When God Delays Answers to Teach Patience on His Perfect Timing

Right now, as I was reading my Spurgeon devotional, I realized that I might need to review back on Elijah’s challenge at Mt. Carmel. I would want to start writing on Elisha promising food and the Syrians fleeing. I still feel that I might need to learn more patience. Patience is very hard to perform especially in a community where people love to dilly-dally. Yet, there’s a difference between God’s delays and dilly-dallying. Today’s evening devotional brings me back to 1 Kings 18 where we can read this instruction:

The Gospel of Christ is Baffling to Worldly Knowledge

As I feel a bit more confident in returning to my study on the kings of Israel and Judah, I feel a little bit more flexing is needed. The Spurgeon evening devotional for today’s key verse is 1 Corinthians 1:30. I decided to review some of my foolish actions and thoughts. I had thought that I could certainly convince someone to be saved with the evidence. I could sure have hope in getting the facts and figures. The late D. James Kennedy wrote the book titled Why I Believe. I only have the out-of-print edition and it’s falling apart. Yet, the book proved a blessing. It contained facts and figures so many that can prove creationism over evolutionism, and the validity of the Scriptures, and yet people still scoff at it. Ray Comfort of Living Waters has spent many years gathering empirical evidence for Christianity such as in his Evidence Bible. However, Comfort continues to suffer from so much unfair criticism.

Learning Church History is Very Important in Defending the Faith

It’s very easy to say one has the real version of church history, right? As the Reformation month is coming next Sunday, I’m getting ready for the Reformation Month with this article. Roman Catholics have said that they’re the true Church founded in 33 A.D. Roman Catholics can be divided between those who are die-hard fanatics (to the point even reject Pope Francis) and those who follow the Vatican blindly. They say that Protestantism is merely an offshoot of Rome. There have been so-called last messengers like Felix Manalo and Joseph Smith (I heard both were habitual adulterers) claiming that the Church apostatized and they came to restore it. It’s very easy to say that one has the “real history” and accuse the other of revisionism.

God’s Grace and Mercy Are Based on His Sovereign Choice

As I was reading through John Piper’s devotional, I could remember the times I was still not a Calvinist. Even non-Calvinist brethren quote Exodus 33:19 from the KJV because there will be some KJV Onlyist brethren reading:

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy whom I will shew mercy.

This was later quoted by Paul in Romans 9:15. Back then, I still read Calvinist materials while not being a Calvinist. I wanted to stay in the fundamentalist position. I could love the Calvinist brothers and sisters. However, I must acknowledge that people tend to put a Bible teacher above the Bible. I wonder if it’s more than time to get rid of the term Calvinism because it sounds like putting Calvin above the Bible when John Calvin put the Bible above him.

Charles Spurgeon’s Quote on Condition of Nonsense Misquoted

As I was reading through some of Spurgeon’s sermons, I found this quote from his sermon “The Repentance Unto Life“. This is one of the quotes that can get easily confused or misquoted. Take note that Dr. John F. MacArthur is a co-author of the Spurgeon Archives:

“Repentance” is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of salvation. Condition of nonsense! There are no conditions of salvation. God gives the salvation himself; and he only gives it to those to whom he will. He says, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy “If, then, God has given you the least repentance, if it be sincere repentance, praise him for it, and expect that repentance will grow deeper and deeper as you go further on. Then this remark I think, ought to be applied to all Christians. Christian men and women, you feel that you have not deep enough repentance. You feel that you have not faith large enough. What are you to do? Ask for an increase of faith, and it will grow. So with repentance. Have you ever tried to get deep repentance? My friends, if you have failed therein, still trust in Jesus, and try every day to get a penitential spirit, Do not expect, I say again, to have perfect repentance at first; sincere penitence you must have, and then under divine grace you will go on from strength to strength, until at last you shall hate and abhor sin as a serpent or a viper, and then shall you be near, very near, the perfection of repentance. These few thoughts, then, in opening the subject. And now you say, what are the signs of true “repentance” in the sight of God?

Paul’s Advice on How to Deal with a MARITES

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As I was opening my Tecarta Bible today, the verse of the day hit at 1 Timothy 4:7. Since I tend to read from the KJV even after leaving the KJV Only movement, the verse was rendered as:

But refuse profane and old wives’ fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

Textual Criticism of 1 Timothy 4:8-10

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One of the reasons why I left the KJV Only movement is because of conspiracy theories. One can read about the 17 verses in question or think about how translations are rendered. One such verse might be mistakenly used by a person with an inactive lifestyle to justify it if read from the KJV without understanding the context.

For bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. (KJV)