True faith is in a Person. “Abraham believed God. ” Paul said, “I know Whom I have believed. ” I do not trust the finished work of Christ. I trust Him who finished the work. Faith is not believing that Christ died for me. I may believe that He died for me when it may be that He did not. Faith is believing that He in His life, death, resurrection, and Person is able to save me. Faith is a reliance upon Him! Faith is not believing a doctrine, proposition, or historical event, although all of that is involved in faith. Faith is believing a Person! Faith is not giving assent to the Truth, although it does give assent to the Truth! Living faith trusts the Living Lord. What we believe is determined by who we believe. If we believe Him, what we believe will be settled. It is impossible to believe Him and not believe sovereign grace! As Henry Mahan said, “We do not come to Christ through doctrine, we come to true doctrine through Christ.

-Todd Nibert, Pastor of Todd’s Road Grace Church, Lexington, KY USA

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

A help that is not present when we need it is of small value. The anchor which is left at home is of no use to the seaman in the hour of storm; the money which he used to have is of no worth to the debtor when a writ is out against him. Very few earthly helps could be called “very present”: they are usually far in the seeking, far in the using, and farther still when once used. But as for the Lord our God, He is present when we seek Him, present when we need Him, and present when we have already enjoyed His aid. He is more than “present,” He is very present. More present than the nearest friend can be, for He is in us in our trouble; more present than we are to ourselves, for sometimes we lack presence of mind. He is always present, effectually present, sympathetically present, and altogether present. He is present now if this is a gloomy season. Let us rest ourselves upon Him. He is our refuge, let us hide in Him; He is our strength, let us array ourselves with Him; He is our help, let us lean upon Him; He is our very present help, let us repose in Him now. We need not have a moment’s care or an instant’s fear. “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

-C. H. Spurgeon

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Friends, there is only one God.  Though there are many false gods of the imagination of men, there is only one true and living God.  And God, here by the mouth of His prophet, declares who He is, so that there is no confusion or mistaking Him for the gods of men.  God declares to us here that He is sovereign.  God tells us that He has decreed the end of all things from the beginning.  Before anything was created, God dwelling alone in eternity by Himself purposed all things that should happen in time and eternity according to the counsel of His own sovereign will.  God says, “I WILL DO ALL MY pleasure.” There is nothing that God was pleased to do that He has not done or will not do.  God cannot deny Himself, for all He is and all He does is holy and good.  

Therefore, seeing that the only true God has purposed ALL THINGS before any of them were made, who then shall prevent Him from accomplishing All His decrees?   If your god can be thwarted by the will or works of men, then your god IS NOT GOD!  Our God is sovereign in ALL THINGS! He is sovereign in the creation of the world, in the providence of time and especially in the salvation of His elect (John 6:39). So then there is nothing that shall stop Him from doing ALL His sovereign will (Daniel 4:34-35). 

Therefore, consider that it pleased the Father to elect a people to be His holy children. (Ephesians 1:3-6) It pleased the Father to give them to Jesus Christ the Son of God (John 6:36-40).  It pleased the Father that Jesus Christ should be made all their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). It pleased the Son of God to accomplish all their righteousness and give Himself a ransom for their sins (Isaiah 42:21; 1 Timothy 2:3-6). It pleased the Holy Spirit of God to come at the appointed time and give to us life and faith. And He is pleased to keep us until we are safe in heaven with Him (John 3:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:3-5). This is our Sovereign God; worship Him alone for He alone is God.

-Pastor Fred Evans

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16) 

A fig tree does not produce figs so that it may become a fig tree.  It produces figs because it is a fig tree. 

Even so does a believer in Christ produce good works; not to become a saint, but because Christ has already made Him a saint.   

-F.E

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.  (1Corinthians 1:30) 

This declaration gives me four glorious things to contemplate.

First:  If it is of the eternal God that I am in Christ Jesus; then there was never a time when I was not in Him.  My birth, life and preservation were all considered according to my union with Him. God did not allow me to go too far or turn me over to myself.  But He watched over me and when it pleased Him brought me to Christ. 

Second:  If it is of God that I am in Christ Jesus than it cannot come to naught.  No principality or power can snatch me from the hands of my Savior or the hands of my Father who put me there.  Our Lord said, “My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10: 29) 

Third:  If it is of God that I am in Christ Jesus than all that He has accomplished is for me.  There would be nothing significant about being in Christ if he were not my representative and substitute.  All of His glory, Greatness, and victory would be meaningless to me if we were not one by divine union. 

 Lastly:  If it is of God that I am in Christ Jesus then there is nothing left to glory in except the Lord.  “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”    

-Darvin Pruitt, Pastor of of Grace Baptist Church, Lewisville, Arkansas, USA

“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.” Psalm 66:16

No one word can fully express all that God has done for my soul, though in general it may be described as saved. Saved! Ah, that is a grand word worthy of being written in letters of gold! A saved soul includes many things—I can only mention them: 

1. A saved soul is a God-pardoned soul. All its sins are forgiven, and its iniquities are drowned in that deluge of pardoning love that rises high above the topmost peaks of all its mountain sins!

2. A saved soul is a God-reconciled soul. Once at enmity, God and the sinner are now at peace. All differences are at an end. The prodigal sinner has been embraced and kissed by the father. The rebel has thrown down his weapons, and bent his knee to the Monarch—and the Monarch has raised him up, and with a smile of love, has put him among His children. They are at at-one-ment there.

3. A saved soul is also a sin-delivered soul. Believer, your sins are not merely forgiven—but they are done away with, put out of sight, removed from you as far as the remotest east is from the extreme west! In the eye of God, you are as guiltless as His spotless Son! “You are altogether beautiful, My love; there is no flaw in you!” Song of Songs 4:7

4. A saved soul is also a God-arrayed soul. The former blessing was a negation of guilt, this is a possession of righteousness. A righteousness, mark you, that is not capable of improvement, but it is the righteousness of God Himself! A saved soul, even to the omniscient eye of Deity, is altogether lovely and glorious, robed in the splendor of “Jehovah Tsidkenu”—”The Lord our Righteousness!”

5. A saved soul is a Heaven-entitled soul. This crowns all. Not merely am I delivered from Hell, but in my hand is placed a title-deed to eternal glory! This is no fiction or flight of imagination, but a blessed fact. Possessed by every saint, is a title to Heaven that God Himself will declare to be valid to all eternity.

-Archibald Brown

A gospel church is much more than a congregation of people assembled together for the purpose of promoting a creed and continuing the ordinances of divine worship. If we are a true Church of Christ, we have much stronger ties than the waters of baptism produce.

Every true local assembly is a miniature of the church universal, as described by the apostle Paul in the second chapter of Ephesians chapter 2. A true church is a “habitation of God through the Spirit”. It is important that we as believers be properly immersed, observe the Lord’s Supper, and hold to a sound creed. But, this is the question of great concern, “are we a habitation of God?” If not, all these other things are mere vanities of religious ritualism!

A church is a family, united by the blood of Christ. A church is a body, with Christ as its head. A church is a kingdom, under the dominion of Christ. A church is a brotherhood, established in the love of Christ. A church is a temple, built upon Christ, the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

It is our desire that the Savior’s promise will be constantly fulfilled to us as a church of Christ. – “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18, 20). Christ’s presence is the one thing we must have! Are we a habitation of God through the Spirit? Let us walk in love, careful that we “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed under the day of redemption.” Let us relentlessly beg of our God to manifest the presence of Christ as we assemble in his name, for his glory.

-Don Fortner

How long a beggar will wait, and how eagerly he will plead, although he has no promise of alms, but only the bare chance of winning a penny from a passer-by!  How laboriously will fishers cast their nets again and again, though nothing has been taken as yet, and their only encouragement is the possibility that fish may come that way!  How desperately will men dive into the sea with the expectation of finding pearls in oyster-shells, encountering fierce monsters of the deep with the uncertain hope of being enriched!  And will not men draw near to God when their outlook is so much more bright, their expectations so much more justifiable?  As for me, I will lay down my sick soul at Christ’s feet, in sure and certain belief that he will heal me, and then I will follow Him whithersoever he goes, in calm assurance that He will lead me to His eternal kingdom and glory.

-C.H Spurgeon

The Lord taketh pleasure in his people (Psalm 149:4)

He who made us his Israel (vs. 2) takes pleasure in us.  He chose us in his Son, loved us with an everlasting love, gave his only begotten Son to accomplish our redemption; He quickened, called and converted us, and will keep us unto the end of our faith, the ultimate salvation of our souls.  I believe these words with all my heart, and this is not just doctrine to me, this is my life.  I live on this truth – this Savior – day by day.  But my heart is always overwhelmed with the thought that the God of the Bible “takes pleasure in me.”

God has shown me the exceeding sinfulness of sin, MY sin, and consequently, I can no longer take any pleasure in myself.  Like Job, “I abhor myself” (Job 42:6).  But HE takes pleasure in ME!  Amazing!  Take the following words to heart, and worship the Lord Our God.  “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).

What grace!  What love!  What salvation!  But most of all, “HALLELUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOUR!”

-Maurice Montgomery

The problem with sinners is not that we are unwilling to do something to save ourselves but that we are unwilling to do nothing that we might be saved by another (John 3:19-20).  Faith takes nothing from you, faith takes nothing done by you, faith demands you add nothing, only believe and continue to believe, not in anything you have done or not done.  Faith is casting your care, you whole self, your whole eternal salvation into the hands of Jesus Christ.

 -Clay Curtis, pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Ewing, New Jersey USA