Water Into Wine

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From Dane Ortlund:

In John 2 Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding uniting a bride and a bridegroom; a celebration, a feast.

In John 3 Jesus calls himself the bridegroom (3:29).

Conclusion: John 2 is an anticipation of the real wedding, the true celebration, the ultimate feast. That's why Jesus told his mom, 'My time has not yet come.' His own wedding was yet to come. (see further D. A. Carson, p. 179 of this book)

As Edmund Clowney once put it, reflecting on Jesus' presence at the Cana wedding:

Jesus sat amid all the joy sipping the coming sorrow, so that you and I today can sit amid all this world's sorrow, sipping the coming joy.

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How to Grow in Evangelistic Confidence and Compassion

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A very helpful encouragement and exhortation HERE from Steve Fuller.

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How Can We Obey the Golden Rule?

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Because of the word "so." Steve Fuller EXPLAINS.

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Jesus Shall See and Be Satisfied

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“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied." —Isa 53:11

The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He bought them and He will have them! They were given Him of old in the decree, and He will have them, snatching them from between the lion’s jaws by the power of His own Irresistible Grace.

Christ sees of the travail of His soul whenever a sinner touches the hem of His garment and receives the virtue that comes out of Him. He is satisfied as saints advance in Grace, as they make progress in the Divine Life. He is most of all satisfied as, one by one, they go up the glittering pathway to the gates of pearl and enter into rest.

He will be completely satisfied when all the chosen company shall be on the streets of gold like unto transparent glass and shall, without the lack of a single voice in the Divine Choir, sing, ‘Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His blood, unto Him be glory forever and ever.’”

— Charles Spurgeon
"The Suffering Christ Satisfied"

HT: Of First Importance

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A Counterintuitive Evangelistic Strategy

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From Dane Ortlund:

Jack Miller, to a young husband and wife couple, March 1987:

Grow in your daily humility and you will become more effective in winning the lost. There is a beautiful harmony here. When our lives are empty of self and pride, we are freed to be ourselves. We are not under an iron law of duty, but acting and thinking and feeling as we were meant to by our Creator. In the enjoyment of that wholeness, we become attractive to sinners.

--The Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters From Jack Miller (P&R, 2004), 235

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What do Bible Studies Have to do With Fighting Abortion?

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From Ryan Fullerton:

Marie Monsen was a Norwegian missionary to China (1878-1962). She was a woman of great faith. In 1917 God moved her to pray for Revival in that great land, 20 years later it came, and lasted a decade! In the course of her ministry she taught many Women's Bible Studies.

This morning I read a story from one of those Bible Stories. I thought it might be an encouragement to the many moms, and single ladies, and widows at Immanuel who are teach Bible Studies as disciplers, and missionaries to Louisville, and beyond. I thought it might be encouragement for you to see how your 'ordinary' Bible Study work can touch deep issues like abortion.

In a chapter called, At last-the Miracle, Monsen writes,

We had been holding classes for three days. On the fourth I was to have a lesson with the group of heathen women again. There were sixteen of them. We dealt with infanticide. Suddenly, in extreme amazement, one of the women said:

"Can't we do what we like with our own children?" We talked about it for a little longer. Then they broke down:

"Oh, and I have killed three."

"And I five..."

"I took the lives of eight of my children."

"And I of thirteen, but they were all girls."

(All the others had probably been girls too.) Only two of them did not confess themselves guilty of this sin.

It was the first time in over twenty years on the mission field, that I heard women, who knew we regarded the killing of infants as sin, confess that they themselves had committed this particular sin. They all knew, of course, of many others who had done it. This was the first time I had seen the Holy Spirit deal with a whole group - a miracle indeed.

The experience left me speechless. Then one of them suddenly asked:

"Why can't we sleep here?" (my note - they were staying with the missionaries at this time).

"Don't you sleep? What do you do at night?"

"We weep, we only weep."

"Why do you weep?"

"We remember so much."

"Do you remember all the wrong things you have done?"

They nodded in silent admission. Then I knew that He, who had come to convict the world of sin, had been doing it in this group of ignorant of heathen women from the very first day they came to us."

_____

I pray God would use many of our homes, our Bible Studies, our lives, to convict the world of sin, and to drive them to the sweet relief of the Savior.

Ryan

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How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God?

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How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God?

Such is the question that most modern people have today, when they hear Christians say that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This produces various responses, from puzzlement, confusion, disagreement, to anger and hate.

How should we answer such people? It can lead into a debate which will not prove to be profitable, especially if they are allowed to get on a tangent with their modern ideas of pluralism, relativism, and man-centeredness.

The best reply, which usually the critics will have no reply to, is a simple three-point observation.

How can Christians say that Jesus is the only way to know God and be in heaven?

1. The uniqueness of His person - He is God. He is the only divine Son of God, being the only revelation of God to man that has ever come to men. If He alone is God, then He is the only way to God.

2. The uniqueness of His claims - He claimed not only to be God, but also claimed to be the only way to God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes unto the Father except through Me." You can ask the skeptic, "Do you believe Jesus was a good man?" If He made such claims, then simply ask the person, "Was Jesus telling the truth? He was either lying, deceiving, or was perfectly truthful. There are no other choices." Unbelievers must either affirm He is who He claimed to be or call Him a liar or lunatic.

3. The uniqueness of His work - He alone died a death for sinful men that atoned for sin. No one else has ever died as an act that was a payment and atonement for sin. Many have died as an example of love and sacrifice. But only one man's death was an actual divine payment and atonement that paid for sin's debt. Who else in the history of all religions can claim that a death of their leader was a one-time perfect atonement for the sins of the world? Only Christ is the sacrifice for sin.

These 3 simple points will answer the question from Oprah or anyone else who parrots her new age views: "How can you say that there is only one way to God?"

It's simple - 1. Who Jesus was and is -- 2. What He claimed about Himself -- 3. What He alone did about sin.

- Mack Tomlinson

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A Jealous Husband

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“The Lord Jesus Christ, of whom I now speak, is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he not choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he not buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own, or that you belong to this world.

He loved you with such a love that he could not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than that you should perish; he stripped himself to nakedness that he might clothe you with beauty; he bowed his face to shame and spitting that he might lift you up to honour and glory, and he cannot endure that you should love the world, and the things of the world.

Be careful, Christians, you that are married to Christ; remember, you are married to a jealous husband.”

— Charles Spurgeon, "A Jealous God"

HT: Of First Importance

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Esteeming Singleness

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Our churches might esteem marriage, but do they esteem singleness as well? In light of that question, I thought this was a really good word from Ryan Fullerton on the great value of singleness.

All Things Being Equal, I Wish More People Were Single (1 Corinthians 7:6-9) 

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Martin Luther on Spiritual Warfare

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Courtesy of Justin Taylor:

The following is from a letter written in July 1530 to Jerome Weller, a 31-year-old friend who had previously lived in the Luther home, tutored his children, and was now struggling with spiritual despair:

. . Excellent Jerome, You ought to rejoice in this temptation of the devil because it is a certain sign that God is propitious and merciful to you.

You say that the temptation is heavier than you can bear, and that you fear that it will so break and beat you down as to drive you to despair and blasphemy. I know this wile of the devil. If he cannot break a person with his first attack, he tries by persevering to wear him out and weaken him until the person falls and confesses himself beaten.

Whenever this temptation comes to you, avoid entering upon a disputation with the devil and do not allow yourself to dwell on those deadly thoughts, for to do so is nothing short of yielding to the devil and letting him have his way.

Try as hard as you can to despise those thoughts which are induced by the devil. In this sort of temptation and struggle, contempt is the best and easiest method of winning over the devil.
Laugh your adversary to scorn and ask who it is with whom you are talking.

By all means flee solitude, for the devil watches and lies in wait for you most of all when you are alone. This devil is conquered by mocking and despising him, not by resisting and arguing with him. . .

When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus:

“I admit that I deserve death and hell.

What of it?

Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation?

By no means.

For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf.

His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Where he is, there I shall be also.”

Yours,

Martin Luther

Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel, trans. and ed. Theodore G. Tappert (orig., 1960; reprint, Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 2003), 85.

HT: Justin Taylor

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