George Whitefield - The Almost Christian - Part 1

Acts 26:28, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."

FIRST, What is meant by an almost-Christian.

SECONDLY, What are the chief reasons, why so many are no more than almost Christians.

THIRDLY, I shall consider the ineffectualness, danger, absurdity, and uneasiness which attends those who are but almost Christians; and then conclude with a general exhortation, to set all upon striving not only be almost, but altogether Christians.

I. And, FIRST, I am to consider what is meant by an almost Christians.An almost Christian, if we consider him in respect to his duty to God, is one that halts between two opinions; that wavers between Christ and the world; that would reconcile God and Mammon, light and darkness, Christ and Belial. It is true, he has an inclination to religion, but then he is very cautious how he goes too far in it: his false heart is always crying out, Spare thyself, do thyself no harm. He prays indeed, that "God's will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven." But notwithstanding, he is very partial in his obedience, and fondly hopes that God will not be extreme to mark every thing that he willfully does amiss; though an inspired apostle has told him, that "he who offends in one point is guilty of all." But chiefly, he is one that depends much on outward ordinances, and on that account looks upon himself as righteous, and despises others; though at the same time he is as great a stranger to the divine life as any other person whatsoever. In short, he is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart. He goes on year after year, attending on the means of grace, but then, like Pharaoh's lean cows, he is never the better, but rather the worse for them.

If you consider him in respect to his neighbor, he is one that is strictly just to all; but then this does not proceed from any love to God or regard to man, but only through a principle of self-love: because he knows dishonesty will spoil his reputation, and consequently hinder his thriving in the world.

He is no enemy to charitable contributions in public, if not too frequently recommended: but then he is unacquainted with the kind offices of visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the naked, and relieving the hungry in a private manner. He thinks that these things belong only to the clergy, though his own false heart tells him, that nothing but pride keeps him from exercising these acts of humility; and that Jesus Christ, in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew, condemns persons to everlasting punishment, not merely for being fornicators, drunkards, or extortioners, but for neglecting these charitable offices, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, he shall set the sheep on his right-hand, and the goats on his left.

And then shall he say unto them on his left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or a-thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment unto me: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment." I thought proper to give you this whole passage of scripture at large, because our Savior lays such a particular stress upon it; and yet it is so little regarded, that were we to judge by the practice of Christians, one should be tempted to think there were no such verses in the Bible.

But to proceed in the character of an ALMOST CHRISTIAN: If we consider him in respect of himself; as we said he was strictly honest to his neighbor, so he is likewise strictly sober in himself: but then both his honesty and sobriety proceed from the same principle of a false self-love.

It is true, he runs not into the same excess of riot with other men; but then it is not out of obedience to the laws of God, but either because his constitution will not away with intemperance; or rather because he is cautious of forfeiting his reputation, or unfitting himself for temporal business. But though he is so prudent as to avoid intemperance and excess, for the reasons before-mentioned; yet he always goes to the extremity of what is lawful. It is true, he is no drunkard; but then he has no CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. He cannot think our Savior to be so austere a Master, as to deny us to indulge ourselves in some particulars: and so by this means he is destitute of a sense of true religion, as much as if he lived in debauchery, or any other crime whatever. As to settling his principles as well as practice, he is guided more by the world, than by the word of God: for his part, he cannot think the way to heaven so narrow as some would make it; and therefore considers not so much what scripture requires, as what such and such a good man does, or what will best suit his own corrupt inclinations. Upon this account, he is not only very cautious himself, but likewise very careful of young converts, whose faces are set heavenward; and therefore is always acting the devil's part, and bidding them spare themselves, though they are doing no more than what the scripture strictly requires them to do: The consequence of which is, that "he suffers not himself to enter into the kingdom of God, and those that are entering in he hinders." Thus lives the almost Christian: not that I can say, I have fully described him to you; but from these outlines and sketches of his character, if your consciences have done their proper office, and made a particular application of what has been said to your own hearts, I cannot but fear that some of you may observe some features in his picture, odious as it is, to near resembling your own; and therefore I cannot but hope, that you will join with the apostle in the words immediately following the text, and wish yourselves "to be not only almost, but altogether Christians."

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

My faith has found a resting place,

Not in device or creed;

I trust the ever living One,

His wounds for me shall plead.

Refrain

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea,

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,

This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him,

He’ll never cast me out.

Refrain

My heart is leaning on the Word,

The living Word of God,

Salvation by my Savior’s Name,

Salvation through His blood.

Refrain

My great Physician heals the sick,

The lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed,

For me His life He gave.

Words:
Eli­za E. Hew­itt

Music:

André E. M. Grétry

MI­DI

Guitar Cords

Paul Washer - What does it cost you to be a Christian? Everything!

Found this over at Time 2 Change Churches:

"I want you men to know what Jesus Christ is going to do when He comes back. He is going to stretch forth his hand and grasp everything that is and He is going to say “mine mine mine mine mine.” It’s all mine; it’s always been mine; it was created for Me, for My glory and for My good pleasure and the only ones that are going to enter into the heavens are the ones who have realized that from the start. "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!" -Abraham Kuyper

Alistar Begg - Be Careful!

This is the precarious place. You folks have come tonight to the precarious place.

You see its better to be a pagan with no interest, and the possibility of being reached, than to be a casual almost believer. Learning the menu and memorizing the menu but never eating the food and never taking the journey. Be careful. Be careful.

To listen to the Gospel while remaining destitute of faith is to fall short of God’s promised rest. The parable of the sower, what was the issue? The issue was not a problem of the seed; the issue was a problem of the soil. All the people had the same seed sown; the issue was the soil. Hard hearts, acidity, alkalinity, anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, disappointment, self pity, all of these things fouling up the soil, so that when the seed of the word is sown it means nothing. That’s why you can’t listen to the word of God preached with a bitter heart, I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care what you say. The reason I can say that with such confidence is that the bible say it with clarity and I know it because I have lived it. So until we come to the point where our hearts are broken and our knees are collapsed, and we are before God with a genuine desire to hear His voice, than you can sit for a month of Sundays and it doesn’t mean a rip. That’s why people can end services and the service ends and they go “Hey what are doing next? What do you want to do know? Hey let’s go. Will there ever going to come a time in your life when you are going to want to crawl out on your hands and knees? Will there be a time when you say “Hey, don’t speak to me. I’ve been listening to the word of God with a hard heart for seven months, and God has broken my heart this morning. I gotta go walk and talk with God. If you feel that, go do it. Less you soil is like the soil where the birds came and ate it before the word could ever get down.

Be careful. That is what He is saying. This is not something to be trivialized or fiddled with. Don’t do what they did, and that is a continuous rejection of God’s written and spoken word of God. Combining it with faith. What does it mean to combine it with faith? It means to believe it. It means to trust is. I don’t know how to put it except to tell you what I do. Like when someone else it praying and I’m listening, I try to listen in such a way so that when the person says “This week our tongues were sharp” I say “God that is true, my tongue was sharp this week. Get underneath it, and when the word of God is preached think that’s for me that’s mine, not so much write it in a sheet, as God write it in my heart. I may never pass this way again, I may never hear your voice again, I may never have this truth conveyed to me again. Therefore, today Lord, don’t let me harden my heart, make it mine today. Weak as my effort of my heart and cold my warmest thought, but when I see thee as thou art, I will praise thee as I ought. I want to see you as you are, because I know how weak and horrible my heart is, that’s what you have to do, that’s how it happens.

That is something different than listening to sermons, that is a very different experience than “Oh very good today Pastor, I liked that thing on such and such” I don’t give a flying rats tail whether you liked it or not. But I have a compassionate burning longing to see these congregations get serious about the bible and about Jesus. Serious, like our lives and heaven depended on it. That serious! So serious that we would be careful least we would have a number strapped to our front, least we be marked in a book least we began the marathon and within six and a half miles we were drop outs. THAT’S SERIOUS!

Arturo Azurdia - Spirit Empowered Preaching

This is a book is subtitled "Involving the Holy Spirit in Your Ministry" Here are a few excerpts from the book. I recommend it.

It must be understood that the preacher does not share, he declares. It is for this very reason that small group Bible studies can never replace the preaching of the gospel. Preaching is not a little talk. It is not a fireside chat. To substitute sharing and discussion for preaching is to risk the integrity of the gospel itself (p88).

The preacher brings to a fallen humanity the very testimony of God centered on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, a work which by nature shatters all human self-sufficiency. To then attempt a proclamation of that message in a manner that relies upon methods reflecting the wizardry of men is to eviscerate the gospel of its own content. The cross . . . not only determines the substance of the preacher's message, it dictates the manner in which preachers communicate it; in a way that rivets the attention of people on the beauties of Jesus Christ rather than on the comparatively paltry gifts of the preacher (p91).

The pulpit calls those anointed to it as the sea calls its sailors, and like the sea it batters and bruises and does not rest. To preach, to really preach, is to die naked a little at a time, and to know each time you do it that you must do it again (p127, quoting Alistair Begg).

2 Peter 1:20-21 - But know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

You Provide the Caption - Shepherd's Conference 2008

This picture is taken outside the hotel where we stayed while attending the Shepherd's Conference in Californis. Get creative and help me with a caption.

“Dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard”

“The best preaching is, ‘We preach Christ crucified.’ The best living is, ‘We are crucified with Christ.’ The best man is a crucified man. The best style is a crucified style: may we drop into it! The more we live beholding our Lord’s unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce. The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we can view heaven, and earth, and hell, all moved by his wondrous passion—the more noble will our lives become. Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. Get you close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds. Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain. Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried. Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object — let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful.”

-C.H. Spurgeon, sermon “To Lovers of Jesus” (#1834) delivered by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Nov. 2, 1884

Paul Washer - The Modern Church Worships and Serves Humanism.

If you build a church around a Jesus that meets all your needs then you build a church that serves man not Jesus. Our worship should be all about Him and absolutely nothing about us.

Paul Washer: The True Meaning of the Cross

You can't know unles you know what you are apart from it.

It's Sunday...Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

It's Saturday...But Sunday's a comin!

The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers and Devotions. The Valley of Vision is read by Bill Lawless.

You can listen here.

My King - S.M. Lockridge

Do you know my King?

He is the only Savior and He lives!!!

Do you know Him?

It's Friday...But Sunday's a comin!

Today's program is a short sermon by Pastor Brian Fairchild. The title of the sermon is Thoughts on the Resurrection from Isaiah 52 and 53.

You can listen here.

Heart Corruption

O God,
May Thy Spirit speak in me that I may
speak to thee.
I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me.
I am undeserving, but I look to Thy tender mercy.
I am full of infirmities, wants, sin;
Thou art full of grace.
I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my wilful sin;
all my powers of body and soul are defiled:
a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature.
There are chambers of foul images within my being;
I have gone from one odious room to another,
walked in a no-man’s-land of dangerous
imaginations,
pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.
I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself;
I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns
and thistles;
I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away;
I live bare and barren as a winter tree,
unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt.
Lord, dost Thou have mercy on me?
Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride,
at the false god of self,
and I lie in pieces before Thee.
But Thou hast given me another master and lord,
Thy Son, Jesus,
and now my heart is turned towards holiness,
my life speeds as an arrow from a bow
towards complete obedience to Thee.
Help me in all my doings to put down sin
and to humble pride.
Save me from the love of the world and the pride
of life,
from everything that is natural to fallen man,
and let Christ’s nature be seen in me day by day.
Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining,
and delight to be
not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned,
but separated from the old rock where I have
been embedded so long,
and lifted from the quarry to the upper air,
where I may be built in Christ for ever.

(Puritan Prayers from the Valley of Vision)

The Power of the Cross

The Power Of The Cross

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:

Christ on the road to Calvary.

Tried by sinful men,

Torn and beaten, then

Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:

This, the pow'r of the cross:

Christ became sin for us;

Took the blame, bore the wrath—

We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain

Written on Your face,

Bearing the awesome weight of sin.

Ev'ry bitter thought,

Ev'ry evil deed

Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;

Now the ground beneath

Quakes as its Maker bows His head.

Curtain torn in two,

Dead are raised to life;

"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name

Written in the wounds,

For through Your suffering I am free.

Death is crushed to death;

Life is mine to live,

Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:

This, the pow'r of the cross:

Son of God—slain for us.

What a love! What a cost!

We stand forgiven at the cross.

"The Power of the Cross"Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

It's Thursday...But Sunday's a comin!

The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers and Devotions. The Gospel Way is read by Bill Lawless.

You can go here to listen.

It's Wednesday...But Sunday's a comin!

This program is a short sermon titled Hope Through the Resurrection. It is presented by Pastor Morris Brooks of Grace Covenant Church of Midland, Texas. For more information about Grace Covenant Church send email to morris@pressingon.us.

You can listen here.

It's Tuesday...But Sunday's a Comin!

This is a reading from The Valley of Vision titled, The Precious Blood. The Valley of Vision is a collection of puritan prayers and devotions.

You can listen here.

Persecution of Christians - Thank you Father for Dr. Daniel Wong

We heard Dr. Wong at the Shepherd's Confernce and were blessed by his testamony.




So people will know how beautiful, how sweet, how glorious, how important the Word of God is, so they will love the Word, keep the Word, so that through all this they may know the God of the Word. Dr. Daniel Wong

It's Monday...But Sunday's a comin!

This week I will be adding to the blog each day with the focus on our Lord's resurrection.

This is a reading titled "Crusifiction and Resurrection" which is from the book "The Valley of Vision". This book is a collection of Puritan prayers. You can listen here.

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o’er His body on the tree;

Then I am dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

Born: Ju­ly 17, 1674, South­amp­ton, Eng­land.
Died: No­vem­ber 25, 1748, Stoke New­ing­ton, Eng­land.

2008 Shepherd Conference - PodCast - A Final Word to A Common Word

Our program was recorded at the 2008 Shepherd's Conference in Sun Valley, CA at Grace Community Church where Dr. John Macarthur is pastor. This show is our final word to the response to the letter titled A Common Word Between You and Us. With me is Pastor Brian Fairchild of Colonial Bible Church and Pastor Morris Brooks of Grace Covenant Church, both of Midland, Texas.

Go to: http://www.impactmidland.com