Or watch the Video Zoom Session of our Study on YouTube:
Right Alignment With God
“Order my steps in thy
word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Ps. 119:133
God has created an ordered universe.
Ps. 8:3,4 says, “When I
consider your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which
You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son
of man that You visit him?”
In these two Psalms the words
“order” and “ordained” are the same word in Hebrew: “kun”
We would have to read the
entire Bible to reference how often God is establishing order. And I suspect we
would be shocked, as I was, as to how vast its usage.
Paul states this in I Cor.
14:33, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…” NIV (NKJV uses “confusion”)
Sin has caused chaos and
disorder, but even in and through our crazy world we sense and see evidence of
a steadfast and unchanging order.
Though forces are tugging at
us to remain in a state of confusion, God’s order is always available to us to
come into alignment with. Consider this statement in the backdrop of Is. 40:3,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”’
Some examples leaped out
at me from Scripture.
In I Sam. 8-16, it seems clear that it’s God’s intention to
set a king in Israel in the person of David, but the elders of Israel’s intention
was different from God’s; “Now make us a king to judge us like all the
nations.” 8:5
God’s order for Israel was
that they would be set apart, and not “like the other nations.”
By Jer. 19:15 the prophet
speaks, “Thus says the LORDof hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on
this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it,
because they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’”
So
much for set apart
Our aim is always to comeintoalignmentwith God’s plan
and will for our lives. It’s obvious, when sin is present, that we are out
of alignment, but when sin is not evident it doesn’t always mean that we are on
mission.
God’s grace keeps us in
alignment.
We use several vehicles to
get into alignment:
Reading God’s word; “Your word I have hidden in my heart
That I
might not sin against You.” Ps. 119:11
“Keep my commands and live,
And my laws as the apple of your
eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablets of your
heart.” Pr.7:3
Listen to God’s word:
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word
of God” Rom. 10:17
Prayer: As we have said
before, prayer is a conversation with God. Let
us be mindful that in this conversation, what God has to say is far more important than what we
have to say.
Our prayer is the key element
that must align with God’s will and His word. Rom. 8:26, “Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Fasting is a vehicle that can
bring us into alignment with God.
Ps. 69:9,10 “Because zeal for You house has eaten me up,
And
the reproaches of those who reproach You
have fallen on me.
When I wept and chastened my soul with
fasting,
That became my reproach.
Jesus prayer in the garden is
a model for this, “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
We can be very capable of
using God’s word to fabricate all sorts of goofy prayers, but when we humble
ourselves, and engage with the Holy Spirit, God’s perfect plan will manifest. That’s
alignment.
The two men on the road to
Emmaus were confused (disordered). Jesus brought them into alignment as He “expounded
to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Lk. 24:27
This episode always reminds
me of Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they agree?”
Agreement with God is
synonymous with alignment with God,and
alignment is not always the easy path.
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are
those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the
opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other
authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not
necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may
represent.”
Encouragement for the Path of
Christian Discipleship
Today’s photo a blazing sun and blue skies over
Waite Rd comes from yours truly as I captured this scene last week on the walk
back to my countryside home in Easton while out walking my canine, friend Harley.I know this is a familiar scene but it’s a good
one and I share it because I am rejoicing over being there again for the
weekend and to illustrate the point that its okay to continually go back to the
familiar things in our lives that give us joy and peace.
Well it is Saturday, and while we have to be careful
not to make idols, form addictions, and be discerning in what it is we get our “peace
and joy” from, the practice of appreciation can increase our capacity for joy
and in turn increase our emotional resilience.The word of God tells us to think about things that are true, noble,
pure, lovely, virtuous and good for a reason and the practice of appreciating
the simple and pure things in our lives helps us to grow in the spirit.
But I just don’t dwell on sunny days, blues skies,
and country roads. Those things are good and pure but whenever we take pleasure
in the created things of this word we should also remember and thank, the Creator
– God.
While that particular stretch of Waite Rd is near
and dear to my heart, when I walk it I often give credit where credit is due by
thanking the Lord for it, the other things in my life, and my relationship with
Him.
The best “true, noble, pure, lovely, virtuous, and
good” Person to meditate on – God is not a thing – is the Lord and I know that thinking
about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and my life with Him is the well spring from
which I can continually go to find meaning, purpose, peace, and joy.
And I don’t only enjoy thinking about God, I like
talking about Him too, which brings us to our current series, The Lies of the
Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily
whispered into our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us
to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us
to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.
Today’s big lie is:
Lie #18: I can’t talk about my faith.
This lie of the enemy encourages us to keep silent about
the most important topic of life – our relationship with the Lord.
It has often been said that “you can’t talk about “religion”,
in public or at polite social gatherings, by various people throughout the ages
as general advice to “keep the peace” and so this lie that you can’t talk about
your faith has been widespread throughout the ages. Even though our current culture supposedly tries
to stress “inclusion”, “tolerance” and “diversity”,
political correctness would actually prefer that we remain silent on matters of
faith, particularly that of the Christian faith, because the things that Jesus
Christ said caused people to choose sides, to not tolerate evil, and to put
their faith exclusively in Him alone.Christ’s claim to be the ONLY way to God doesn’t allow for a “polite
peace” because He was fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil to save people’s
souls.
Although conversations about the Christian faith
could make people uncomfortable, that’s really the point. Jesus came to wake
people up to the spiritual realities of life because the idea that “everyone is
fine believing whatever they want to believe” isn’t true.What we believe in and who we put our faith
in matters. Our faith as Christians just doesn’t give us a framework to
navigate through life with, it gives us a relationship with the Creator of all
things who has shown us the way to live with Him forever – through faith in
Jesus Christ.
So not only should we be talking about our faith
because of the personal peace it brings us, we should be talking about our faith
in Jesus because it is the “good news” that saved us from destruction and could
save others from a dire eternal destiny.
We have to resist the devil and the societal forces
that wish to silence our Christian witness. We may face persecution and
rejection for sharing our faith ,but Christ was willing to die to share the
truth and as Christians we should be faithful to the call of the Great Commission,
to go and make disciples in all nations, to teach and to do all the things that
Christ commanded us.
Personally, I think the best way to share our faith
is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to live out our faith and to make a
regular habit of encouraging others to follow the Lord, not just with the words
we speak but by the living example of how we live our lives.
The purpose of this blog is to encourage people to
seek the Lord and His ways for our lives.I seek to lovingly testify to how the world and the enemy have lied to
us and that the answers and solutions that secular society has for us will
ultimately fail because no matter what utopian – or dystopian – plans man can
come up with to help usto “get along” –
the existential questions of how made us, why we are here, and where we are
going are never addressed or answered in light of ultimate reality – the reality
of God and His kingdom that has been revealed to us by Jesus.
Faith isn’t a matter of opinion or separated from certain
aspects of our lives.Our relationship
with God is the only thing of value because it is the thing that will determine
our eternal destiny.
So let me encourage you to not believe the lie that
you can’t talk about your faith, and instead demonstrate your faith by the way
you live and to tell people about what the Lord has done for you since you put
your faith in Jesus.
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse :
Revelation 3:5 (NLT2) 5 All who are victorious will
be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but
I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
Today’s verse points to
the future and the destiny of those who put their faith in Christ and who are
not soiled with evil.
While I don’t really wear
white – at all – here on earth, I will be happy to be clothed in white, if that’s
the dress code, when I enter into God’s eternal kingdom when I go to heaven or
when Christ returns to rule and reign here on earth.
Today’s verse talks about
our eternal destiny as Christians – our names are written in the Book of Life
and Jesus will declare to God the Father, and His angel’s – Hey guys, Michael,
Gabriele… – that we are His.
While we can really appreciate
the benefits of our lives as Christians now, this ultimate reality should
positively amaze us and fill us with an awesome sense of joy and wonder.Some day this will happen to us. We will see
this scene. We will be “clothed in white” and stand before the Father and His
angels to be declared those who will live for ever, as those who belong to
Christ.That’s good news.So enjoy your relationship with God and share
your faith because it’s the truth and your words could be used by God to bring
others to experience this future “magic moment” too.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist
my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we begin sharing from “Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister
Reality” By June Hunt.
Have you
ever wondered, Why is there so much evil?
Bewildered people all over the world watch the news wondering why evil is so
prevalent. Many never realize that Satan is the source of evil—a sinister force
who has influenced people to be evil from the beginning of time. His sly
strategy is to distort the truth of God and to lead the whole world astray.
“That
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan … leads the whole world astray.”
(Revelation
12:9)
I.Definitions
A.Who Is Satan?
Do you
remember in your early school years when you were assigned to a competitive
team in sports? The obvious objective was to defeat your opponent. The team you
played hard to defeat was viewed as “the adversary.” In later years, sport
strategies became more sophisticated, and coaches began to make serious studies
of the adversaries, including watching films of their opponents. Today you have
an adversary. But this is no game—it is real. You need to know your adversary,
Satan—the enemy of your soul. His one determined objective is to defeat you and
to destroy God’s plan for you.
“Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.”
(1
Peter 5:8)
•Satan
is the supreme adversary of God and the leader of the spiritual forces of evil.
•The
English word satan is derived from the Hebrew noun satan, which means
“adversary” or “opponent.” The Hebrew verb satan means “to attack or accuse.”
•Satan
is an angelic being created by God and possessing:
—A
mind “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.…” (2 Corinthians
11:3)
—A
will “The devil … has taken them
captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy
2:26)
—Emotions “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman.…” (Revelation 12:17)
Q “If God is so good, why did He create Satan?”
He
didn’t. God created “Lucifer, son of the dawn”—an angelic being who, because of
rebellion against God, was cast out of heaven. Only after he sinned did he
become “Satan,” which literally means adversary. Only then did he become the
adversary of God and of all that is good.
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning
star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid
low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)
Scriptural
Names of Your Adversary
•Accuser
“The accuser
of our brothers, who accuses them [believers] before our God day and night, has
been hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10)
•Angel
of Light … Lucifer means “lightbearer.”
“For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
•Destroyer
… Abaddon
and Apollyon
mean “destroyer.”
“They had as king over them the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greek, Apollyon.” (Revelation
9:11)
•Devil
… In Greek, diabolos means “slanderer” and is used 37 times in the New
Testament.
“The devil,
who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast
and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for
ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)
•Dragon
… Also means “the great dragon.”
“There was war in heaven. Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and
they lost their place in heaven. The great
dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who
leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with
him.” (Revelation 12:7–9)
•Enemy
“The enemy
who sows them [the weeds or the sons of the evil one] is the devil. The harvest
is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” (Matthew 13:39)
•Evil
One
“Take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
•Father
of Lies
“For there is no truth in him [the devil].
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
•God
of This Age
“The god
of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2
Corinthians 4:4)
•Morning
Star or Lucifer … Lucifer means “lightbearer” or
“shining one.”
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have
been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)
•Murderer
“He was a murderer from the beginning.” (John 8:44)
•Prince
of This World
“The prince
of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)
•Ruler
of the Kingdom of the Air … or Prince of the Power of the Air
“As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways
of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:1–2)
•Satan
… A Hebrew word which means “adversary”—his most common name, used 53 times in
the Bible.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan!’ ” (Matthew 4:10)
•Serpent
… Sometimes called the “ancient serpent”
“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:2)
•Tempter
“The tempter
came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become
bread.’ ” (Matthew 4:3)[1]
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
Today’s photo of the moon over Lake Ontario just
before midnight comes to us from Celestial Blue Photography (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069048257152)
, as Rocco Saya must have been out walking before Midnight, as he shared this
photo he entitled “Night Dreams” from his April 24th, 11:30 pm,
excursion to Breitbeck Park in Oswego NY on social media a couple of days
ago.I may sound old but 11:30pm on a
Monday, or any day these days, is way past my bed time and I am thankful that Rocco
was up and out there to capture this dream of a night time scene.
As a former
night owl, I know that the evening hours hold a peace and a magic all its own
and that many prefer the evenings peace to the light of day.But I
also know that the dark evening hours also provides a sense of cover in which
the dark desires of the heart can come out to play.It doesn’t have to be that way of course but
I fully understand the adage that “nothing good” happens after certain
designated hours of the night.Is it
midnight, is it 2 am, is it 3am? I’m not sure but if you are up that late, I
would invite you to ask yourself why? What are you looking for? What are you
hiding from?Are you looking for love in
all the wrong places, like I used to? Or are you on a search for excitement or
meaning, that I know is best found in the presence of the Lord.
Well, It’s Friday -Thank God! And I am rejoicing this
morning and almost have that old excitement of the anticipation of Friday NIGHT!
That usually meant that I was looking forward to mischief but now is the pure
excitement of knowing, if the Lord wills it, I will be in the presence of my
beloved wife. Reunited and it feels so good.That’s right there is nothing like the excitement of true love without
shame or guilt.So instead of running
down the cheap thrills of a night on the town seek God’s plan to get thee a
wife or husband with whom you can be “naked and unashamed”. Whoa!
Anyway,The night
time hours are also sometimes referred to as the “desperate hours” and
remembering my youthful life of sin, I know how desperately lonely someone
running through the night can be. In that desperation we can make some
regrettable decisions. Somes give themselves away to the lust of the flesh and others
lash out at the world with violence at the smallest offense. Not many people
out at the clubs or bars at night have a deep relationship with the Lord, so
the later things get the more unpredictable the outcomes of the evening’s final
destination can become. Home alone, a stranger’s bed, the hospital, jail, or
the morgue are all possibilities in a lifestyle where “anything goes”.Those hours out in the dark without God can
be desperate because without Him nothing will bring satisfaction or peace.So those desperate hours can be hopeless too
and may cause some to lament:
“I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t! It’s
hopeless!”
Which just happens to be the 17th lie of
the enemy that we will examine as a part of our current series, The Lies of the
Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily
whispered into our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us
to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us
to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.So in case you didn’t catch it, today’s big
lie is:
Lie #17: “I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t!
It’s hopeless!”
This particular lie of the enemy is whispered
into people’s ears to bring them to their destruction or to keep them locked in
bondages and mired in depression.As a Community
Freedom Ministry Associate for Freedom in Christ Ministries, I have heard variations
of this lie several times as people I have led through the steps to Freedom in
Christ have confessed about their past or current troubles when they can’t see
an easy solution to their problems.
This lie can lead people to want to
commit suicide because they can’t see a way out. This lie makes people see their
options as limited and their lives as hopeless. But it is a lie born of tunnel vision and
possibly sown by the spiritual forces of darkness who are hell bent on the
destruction of those who believe it.
But that’s a lie, there is hope and our
actions matter.
But I won’t sugar coat this.While we can affect change in our lives and can
generally endure through troubling times, people don’t always get a happy
ending in the natural.And that’s why we
simply must put our hope in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
While there is hope, where there is
life.That hope evaporates when you die,
if you haven’t peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Oh by the way, I researched “where there
is hope there is life” to see who said that and one of the people who said that
unknowingly spoke that hopeful statement as a lie. Among the many people who have been attributed
to have said those words through the ages, Google offered up devote atheist,
Stephen Hawking as saying those hopeful words even though, he believed there
was no God.So I guess if we are to
follow this departed genius’ logic, we have to believe that now that he is dead
there is no hope for Stephen Hawking, or at least no hope for heaven. If you don’t believe in God, you can’t believe
He had a Son who died for you in which to put your hope in.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
– Those who believe in and put their faith in Him – although they die, they shall
live.So there is an eternal hope that
we have in Christ.
God will help us through many trials in
our lives, but even if we should perish, we will live. Christ conquered death
and the grave, and so the Christian has the hope of heaven and life everlasting
in God’s kingdom.We shouldn’t blow that
off when times get tough, it is the hope that can give us the wisdom to go to
God to receive the strength and guidance that He can provide that will cause us
to know peace and joy even in the most dire of circumstances.
On the earth, if you have a problem and
it seems that you are “damned if you do and damned if you don’t”, remember it’s
not hopeless.Go to the Lord for wisdom,
He knows everything and I know that He will make a way when is there is no way,
even if it takes a long time or it involves suffering.God will show His way – the third option of
hope, meaning, and purpose that has victory, freedom and triumph at the end of
its path.
So don’t believe the lie that “It’s hopeless!”
because if you have Christ, you have everything. You have eternal life and the
hope of God working all things together for your good.
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse :
John 16:33 (NKJV) 33 These
things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Today’s verse reminds us
of how good God is as it aligns perfectly with our hopeful encouragement!
Christ has overcome the world and we can be overcomers because of Him. We can
have peace because of Him. While we will have tribulations in this world – how’s
that for a promise – we can be of good cheer -that’s joy – because of what
Christ did for us.He paid for our sins
and gives us forgiveness and peace with God and brings us into the royal family
of God’s kingdom through faith in Him!
So trust in the Lord, and
never forget the hope we have because of the One who overcame the world and
gave us eternal life!
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist
my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
ByARTHUR W. PINK
APPENDIX IV
1 John 2:2
In the fourth place,
when John added, “And not for ours only, but also for the whole world,” he signified that Christ was the propitiation for
the sins of Gentile believers too, for, as previously shown, “the
world” is a term contrasted from
Israel. This interpretation is unequivocally established by a careful
comparison of 1 John 2:2 with John 11:51, 52, which is a strictly parallel
passage: “And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only,
but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were
scattered abroad.” Here Caiaphas, under inspiration, made known for whom Jesus should “die.” Notice now
the correspondency of his prophecy with this declaration of John’s:
“He is the propitiation for our (believing
Israelites) sins.”
“He prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation.”
“And not for ours only.”
“And not for that
nation only.”
“But also for the whole world”—
That is, Gentile
believers scattered throughout the earth.
“He should gather
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.”
In the fifth place, the above interpretation
is confirmed by the fact that no other is consistent or intelligible. If the
“whole world” signifies the whole human race then the first clause and the
“also” in the second clause are absolutely meaningless. If Christ is the
propitiation for everybody, it would
be idle tautology to say, first, “He is the propitiation for our sins and also for everybody.” There could be no “also” if He is the
propitiation for the entire human family. Had the apostle meant to affirm that
Christ is a universal propitiation he
had omitted the first clause of v. 2, and simply said, “He is the propitiation
for the sins of the whole world.” Confirmatory of “not for ours (Jewish
believers) only, but also for the whole world”—Gentile believers, too; compare
John 10:16; 17:20.
In the sixth place,
our definition of “the whole world” is in perfect accord with other passages in
the New Testament. For example: “Whereof ye heard before in the word of the
truth of the Gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world” (Col. 1:5, 6). Does “all the world” here mean,
absolutely and unquilifiedly, all mankind? Had all the human family heard the
Gospel? No; the apostle’s obvious meaning is that, the Gospel, instead of being
confined to the land of Judea, had gone abroad, without restraint, into Gentile lands. So in Rom. 1:8:
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is
spoken of throughout the whole world.”
The apostle is here referring to the faith of these Roman saints being spoken
of in a way of commendation. But
certainly all mankind did not so speak of their faith! It was the whole world of believers that he was referring to!
In Revelation 12:9 we read of Satan “which deceiveth the whole world.” But again this expression cannot be understood as
a universal one, for Matt. 24:24 tells us that Satan does not and cannot
“deceive” God’s elect. Here it is “the whole world” of unbelievers.
In the seventh place,
to insist that “the whole world” in 1 John 2:2 signifies the entire human race
is to undermine the very foundations of our faith. If Christ is the
propitiation for those that are lost equally as much as for those that are
saved then what assurance have we that believers too may not be lost? If Christ
is the propitiation for those now in hell what guarantee have I that I may not
end in hell? The blood-shedding of the incarnate Son of God is the only thing which can keep any one out of
hell, and if many for whom that
precious blood made propiation are now in the awful place of the damned, then
may not that blood prove inefficacious for me! Away with such a God-dishonoring
thought.
However men may
quibble and wrest the Scriptures, one thing is certain: The Atonement is no
failure. God will not allow that precious and costly sacrifice to fail in
accomplishing, completely, that which it was designed to effect. Not a drop of
that holy blood was shed in vain. In the last great Day there shall stand forth
no disappointed and defeated Saviour, but One who “shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). These are not our words, but the
infallible assertion of Him who declares, “My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all My pleasure” (Isa. 64:10).
Upon this impregnable rock we take our stand. Let others rest on the sands of
human speculation and twentieth-century theorizing if they wish. That is their
business. But to God they will yet have to render an account. For our part we
had rather be railed at as a narrow-minded, out of-date, hyper-Calvinist, than
be found repudiating God’s truth by reducing the Divinely-efficacious atonement
to a mere fiction.
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
