CHRISTmas is The WORD made Flesh

CHRISTmas IS the GREATest, MOST Supreme Mystery in ALL of human history  -- 'The WORD Himself BECAME Flesh!'

The superlative uniqueness of the CHRISTmas Message of the truly staggering Reality of GOD's unfathomable INCARNATION into His own Creation boggles the rational mind. GOD The SON was that helpless baby JESUS -- EMMANUEL, "GOD with us," the Second Person of the GODhead -- Who took on Manhood to Himself without any loss of His personal Deity, Who became TRULY and FULLY Divine GOD, and yet, TRULY and FULLY Man. The INfinite ONE limited Himself into finite Flesh -- and within that finite Flesh was treasured The INfinite ONE!

'In the Beginning was The WORD, and The WORD was With GOD, and The WORD Was GOD. HE was (ALREADY) in the Beginning With GOD. ALL things were made Through HIM, and without HIM NOthing was made that was made. IN HIM was Life, and THE Life was THE Light of men. And The WORD became Flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld HIS GLORY, The GLORY as of The ONLY Begotten of The FATHER, Full of GRACE and TRUTH.' (John 1:1-4,14)

"GOD's Word in the Old Testament is His creative utterance, His POWER in action fulfilling His Purpose. The OT depicted GOD's utterance, the actual statement of His Purpose, as having POWER in itself to effect the thing purposed. 'GOD said, "LET there be... and there was..." (Genesis 1:3). 'By the Word of The LORD were the heavens made... He spoke, and it came to be' (Psalm 33:6,9). The Word of GOD is thus GOD at work." (This quote and the following exposition of the Book of John's prologue is an excerpt from "KNOWing GOD" by J.I. Packer.)

"'In the Beginning WAS The WORD' (John 1:1). Here is The WORD's Eternity. HE had NO Beginning of His own; when other things began, HE--Was (ALREADY). 'And The WORD was WITH GOD' (1:1). Here is The WORD's Personality. The POWER that fulfills GOD's Purposes is the POWER of a distinct personal Being, ONE Who stands in an ETERNAL Relation to GOD of active Fellowship.

"'And The WORD WAS GOD' (1:1). Here is The WORD's Deity. Though personally distinct from The FATHER, HE is NOT a creature; HE is Divine IN Himself, AS The FATHER IS... this is the mystery of personal distinctions within the Unity of The GODhead. 'THROUGH HIM -- ALL things were made' (1:3). Here is The WORD Creating. HE was The FATHER's Agent in EVERY act of making that The FATHER has EVER performed. ALL that was made was made THROUGH HIM.

"'IN HIM was Life' (1:4). Here is The WORD Animating. There is NO physical life in the realm of created things EXCEPT IN and THROUGH HIM. Here is the Bible answer to the problem of the origin and continuance of Life, in ALL its forms -- Life is GIVEN and MAINTAINED by The WORD. Created things do NOT have Life IN themselves, but Life IN The WORD, the Second Person of The GODhead.

"'And THAT Life was The LIGHT of men' (1:4). Here is The WORD Revealing. In giving Life, HE gives Light too... ALL people receive intimations of GOD from the very FACT that they are alive, is due to the Work of The WORD.

"'The WORD BECAME Flesh' (1:14). Here is The WORD Incarnate. The Baby in the manger at Bethlehem was none other than The Eternal WORD of GOD... a Divine Person, Author of ALL things. The WORD was REVEALED by the INCARNATION to BE GOD's SON. 'We have SEEN HIS GLORY, The GLORY of The ONE and ONLY, Who came from The FATHER' (1:14).

"The SON of GOD IS The WORD of GOD. The CHRISTmas message rests on the staggering FACT that The CHILD in the manger was -- GOD! The Baby born at Bethlehem was GOD made Man. The WORD had become Flesh -- a REAL human Baby. HE had NOT ceased to be GOD; HE was no less GOD then than before -- but HE had begun to be Man. HE was NOT now GOD Minus some elements of His Deity -- but GOD Plus ALL that HE had made His own by taking Manhood to Himself.

CHRISTmas is the profoundest and MOST UNfathomable Revelation of CHRISTianity's HIStory -- the UNION of The GODhead and Manhood IN the very Person of CHRIST JESUS! 'The WORD BECAME Flesh' (John 1:14). "GOD BECAME Man; The Divine SON became a Jew; The ALMIGHTY appeared on earth as a helpless human Baby, unable to do no more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, NEEDING to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child -- the Babyhood of The SON of GOD was a REALITY! The MORE you THINK about it, the MORE STAGGERING it gets. NOthing in fiction is SO FANTASTIC as is THIS TRUTH of The INCARNATION." (J.I. Packer)

The world's traditional concept of CHRISTmas is but a meager show of goodwill that ends at midnight of the 25th of December. ALL the "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Xmas" or "Santa's Coming!" are shelved for the next shopping frenzy in 2022.

BUT the breathtaking Wonder of CHRISTmas is that GOD GAVE GOD! The AWEsome TRUTH of CHRISTmas is that The LORD of GLORY, The SON of GOD and Creator of ALL things visible and INvisible -- was treasured within the cramped confines of the Virgin Mary's womb for nine months -- like a natural human baby!

The GLORY of CHRISTmas is the INcomprehensible EXpression of The GLORY of the GRACE of GOD towards arrogant, proud, rebellious SIN-natured, SIN-doers like you... like me... like ALL of the posterity of Adam and Eve! 

Oh The GLORY of CHRISTmas -- GOD IN CHRIST reconciling us GOD-hating, UNbelieving, UNrepentant sinners back to Himself, redeeming us from the slave market of SIN with The SON's own BLOOD, so that by FAITH in His atoning DEATH for us helpless sinners, we may receive FULL Pardon, 100% Forgiveness for ALL our sins -- AND abundant LIFE forEVERmore! -- by enTRUSTing our very lives IN CHRIST JESUS as our Sovereign LORD, and as Redeeming SAVIOR of our eternal souls from GOD's Holy Wrath and Righteous JUDGMENT, from a destiny of EVERlasting HELL.

Oh The GLORY of CHRISTmas! HalleluJAH! \o/

 

FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME!

 'FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME.' (John 12:28) May this prayer accompany my very breath from this day September 1, 2021, onward -- 24/7, 365/365... forEVERmore. AMEN!

CHRIST JESUS: “The Hour has come for The SON of Man to be GLORIFIED and EXALTED. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, UNLESS a grain of wheat falls into the earth and DIES, it REMAINS ALONE -- just one grain, never more. BUT IF it DIES, it produces MUCH grain and yields a harvest. The one who LOVES his life eventually loses it through Death, but the one who hates his life in THIS world -- and is concerned with pleasing GOD -- will KEEP it for Life ETERNAL. IF anyone serves Me, he must continue to faithfully FOLLOW Me -- without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, IF need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of FAITH IN Me -- and wherever I AM in Heaven’s GLORY, there will My servant be ALSO. IF anyone serves Me, The FATHER will honor him" (John 12:23-26, Amplified).

“Now My soul is TROUBLED and DEEPLY DISTRESSED -- what shall I say? ‘FATHER, SAVE Me from THIS Hour of trial and agony’? BUT it is for THIS very Purpose that I have come to THIS Hour -- THIS time and place. Rather, I will say, ‘FATHER, GLORIFY -- honor, extol -- YOUR NAME!’” Then a VOICE came from Heaven saying, “I have both GLORIFIED It, and will GLORIFY It AGAIN” (John 12:27-28, Amplified)

(The following are notes and/or excerpts from C.H. Spurgeon's sermon, "A Golden PRAYER" -- a MUCH NEEDED message for ALL who are IN CHRIST -- Born-Again Believers of The LORD JESUS, Heaven-bound Pilgrims who are NOT of THIS world, who are presently experiencing MUCH suffering in this fallen, darkened, sin-FULL world.)

"The Death of CHRIST was a very PECULIAR one -- and in FACT, it stands by itself ALONE. HIS DEATH was the VINDICATION of Justice. It was the DEATH of The Sin-BEARER. It was a SACRIFICIAL, SUBSTITUTIONARY, EXPIATORY Death. HE was MADE a Curse for us that we may be BLESSED IN HIM" (C.H. Spurgeon).

When JESUS said in  public 'Now My soul is troubled and deeply distressed' (John 12:27a) -- it was a public rehearsal of that MENTAL Battle, that INNER Conflict, that SOULful Anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He expressed -- 'My Soul is EXCEEDINGLY SORROWFUL, even to DEATH' (for in His Humanity, JESUS experienced powerful emotions of "horror, anxiety, agitation. JESUS' contemplation of taking on The WRATH of GOD for the SINs of the world caused REVULSION in the Sinless SAVIOR" -- John MacArthur's commentary on John 12:27). And The SON asked The FATHER thrice, 'O My FATHER, IF it is possible, LET this Cup pass from Me -- nevertheless, NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL' (Matthew 26:38a,39b). JESUS' depth of distress was such that 'being in AGONY, He prayed more earnestly. Then His SWEAT became like great drops of BLOOD falling down to the ground' (Luke 22:44). Yet He was VICTORious at Gethsemane. He RESOLUTELY 'SET His Face like flint' -- and RESOLVED to accomplish ALL for His FATHER's GLORY.

When JESUS proclaimed in a loud voice -- 'FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME!' amidst a great multitude who were in Jerusalem that Palm Sunday -- in effect, was what He said later in Gethsemane, 'FATHER, NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL' -- GLORIFY YOUR NAME IN MY DEATH. And when JESUS cried out 'IT IS FINISHED!' on The CROSS at Calvary -- The FATHER of GLORY WAS GLORIFIED IN DEED by The LORD of GLORY.

When the Twice-Born Child of GOD feels overwhelmed, near total despair in his/her personal sorrow -- grieving unconsoleably over the loss of a loved one, feeling helpless against ongoing illness, suffering deep mental depression, utterly distraught after a disaster has taken away every physical comfort and future security -- WHAT can he ask of GOD his FATHER, of GOD his LORD and SAVIOR, of GOD The SPIRIT his Comforter and Helper? May our own prayer be -- HOLY FATHER, in my sorrow, GLORIFY YOUR NAME! LORD JESUS, in my illness, GLORIFY YOUR NAME! LORD SPIRIT, in my losing all my possessions, GLORIFY YOUR NAME! My GOD IN CHRIST, even in my death -- GLORIFY YOURSELF IN me! AMEN

When the GLORY-Bound Child of GOD is deeply troubled and doesn't know what to say, but will pray from the depth of his soul -- "FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME! -- he has said the RIGHT thing. When this prayer rises from his innermost heart -- the conflict is over. NO outward fright nor inward fear remains. He can cast aside all gloomy forebodings, and he can thoughtfully and passively pursue the way into the UNknown TOmorrow."

When the BLOOD-Bought Child of GOD can truly pray, 'FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME!' -- he means, "LORD, do what YOU Will with me. i will make NO stipulations, but leave ALL to YOU. Do not spare me... GLORIFY YOUR NAME in me by ANY means and by ALL means. i am willing to be made NOthing of, so that YOUR WILL may be done. i am willing to be as one dead and buried, forgotten and UNknown if YOU may be magnified. i am ready to be buried and sown because i believe that this is the way that i shall grow and bring forth Fruit to YOUR PRAISE."

This self-renouncing SURRENDER includes OBEDIENT service. Our LORD JESUS said, 'IF anyone serves Me -- let him FOLLOW Me' (John 12:26). The totally surrendered, fully committed Follower of CHRIST will pray, "FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR Name IN me. i am the recipient of SO MUCH Mercy -- get some GLORY out of me, i pray!"

"The man who REALLY lives is the man who has learned to live for Others and for GOD. IF any man is living for himSELF, he will be UNloveable. IF you will even act under the ambition to be loved -- you will miss the mark. But IF you will LOVE for LOVE's sake, IF you seek to be CHRIST-like, IF you will lay yourself out to GLORIFY GOD and increase HIS Kingdom and BLESS your fellow men -- you will live in the highest and noblest sense. Seek NOT your OWN greatness, but labor to make JESUS great and you will live."

"CHRISTians -- LIVE BY DYING. Kill SELF -- and CHRIST SHALL LIVE IN you, and SO shall you yourself MOST TRULY LIVE. The way to TRUE Life and Honor is to go downward in SELF-humiliation. Renounce ALL -- and you shall be RICH. Have NOthing -- and you shall have ALL things. Try to be SOMEthing -- and you shall be NOthing. BE NOthing -- and you shall LIVE. That is the GREAT lesson that JESUS would teach us, but are SLOW to learn."

"We IN CHRIST desire The LORD to GLORIFY that NAME in ourselves by preventing our IMpatience in suffering, in keeping us from faintness in labor. We beseech our Heavenly FATHER to destroy our SELFishness, to cast out our PRIDE, to overcome EVERY evil propensity that prevent His getting GLORY out of us. Fling ALL away that will not turn into YOUR GLORY, but use ALL that can be used. To the UTMOST -- GLORIFY YOUR NAME."

Let us pray -- "FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME YOURSELF. In YOUR Providence, so arrange my position and condition as to GLORIFY YOUR NAME. By YOUR GRACE, so sustain me and sanctify me that i may GLORIFY YOU. IF you can pray this way, your confidence will come back to you. IF you have been greatly distracted, calm PEACE will visit you again."

Let us pray, "i will bear The LORD's Will and will be content therewith. i can't quarrel with my Master's dealings anymore, for i have asked Him to GLORIFY HIS NAME, and as i KNOW that HE is doing it, i cannot murmur. How can i struggle with that which is REALLY GLORIFYING my FATHER? My heart will stop to question and quake, and nestle down beneath the ETERNAL Wings in PEACE. Filled with patience, i will take the Cup which had stood UNtasted, and grasp it with willingness. It is to GLORIFY GOD! Every drop of this Cup is for HIS GLORY."

"THAT which most thoroughly yields itself to GOD, THAT which most completely annihilates itself to the Eternal ALL is MOST GLORIFYING to HIM. May GOD in His INfinite Mercy bring us to this SELF-annihilation and THIS care for His GLORY ONLY. Strive after it, beloved, by the POWER of The Holy SPIRIT."

"IF i find Him, IF i follow -- what reward is here? Many a labor, many a sorrow, many a tear. JESUS Himself said, 'UNLESS a man take up his cross daily and FOLLOW Me, he cannot be My disciple.' But mark you, those who were willing to suffer for CHRIST will be counted to be the ONLY SANE persons who ever lived. And those who looked to the main chance, and cared only for SELF, and DISregarded GOD and Faith IN CHRIST and Love for their fellow men will be regarded as having been mere IDIOTS and DRIVELS."

 

 

"Scatter... scatter your lives for Others. GIVE yourselves UP to JESUS. For 'he who loves his life will LOSE it -- but he who hates his life in THIS world will keep it for ETERNAL Life' (John 12:25). But as for the UNgodly UNbeliever -- if you lived only for your SELF, GOD will yet have HIS GLORY out of you. You shall not rob Him of HIS Honor... GOD WILL be GLORIFIED by you or in you in some form or other... GOD's Wisdom will be vindicated for ALL Eternity. You will be obliged to own that the warnings of The Gospel were TRUE and that GOD IS JUST... and you will have to CONFESS that JESUS was RIGHT and you were WRONG, and that to BELIEVE IN Him and to be HIS Disciple was the RIGHT thing. And to despise HIM and to live for your SELF was what HE told you -- DESTRUCTION and RUIN."

"A Golden PRAYER" -- sermon by C.H. Spurgeon, on December 30, 1877. ALL of us can enCOURAGEd by the Prince of Preachers -- Charles H. Spurgeon -- and be STRENGTHened by The Holy SPIRIT withIN applying this MUCH-NEEDED message to each and every Child of GOD whose soul is suffering, who is under extreme duress, who is feeling utterly helpless with his/her ongoing plight -- whether spiritual, mental, physical or material loss. Click on link for other GOD-glorifying, JESUS-pointing, SPIRIT-anointed sermons by C.H. Spurgeon.

HIS Story is my story

HIS Story is historical FACT. HIS Story is FULL of GRACE and TRUTH. HIS Story is The EVERlasting GOOD News of REDEMPTION by the GRACE of The ONE TRUE LIVING GOD -- The FATHER, The SON, and The Holy SPIRIT -- THE Source and Fount of ALL Eternal GLORY.

HIS Story is the REALITY i am utterly privileged and JOYfully obligated to fearlessly proclaim: HE IS Himself 'The WAY and The TRUTH and The LIFE.' No one can even approach GOD The FATHER of GLORY but by HIM -- The LORD of GLORY. HE IS Himself The PATH to Eternal GLORY, Himself The REALITY EVERlasting, Himself The RESURRECTED CHRIST of GOD -- The LORD and The SAVIOR of Creation, of SIN-natured, sin-DOers -- like me.

HIS Story is my own personal LIFE-story. To me, 'TO LIVE IS CHRIST -- TO DIE IS (exceedingly rich, UNspeakable) GAIN!' i KNOW without ANY shadow of doubt that GOD IN CHRIST caused and continue to cause ALL things, ALL circumstances, ALL relationships -- whether good or evil -- to work together for my personal GOOD because i love HIM Who first LOVED me, Who CALLED me by name according to HIS Plan which HE Purposed IN CHRIST even before HE began Time and created the visible and INvisible realms of HIS Universe.

BECAUSE of HIM Who has lavished His INcomparable LOVE and Boundless GRACE upon me; BECAUSE of HIM Who gave up His LIFE for me; BECAUSE of HIM Who quickened me ALIVE to NEWness of LIFE IN CHRIST -- i am compelled by GOD's overwhelming LOVE to speak IN spirit and IN TRUTH about The GLORY of the GRACE of GOD, as demonstrated by The GLORY of HIS SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, as made REALity for ALL Born-Again Believers and Followers IN CHRIST by The GLORY of the SUPERnatural RESURRECTION POWER of The Holy SPIRIT.

The HIStory of CHRIST JESUS my GOD and Master, The LORD of GLORY Who bought (PAID-IN-FULL) my ETERNAL soul with His own BLOOD -- is my personal GOOD News to proclaim, The HIStory in which i am not ashamed, The HIStory in which i make my only boast. For by the GRACE of GOD alone -- i am what i am... IN CHRIST JESUS -- united with HIM in The GLORY -- forEVERmore! \o/

Authentic CHRISTians Gladly Serve GOD

'IF it is disagreeable in your sight to serve The LORD, choose for yourselves TOday whom you will serve -- whether the gods which your fathers served...  or the gods...in whose land you are living -- but as for me and my house, we will serve The LORD.' (Joshua 24:15)

 

i've chosen to serve The LORD -- The One TRUE Living GOD Who canNOT lie, who is The Just JUDGE of His creatures, Who acts with INfinite WISDOM, INcomprehensible LOVE, UNchanging HOLINESS and INfallible TRUTH.

i've chosen to serve The GOD Who gives the Breath of LIFE to ALL (whether yet inside the womb or outside), Who is SOVEREIGN Ruler of the destiny of ALL creation. i've chosen to serve The GOD of Law and Order, not of chaos and rebellion -- The GOD of The Holy Scriptures Whose written WORD is INfallible TRUTH revealed and to be obeyed.

i've chosen to serve The GOD Who SO ABOMINATES ALL SIN and yet SO LOVED sin-natured, utterly helpless, PRIDE-dominated doers of SIN that HE commissioned HIS One and Only SON to be The CHRIST Who died for the SINs of the world and Who is RISEN from the Dead so that repentant SIN-doers may be forgiven and quickened ALIVE to divine EVERlasting SPIRITual LIFE that is a GIFT from GOD Himself.

The GOD i am privileged to serve TOday is my Almighty FATHER Who lives in the UNapproachable LIGHT of His Heavenly KINGdom, Whose very SON JESUS The CHRIST declared The REALITY: 'I AM The WAY and The TRUTH and The LIFE. NO ONE comes to The FATHER except THROUGH Me' (John 14:6).

'The LORD  ​— ​The LORD is a Compassionate and Gracious GOD, slow to anger and ABOUNDING in FAITHful LOVE and TRUTH, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, FORGIVING Iniquity, Rebellion, and Sin. BUT He will NOT leave the GUILTY UNpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.' (Exodus 34:6-7)

The LORD i serve is a GOOD GOD. His GOODness is what is "admirable, attractive, praiseworthy -- ALL His moral Perfections, His Generosity, His Mercy, His Grace, His LOVE. HE is The LORD Jehovah, The I AM What I AM, The SOVEREIGN Savior -- Compassionate and Gracious, slow to anger, ABOUNDING in LOVE and Faithfulness, maintaining LOVE to thousands and FORGIVING wickedness, rebellion and SIN. YET He does NOT leave the GUILTY UNpunished."

The LORD GOD i serve is 100% PERFECT in ALL His GOODnesses -- "His TRUTHfulness and TRUSTworthiness, His UNfailing Justice and Wisdom, His Tenderness, Forbearance and ENTIRE Adequacy to ALL who penitently seek His Help, His NOBLE Kindness in offering Believers the EXALTED Destiny of Fellowship with Him in Holiness and LOVE... GOD NEVER COMES SHORT of the GOODNESS to which HE has laid claim." (notes from J.I. Packer's "Knowing GOD" p.161)

Who do YOU serve TOday? god of SELF... the gods of THIS world... the father of lies that is the Devil? OR do you NOW serve GOD IN CHRIST JESUS?

The GRACE of GOD and The Graces of The Holy SPIRIT

WHAT is the GRACE of GOD?

J.I. Packer in "Knowing GOD" wrote that "GRACE means GOD's LOVE IN ACTION toward people who merited the opposite of Love. GRACE means GOD moving Heaven and earth to SAVE sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. GRACE means GOD sending His Only SON to The CROSS to descend into Hell so that we GUILTY ones might be RECONCILED to GOD and RECEIVED into Heaven. 'GOD made CHRIST Who had NO Sin to BE Sin for us, so that IN CHRIST we might become the Righteousness of GOD' (2 Corinthians 5:21).

"The New Testament knows both a Will of GRACE and a Work of GRACE. The former is GOD's ETERNAL Plan to save; the latter is GOD's 'good work IN you' (Philippians 1:6), whereby He CALLs you into a Living Fellowship with CHRIST (1 Corinthians 1:9), RAISES you from Death to Life (Ephesians 2:1-6), SEALS you as His own by the GIFT of His SPIRIT (Ephesians 1:13-14), TRANSFORMS you into CHRIST's image (2 Corinthians 3:18), and will finally RAISE your body in Glory (Romans 8:30, 1 Cor 15:47-54).

"WHAT is the PURPOSE of GRACE? Primarily to RESTORE our Relationship with GOD. When GOD lays the Foundation of this restored Relationship, by FORGIVING our sins AS we TRUST His SON, He does so in order that henceforth we and He may LIVE in Fellowship. And what He does in RENEWING our nature is intended to make us CAPABLE of, and ACTUALLY to lead us into the exercise of Love, Trust, Delight, Hope and Obedience GODward -- those acts which, from our side, make up the REALITY of Fellowship with GOD, Who is constantly making Himself known to us. This is what all the Work of GRACE aims at -- an EVER deeper Knowledge of GOD, and an EVER closer Fellowship with Him. GRACE is GOD drawing us sinners closer and CLOSER to Himself.

"HOW does GOD in GRACE prosecute this purpose? NOT by shielding us from assault by the World, the Flesh and the Devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology -- BUT rather by EXPOSING us to ALL these things, SO as to OVERwhelm us with a sense of our own INadeqacy, and to drive us to CLING to Him more closely.

"This is the ULTIMATE reason, from our standpoint, WHY GOD fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort or another -- it is to ENSURE that we shall LEARN to HOLD Him fast. The reason the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating that GOD IS a STRONG Rock, a FIRM Defense, and a SURE Refuge and Help for the weak -- is that GOD spends so much of His time bringing home to us that we ARE weak, both mentally and morally, and dare NOT trust ourselves to find, or to follow, the RIGHT road.

 

"GOD wants us to feel that our way through Life is rough and perplexing, so that we may LEARN thankfully to LEAN ON Him. Therefore He takes steps to drive us out of SELF-confidence to TRUST IN Himself -- in the classical Scriptural phrase for the SECRET of the godly Life, to 'WAIT ON The LORD.'" (J.I. Packer, "Knowing GOD" -- pp.249, 250)

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his sermon "The Fruit of The SPIRIT" -- expounds that Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control are GRACES of GOD. With the apostle Paul, authentic CHRISTians can JOYfully and gratefully say, 'By the GRACE of GOD, I am WHAT I am' (1 Corinthians 15:10), for by The Holy SPIRIT dwelling withIN the Born-Again Child of GOD, the Fruit of The SPIRIT -- these GRACES of  GOD -- are being cultivated and grown by GOD Himself so that CHRIST-likeness may be manifested more and more in GOD's children.

LONGSUFFERING is a GRACE of GOD that is certainly much needed in TOday's troubled world. The COVID pandemic, economic woes, political havoc, social unrest, family and relationship problems -- the REALITIES of Life seem overwhelming. What happens to LOVE, JOY, PEACE when these stress-FULL pressures come like a flood?

Dr Lloyd-Jones "challenges the listener to examine the REAL fruit exposed when a person is under pressure. A TRUE CHRISTian will demonstrate the Fruit of The SPIRIT. As a CHRISTian faces SUFFERING, TRIAL, DISCIPLINE, and PERSECUTION, it will reveal the nature that is being built withIN. Do trials and sufferings produce PERSEVERANCE, LONGSUFFERING, and HOPE? When one is cut, do they bleed the Fruit of The SPIRIT? When they are reviled, do they revile in return? Does the CHRISTian entrust themselves to GOD who judges justly? Do the pressures of Life reveal a GROWING Patience, Kindness, and Meekness that is GROWing in the Soul?" (from "The Fruit of The SPIRIT" by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons-online/john-1-12-13/the-fruit-of-the-spirit/)

LET us carefully and prayerfully EXAMINE our own life to see whether the pressures of Life REVEAL a NEW creation IN the Soul -- OR a Soul IN NEED of NEW Life. \o/

The LIGHT is The TRUTH -- The WORD Himself

WHY is the World as it is TOday? WHAT is the source of the World's current mayhem, the present chaotic culture, the rock-bottom REASON for the cause of all the UNhappy events, volatile UNrest, UNmistakable DARKNESS that can be plainly discerned by any REASONable MIND?

IGNORANCE -- Ignorance of TRUTH. Ignorance of REALITY. Ignorance of the TRUE Nature of GOD and of the TRUE nature of his own SELF.

Man's PRIDE of his intellect, PRIDE of his education, PRIDE of his ethnicity -- PRIDE of SELF -- has made him IGNORANT to his own IGNORANCE that he himself is IN DARKNESS and IS DARKNESS himself.Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached that the world is as it is today because of IGNORANCE -- ignorance of WHO GOD IS, ignorance of WHAT man REALLY IS. The world is as it is today because of the DARKNESS in the world itself -- and the IGNORANCE of man NOT KNOWing his OWN IGNORANCE -- NOT REALIZING that the DARKNESS is withIN his own HEART, his own MIND, his very own deepest SELF."The world is in a current state of DARKNESS that has pervaded EVERY aspect of human history since The FALL. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes that this DARKNESS is twofold in that it is not only a state of IGNORANCE that mankind is IN, but that the DARKNESS is also withIN man's HEART, as manifested by his LOVE of SIN and HATRED of CHRISTian Doctrine. However, GOD has sent Believers The Holy SPIRIT, who through enLIGHTening the Believer's eyes to The TRUTH about GOD and the GLORY of His Salvation, enables them to be LIGHTs themselves in the persistent DARKNESS." (The LIGHT Shines In The Darkness -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons-online/john-1-5/the-light-shines-in-the-darkness/)

The LIGHT is CHRIST JESUS. He Himself proclaimed, "I AM The LIGHT of the world. IF you follow Me, you won't have to walk in Darkness, because you will have The LIGHT that leads to LIFE" (John 8:12).

 

 And what is enLIGHTenment but TRUTH-fullness? And the REAL FULLness of TRUTH is only found in the very Person of CHRIST JESUS Himself. HE is The WAY to The TRUTH. HE is The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE with RESURRECTION POWER, that is lived out before the HOLY Presence of GOD, in His Kingdom of MAJESTY and GLORY.

 

CHRIST JESUS Himself proclaimed, "I AM The RESURRECTION and The LIFE. Anyone who BELIEVES INto Me will LIVE, even after dying" (John 11:25).

Do you have The LIGHT that leads to The LIFE, to The RESURRECTION? Do you KNOW this very LIGHT that pierces the Darkness -- this TRUE LIGHT that the Darkness can NOT spiritually discern or comprehend, and can NEVER extinguish or overcome?

The LIGHT of TRUTH is CHRIST JESUS Himself. The LIFE to Heavenly RESURRECTION is The LORD JESUS, SON of GOD. Has The LIGHT pierced the Darkness of your own SOUL? Do you have The LIGHT -- CHRIST JESUS Himself as your WAY to The FATHER?

 

Do you BELIEVE the Word of The WORD Himself -- The WORD Who IS GOD made Flesh -- Who left His GLORY and MAJESTY with The FATHER in the Heavenlies, to come into His OWN Creation as a helpless human Baby, to grow up sinless and blameless, yet rejected and persecuted by His own people, so that He can pay with His OWN shed BLOOD, the just penalty and punishment of SIN-natured men and women like you and me by Crucifixion -- the utterly most horrific method of execution ever devised by SIN-full man.

Do you have The LIGHT of JESUS shining withIN your soul, withIN your heart of hearts? IF so -- are you shining your JESUS-LIGHT in the Darkness of 2021?

When one has The LIGHT, he or she is IN CHRIST -- with EVERlasting JOY unspeakable! \o/

("The LIGHT Shines IN The Darkness" -- by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- This post was written after listening to the sermon several times. Though it was preached in October 1962, the timeless TRUTHs expounded are SO very relevant today, 2021 -- especially with the very challenging trials that so many individuals, as well as the nations of the world, are experiencing. Dr Lloyd-Jones' message is one of HOPE, despite the REALITY of today's UNcertainties.)