vassal of the King

From Art Azurdia: "All of [the communication of the gospel message], however will amount to nothing apart from the sovereign manifestation of the necessary means.  If the aim of Christian preaching is more than intellectual enlightenment and moral reformation, but is, instead, the thorough-going trans-formation of people dead in trespasses and sins, then the Christian preachers must rest their dependence solely upon the Spirit of the living God because such a transformation requires a power of an altogether supernatural kind. Stated simply, the power of the Holy Spirit is the sine qua non of gospel preaching, the one thing without which nothing else matters."

"Our culture is permeated with the idea that there is no war between man and God. We hear, 'God hates the sin but loves the sinner.' We hear that God loves everybody unconditionally, but that is the biggest lie of our day, because he does not.  At the last judgment God will not send sins to hell; he will send sinners to hell. Even though sinners enjoy the blessings of God's providential love, his filial love is not their desert. The Scriptures are graphic in describing God's attitude toward impenitent, carnally minded people. God abhors them. Nobody talks that way anymore—except for God in his Word. To set our minds on the things of this world is death. God is the supreme obstacle to people's finding happiness in their desires of the flesh.  God is always standing in the way. The life of the flesh is lived not in neutrality but in opposition to God, which is Paul's point. To be carnally minded is to be at enmity with God." —R.C. Sproul, Romans , p.

A Christian's Sin Transferred to Christ; His Righteousness Transferred to Us.   Martin Luther spoke concerning this... Luther goes to say, “Unites the soul with Christ as a spouse with her husband. Everything which Christ has becomes the property of the believing soul, everything which the soul has becomes the property of Christ. Christ possesses all blessing and eternal life. They are thenceforth the property of the soul. The soul has all its iniquities and sins, they become thereafter the property of Christ. It is then that a blessed exchange commences Christ who is both God and man, Christ who has never sinned and His holiness is perfect, Christ the almighty and eternal, taking to Himself by His nuptial ring of faith, all the sins of the believers. Those sins are lost and abolished in Him for no sins dwell before His infinite righteousness and thus by faith the believer’s soul is delivered from sins, clothed with eternal righteousness, the righteousness of her bridegroom Christ.

Holy Men Meditate. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church What does it mean to meditate on the Word of God? Spurgeon said that ‘holy men are thoughtful men; they do not suffer God’s wonders to pass before their eyes and melt into forgetfulness, but they meditate deeply upon them.’  How can we learn from this and excel at the God-given grace and important discipline of biblical meditation? Below I’ve penned some thoughts on what it means to meditate . Truly, holy men meditate. 1. To Meditate Requires Aloneness with God. The morass of distractions plagues Christians today. Satan can use devices which are not sinful in and of themselves and distract the child of God from spending alone time with God. To have eternal access to the Omnipotent, to have open-arms from the heavenly Father willing to receive His dear children, to have eager affections from the Lord of Hosts to meet with His children should resolutely compel all of His children to meet with Him each day. But mee

Submitting to Church Leadership Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Hebrews 13:17 —  Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. In the following essay, I hope to show how God’s people can submit to God’s leaders in a God-honoring way. 1. Submit Obediently. An important command given to Christ’s Church is the command to submit obediently to the flock (1 Thess 5:12). This means that submission begins in the heart and it manifests itself in obedience to what the leadership decides on a given issue. To submit to the leadership is to obey the leadership with a heartfelt, eager, positive spirit. God’s people should follow their leadership and submit obediently to their godly and wise counsel. 2. Submit Joyfully. Since submission begins in the heart and manifests itself in outer conduct, the people of God should submit to their leadership with joy (Col 3:23; Heb 13:17). Steadfast joy in Christ’s church shou

Here are a number of articles that I've written in leading up to my sermon this week at Christ Fellowship Bible Church on revival. Psalm 85:6-7  — Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD, And grant us Your salvation. 1. Why Do We Not Pray for Revival? 2. Why Should We Pray for Revival?  Some Motivations. 3. Praying for Revival Through the Triune God and His Sovereign Work 4. Praying for Revival in the Church 5. Praying for Revival in the World Isaiah 64:1-4 —   Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence--   As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-- To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!   When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.  For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has t