Psalm 119

Help for the Straying Heart The purest saint at the moment of his greatest strength is as weak as he was before his conversion.  What has happened is that he has switched from his little human battery to the infinite power of God.  He has quite literally exchanged weakness for strength, but the strength is not his; it flows into him from God, as long as he abides in Christ. — A. W. Tozer:  The Incredible Christian, page 33) INTRODUCTION:  We are...

Great Peace “God never pursues his glory at the expense of the good of his people, nor does he ever seek our good at the expense of his glory.  He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together.” — Gerry Bridges INTRODUCTION:  We live in a dangerous world.  Read the papers or listen to the news and you will be reminded of just how evil and unpredictable it is.  Consequently, many people are gripped...

The Poison of Profession without Practice “Open sin, and avowed unbelief, no doubt slay their thousands.  But profession without practice slays its ten thousands.” — J. C. Ryle INTRODUCTION:  Religious ritual can be so deadly.  It is like a sugar coated poison.  It tastes sweet and good going down.  It isn’t until later, after many doses, that we discover its deadly consequences.  We maintain a form of religion but it is without power.  We still participate in the ritual but the joy...

A Battle Cry “The Bible was not given to make us comfortable, but to shake us up with radical life changing truth.” — J. I. Packer INTRODUCTION:  God has one great purpose.  His purpose is to manifest His glory through a people He would create and redeem by His grace.  His people, chosen in eternity past, would bring Him glory by the way they live for Him on earth (Ephesians 1:11-12).  His plan cannot be thwarted.  Even sin is used to bring...

Tried and Proven “Even today I live every moment with the Bible.  It is my constant companion.  As a believer for fifty-six years, I have tested God’s Word and found it true.  In more than five decades I have not encountered one situation on which I have not been able to turn to God’s Word for comfort, wisdom, guidance, joy and blessing.  At eighty-one years of age, I would rather have the Bible on my shelf and in my heart than...

Shutting the Door of Our Minds A man approached a speaker and said, “You Christians are all brainwashed.”  The speaker replied, “I think we are all brainwashed to a degree.  The important thing is that we Christians choose what we want to wash our brains with.” INTRODUCTION:  G.  K.  Chesterton observed that an open mind, like an open mouth, does have a purpose:  and that it is, to close upon something solid.  Otherwise, it could end up like a sewer, rejecting nothing.  The...

Life is Hard.  God is Good. “By faith the believer triumphs over the world’s enticements:  he sees that all that is in the world, suited to gratify the desires of the flesh or the eye, is not only to be avoided as sinful, but as incompatible with his best pleasures.” — John Newton INTRODUCTION:  The apostle Paul described his life like this, “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).  In the service of Jesus he never knew when or where the next...

The Man Who Sings One Note Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things in Your law.  Psalm 119:18 “I find him always singing one note.” — Stephen Vaughn on William Tyndale INTRODUCTION:  William Tyndale had to flee England.  His crime?  He was committed to translating the Bible into the English language so that the common people could have the joy of reading God’s Word for themselves.  The Catholic Church and the King were set against it.  So, he fled to...

The Clarity of God’s Word “I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning.  But faith did not seem to come.  One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.’  I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith.  I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.”  —...

Sweet Words of Truth “Even today I live every moment with the Bible.  It is my constant companion.  As a believer for fifty-six years, I have tested God’s Word and found it true.  In more than five decades I have not encountered one situation in which I have not been able to turn to God’s Word for comfort, wisdom, guidance, joy, and blessing.  At eighty-one years of age, I would rather have the Bible on my shelf and in my heart...