that He had to become exactly what we are. They say that when the Scripture says that He became sin they actually believe and say that He became sinful. No, that is not the case! There is NO way that He could have been made a sinner and still be the PERFECT, SPOTLESS LAMB. God could NOT have accepted Him with sin in Him. His blood would have no longer been an acceptable Sacrifice. No, He bore our sin debt in our place as our Substitute. He paid what we owed with His precious blood shed unto death. Precious because He was spotless, without sin/blemish, perfect, righteous. He did not take on our depravity. He took on the wrath of His Father and died for His children. It was real pain, no man could bear the flogging that He did in His flesh. I don't believe it as men portray in some of these movies where you see Him crying out in agony. I believe what the Scriptures say, "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) When our LORD Jesus Christ did speak, it was always to the glory of His Father and the good of those drawn to Him. And yet that doesn't in any way diminish the pain He endured as the sin-Bearer. Our LORD was not exempt from suffering, quite the opposite. You read in Scripture that Christ groaned in His Spirit. To me that shows, again, His humanness and I am thankful because many times have I groaned in my spirit and He has turned my eyes to see Him and to know that anything I go through can't compare to what my LORD endured for my sin. And I deserve justly what comes to me, but He did not. He was wronged and abused and when it says that He was oppressed, that word literally means 'injuriously treated.' He endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself. Yet, in all that, He opened not His mouth. That should shut our mouths in awe and bring us to our knees at His feet! ALL glory and honor to the Lamb slain! "...Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." (Revelation 5:12)

  • November 20, 2024 - Zephaniah 1:7 - Our Continuing City

    Zephaniah 1:7 "...the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a Sacrifice..." When the LORD's children speak of Salvation, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, they speak only of Christ Jesus the LORD. Salvation is synonymous with Jesus, the Sacrifice, Preparer of ALL things required to save His sinners, Accomplisher of ALL necessary to justify them. Anything prepared, worked by mere men, becomes an idol, an ungodly work. The earthly temple building in Jerusalem was a picture, a type of Christ to come, housing the written Scripture, so His earthly body housed the living, breathing, Word of God, Who would save His world with the beating heart prepared to shed His Righteous blood unto death on the cross, in His substitutional, sacrificial act of perfect obedience and love. He is the Kingdom of God incarnate, the Miracle prepared to bless His chosen ones, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34) He is our Continuing City, prepared for us to inhabit in eternity, "...He hath prepared for them a City," (Hebrews 11:16) "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek One to come." (Hebrews 13:14) He is the ONE HEART, prepared and given, "Thou wilt prepare their Heart," (Psalm 10:17) "And I will give them one Heart." (Ezekiel 11:19) He is our Kingdom, our Continuing City, our Heart, Christ Jesus our LORD!

© 2024 by Shreveport Grace Church

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