By Robert Flynn on
3/1/2010 4:06 PM
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us n all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, I is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NLT96)
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By Robert Flynn on
2/25/2010 8:48 AM
"But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."-John 17:13-16
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By Robert Flynn on
2/19/2010 8:06 AM
They were God's chosen people; they had had a unique place in God's purposes; and yet when God's Son had come into the world they had rejected him and crucified him. How is this tragic paradox to be explained? (William Barclay)
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By Robert Flynn on
2/9/2010 6:27 AM
God made us to serve him, and enjoy him; but by sin we have made ourselves unfit to serve him, and to enjoy him. We ought, therefore, continually to beseech him, by his Holy Spirit, to give us understanding. The comforts some have in God, should be matter of joy to others. But it is easy to own, that God's judgments are right, until it comes to be our own case. All supports under affliction must come from mercy and compassion. The mercies of God are tender mercies; the mercies of a father, the compassion of a mother to her son. They come to us when we are not able to go to them. Causeless reproach does not hurt, and should not move us. The psalmist could go on in the way of his duty, and find comfort in it. He valued the good will of saints, and was desirous to keep up his communion with them. Soundness of heart signifies sincerity in dependence on God, and devotedness to him. (Matthew Henry)
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By Robert Flynn on
2/7/2010 10:46 AM
Christianity exists not merely as a power or principle in this world, but also in an institutional and organized form which is intended to preserve and protect (not to obstruct) it. Christ established a visible church with apostles, as authorized teachers and rulers, and with two sacred rites, baptism and the holy communion, to be observed to the end of the world. (Schaff, P., & Schaff, D. S. (1997). History of the Christian church.)
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By Robert Flynn on
2/1/2010 8:18 AM
It is an unquestionable truth, that if a man be not happy at home, he cannot be happy anywhere; and he who is happy there, need be miserable nowhere. (John Angell James, The Marriage Ring)
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By Robert Flynn on
1/27/2010 10:12 AM
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. (Colossians 2:6 NLT)
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By Robert Flynn on
1/25/2010 9:16 AM
That heart that is hard, impenetrable, and cold; the affections and passions that are unyielding, frozen to good, unaffected by heavenly things; that are slow to credit the words of God. I will entirely remove this heart: it is the opposite to that which I have promised you; and you cannot have the new heart and the old heart at the same time. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
1/19/2010 8:14 AM
Satan is very clever: He knows exactly which bait to use for every place in which he fishes. (Arthur W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith)
God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. (Acts 15:8-9 NLT)
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By Robert Flynn on
1/15/2010 6:45 AM
January 15, 2010 - Claire Shackleford is at it again! We have been blessed to have such a wonderful array of inspiring Christian guests on our talk shows. The Lord is GOOD! We are happy to announce that Daryl Knudeson and Jody Mayhew will be on the show LIVE 1/15/10 at 9pm EST. Join our show live, participate in chat ... you can join us by going to our main website, ChristianMilitaryWives.Com and just click LISTEN. It's that simple!
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By Robert Flynn on
1/5/2010 7:21 AM
That’s Enough
The Rev. R. I. Williams telephoned his sermon topic to the Norfolk Ledger Dispatch.
"The Lord is my Shepherd," he said.
"Is that all?" he was asked. He replied, "That’s enough." And the church page carried Mr. William’s sermon topic as: "The Lord is my Shepherd—that’s enough."
The minister rather liked the idea. He used the expanded version as his sermon title that Sunday at Fairmont Park Methodist Church. —Gospel Herald
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By Robert Flynn on
12/25/2009 8:34 AM
Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (James 4:8 NLT)
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By Robert Flynn on
12/16/2009 7:00 AM
Many believers lack assurance. Since we live in a performance oriented society, we often transfer this expectation from the world into our religious expectations. The problem with this expectation is that "our salvation is not based upon our own performance, but on our relationship to Jesus Christ." (Billy Graham)
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By Robert Flynn on
12/15/2009 1:43 PM
We are being saved from the power of sin by faith!
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By Robert Flynn on
12/9/2009 1:30 PM
"We need to sort out our hurts and learn the difference between those that call for the miracle of forgiveness and those that can be borne with a sense of humor. If we lump all our hurts together and prescribe forgiveness for all of them, we turn the art of forgiving into something cheap and commonplace. Like a good wine, forgiving must be preserved for the right occasion." Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget.
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By Robert Flynn on
11/27/2009 7:31 AM
The only way to be kept from falling is to grow. (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/26/2009 7:04 AM
"The law of gravity tells you what stones do if you drop them; but the Law of Human Nature tells you what human beings ought to do and do not." C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
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By Robert Flynn on
11/25/2009 7:02 AM
Sexual immorality is one of the chief causes of divorce! That is why I continue to bring up the necessity for living the lives of purity to which we are called. It is time for the men of this country to take the hint from Job and make a covenant with our eyes! (Job 31:1)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/24/2009 6:59 AM
Temperance is, unfortunately, one of those words that has changed its meaning. It now usually means teetotalism. But in the days when the second Cardinal virtue was christened "Temperance," it meant nothing of the sort. Temperance referred not specially to drink, but to all pleasures; and it meant not abstaining, but going the right length and no further. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/23/2009 6:57 AM
Let us say then, leaving unresolved problems behind us, that virtues are in general beneficial characteristics, and indeed ones that a human being needs to have, for his own sake and the sake of his fellows (Philippi Foot, Prof. Emeritus, UCLA, Virtue and Vices).
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By Robert Flynn on
11/20/2009 7:00 AM
Virtue — Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. (Noah Webster)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/19/2009 7:00 AM
BLISS, n. The highest degree of happiness; blessedness; felicity; used of felicity in general, when of an exalted kind, but appropriately, of heavenly joys. (Noah Webster)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/18/2009 7:00 AM
Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people drift away? (C. S. Lewis, Virtue and Vice)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/17/2009 7:00 AM
"Vice and Virtue to the modern ear convey meanings twisted by our own culture and behavior. The word vice sounds benign, describing fundamentally harmless habits and attitudes, the kinds of things normal people do and feel." C. S. Lewis, Virtue and Vice
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By Robert Flynn on
11/16/2009 7:00 AM
“To love sin is far worse than to commit it, for a man may be suddenly tripped up or commit it through frailty.” Arthur W. Pink, A Fourfold Salvation
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By Robert Flynn on
11/13/2009 8:25 AM
A general reason, and the foundation of the entire argument: the kingdom of heaven consists not in these outward things, but in the study of righteousness, and peace, and comfort of the Holy Spirit. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/10/2009 1:45 PM
Sometimes we can find encouragement in odd places.
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By Robert Flynn on
11/7/2009 10:04 AM
Our vocation or calling is free, and of grace, even as our predestination is: and therefore there is no reason why either our own unworthiness, or the unworthiness of our ancestors should cause us to think that we are not the elect and chosen of God, if we are called by him, and so embrace through faith the salvation that is offered us. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/6/2009 7:32 AM
The man who walks along the path of life lives in the presence of the joy-giving God. (W. Hay Aitken, Thought for the Quiet Hour)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/5/2009 7:50 AM
For faith in the Lord Jesus brings him into the heart; and by his indwelling all his virtues are proved, and an excellence discovered beyond even that which his disciples beheld, when conversant with him upon earth. In short, there is an equality between believers in the present time, and those who lived in the time of the incarnation; for Christ, to a believing soul, is the same to-day that he was yesterday and will be for ever. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
11/4/2009 8:46 PM
My brethren, count it all joy - Which is the highest degree of patience, and contains all the rest. (John Wesley)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/30/2009 7:14 AM
The word ‘meek’ usually refers to those who are patient in the reception of injuries, but the Hebrew word used here (ענוים ‛ănâviym) means properly the oppressed, the afflicted, the unhappy. It involves usually the idea of humility or “virtuous suffering”. Here it may denote the pious of the land who were oppressed, and subjected to trials. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/29/2009 6:14 AM
Not with a civil worship, as he was sometimes worshipped by men, in the days of his flesh, who, though they took him for some extraordinary person, knew him not to be the Son of God; but with religious worship as God: for by his resurrection from the dead, Christ was declared to be the Son of God, and both by that, and by his going to his Father, his ascension to heaven, the disciples were more confirmed in his proper deity, and divine sonship; and therefore worshipped him as God; by calling upon his name, ascribing blessings and honor, and glory, to him; by making him the object of their reverence and fear; and by trusting in him; and by doing every religious act in his name, and which they ever after continued to do. (Dr. John Gill)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/28/2009 6:56 AM
This is the prayer of a man in bitter grief, whose human nature cannot at present submit to the divine will. God’s long-suffering toward the wicked seemed to the prophet to be the abandonment of himself to death; justice itself required that one who was suffering contumely for God’s sake should be delivered. (Dr. Albert Barnes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/27/2009 6:38 AM
Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Savior should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to show it. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, but the joy of those who abide in Christ's love is a continual feast. They are to show their love to him by keeping his commandments. If the same power that first shed abroad the love of Christ's in our hearts, did not keep us in that love, we should not long abide in it. Christ's love to us should direct us to love each other. He speaks as about to give many things in charge, yet names this only; it includes many duties. (Matthew Henry)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/26/2009 6:40 AM
A love that can never be fathomed;
A life that can never die;
A righteousness that can never be tarnished;
A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted. (Unknown)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/23/2009 7:03 AM
“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William Johnson, June 13, 1823, University of Virginia on-line library).
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By Robert Flynn on
10/22/2009 6:16 AM
Oral Hygiene — "You'll wonder where the yellow went." I remember the jingle from the Pepsodent toothpaste commercial. I suppose with the advent of modern dentistry we would not think of letting the barnacles grow on our MacLean's smile. However, what about the moral decay we see in the world society each day?
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By Robert Flynn on
10/20/2009 7:00 AM
"But obedience in the matter of prayer is costly and takes commitment. On Monday night as our week of prayer began, a mere thirty-four adults showed up out of a regular church attendance of twenty-three hundred. By Thursday, only seventeen adults were praying. I was totally discouraged." Stephen Arterburn, Every Man's Battle
Perhaps some would find a book on the temptations men face and their fight for purity a strange place to find the aforementioned comment on prayer. However, I find it most timely indeed.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/20/2009 6:09 AM
It is a pitiful situation if the very light is darkness. This happens when the eye of the soul is too diseased to see the light of Christ. (A. T. Robertson)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/19/2009 7:00 AM
"There is in the Christian life great need of watchfulness and of prayer, of selfdenial and of striving, of obedience and of diligence. But "all things are possible to him that believeth." "This is the victory that overcometh, even our faith."
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By Robert Flynn on
10/18/2009 7:00 AM
What a difference there is between a deeply exercised and spiritually burdened heart pouring out itself before God in fervent supplication and the utterance of verbal petitions by rote! Arthur W. Pink
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By Robert Flynn on
10/17/2009 7:00 AM
A much loved prayer of St Francis of Assisi:
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By Robert Flynn on
10/16/2009 7:00 AM
"By consequence, 'whatsoever he doeth , it is all to the glory of God.' In all his employments of every kind, he not only aims at this (which is implied in having a single eye ), but actually attains it.... (John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection)
The battle ensues in our culture to secularize the religious for the sake of tolerance in the public arena.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/15/2009 7:00 AM
We are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend....Robert Lewis Stevenson - Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
When we look into the mirror, what do we see?
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By Robert Flynn on
10/14/2009 7:00 AM
To-day we go forth separate, some of us to pleasure, some of us to worship, some upon duty.... (Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/13/2009 9:44 AM
Lord, receive our supplications for this house, family, and country. Protect the innocent, restrain the greedy and the treacherous, lead us out of our tribulation into a quiet land.... (Robert Lewis Stevenson, Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/12/2009 7:00 AM
The headline read, “Parish Rift Forms Between Descendants of Prominent Evangelical Leaders.” The underlying text conveyed that the descendants of two well-known ministers were wrestling for control of “a mega—church that is a bedrock of the religious right.”
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By Robert Flynn on
10/11/2009 7:30 AM
That is why it was not surprising that, at that time, I did not rejoice over the wonder of redemption, and that others could not see the joy of Jesus in me. And it was no wonder that I was not happy. I had taken the wrong path, the path of cheap grace, which was not the way of Jesus Christ and which could never lead me to the goal. If we do not fight, we will not be crowned. And what a fight the Lord demands of us! It is a fight to the point of shedding blood, as the letter to the Hebrews tells us (chapter 12: 4).
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By Robert Flynn on
10/10/2009 7:23 AM
Giving thanks for the providence and tender mercies of the day is fitting lest we presume upon the watchcare of His Sabboth Rest while we sleep defensless were it not for His Grace.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/9/2009 8:07 AM
All the Jews and Gentiles who have been invited by the preaching of the Gospel to receive justification by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and have come to the Gospel feast on this invitation. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/9/2009 7:18 AM
How do you start your day? Is it with coffee only? We would think ourselves misused if we did not fill our stomachs with food. But what if we began our day without fellowship with the Father? Take a short sojourn with the Lion of Dundee and see if you might find some encouragement for your souls.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/8/2009 7:11 AM
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By Robert Flynn on
10/8/2009 7:09 AM
We are His lambs, and therefore ought to be ready to suffer, even to the death, without complaining. John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
"Do everything without complaining and arguing," (Philippians 2:14 NLT)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/7/2009 7:08 AM
Lord, enlighten us to see the beam that is in our own eye, and blind us to the mote that is in our brother’s. Robert Louis Stevenson-Vailima Prayers and Sabbath Morn
How quick we are to see fault in others! How crafty we are to justify our own actions and rationalize their effect.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/7/2009 6:43 AM
And that he might make known the riches of his glory,.... That is, his glorious riches, the perfections of his nature, his love, grace, and mercy, his wisdom, power, faithfulness, justice, and holiness; all which are most evidently displayed in the salvation of his people, here called vessels of mercy, which he hath afore prepared unto glory. (Dr. John Gill)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/6/2009 7:36 AM
The second answer is this, that God, moreover and besides that he justly decrees whatever he decrees, uses that moderation in executing his decrees, as is declared his singular mercifulness even in the reprobate, in that he endures them a long time, and permits them to enjoy many and singular benefits, until at length he justly condemns them: and that to good end and purpose, that is, to show himself to be an enemy and avenger of wickedness, that it may appear what power he has by these severe judgments, and finally by comparison of contraries to set forth indeed, how great his mercy is towards the elect. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/6/2009 7:06 AM
No matter how much we anticipate the pending loss of a loved one, knowing the result of age, ill health, or injury will have its way in the end, their death still comes unexpectedly. Our hearts are never ready to say goodbye. Isaiah says that "we all do fade as a leaf." James says that our life is like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Why is it then that as vapors we should cling so tightly to our sojourn here?
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/5/2009 7:03 AM
Lord, the creatures of thy hand, thy disinherited children, come before Thee with their incoherent wishes and regrets:
"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves." (1 Corinthians 6:9 NLT)
We often wallow in our "vain resentments" and miss the blessing of Christ's work of Grace upon our hearts.
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By Robert Flynn on
10/4/2009 7:00 AM
PRAYER has to do with the entire man. Prayer takes in man in his whole being, mind, soul and body. It takes the whole man to pray, and prayer affects the entire man in its gracious results. E. M. Bounds — The Essentials of Prayer
"Yes you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!" "Psalm 71:6 NLT)
The heart of prayer is found in the bending of the knee. It is found in the contrite heart of him who would confess that his heart is like a valley of dry bones that needs to be brought back to life (Ezekiel 37).
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By Robert Flynn on
10/3/2009 6:51 AM
The child of God is free. He has been delivered from every aspect of the law — as a rule of life, as an obligation to make himself acceptable to God, and as a dependence on the impotent flesh. Lewis Sperry Chafer
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By Robert Flynn on
10/2/2009 10:44 AM
Why is it that we cannot see the light of Christ? Because the church in America is full of “dark corners!” For the two hundred sixty-three years since the death of the great awakening, we have been seeing the fallen light and following a counterfeit gospel and worshipping an Anti-Christ and all the while telling ourselves that we are serving the Lord with great zeal!
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By Robert Flynn on
10/2/2009 7:45 AM
Alluding to the creation of Adam, he compares mankind not yet made (but who are in the creators mind) to a lump of clay: who afterwards God made, and daily makes, according as he purposed from everlasting, both such as should be elect, and such as should be reprobate, as also this word "make" declares. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/2/2009 6:49 AM
In the realm of religion right choices are critically important. A.w. Tozer
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By Robert Flynn on
10/1/2009 7:37 AM
But when men shall call a solid answer to their groundless conceits about the meaning of the Scriptures, a replying against God, it savours more of the spirit who was seen falling like lightning from heaven, than of His, who saw him in this his fall. (John Goodwin)
Now the heart of the story as we go through the whole of the Scriptures is this, that we are in the midst of a rebel province. The prince of this world is the devil, and he is the god of this age. We are in the midst of the rebel province, and we are God’s underground movement in this world. (Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, Th.D.)
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By Robert Flynn on
10/1/2009 6:47 AM
Question: Ought I not be left to the grace of God in my own heart?
The body of Christ in America is like unto a thousand rivets flying in close formation. A great assemblage of metal but hardly an airplane.
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By Robert Flynn on
9/30/2009 6:45 AM
"True spiritual Liberty is one of the most glorious things in the World, but it is little under stood and frequently abused by many." William Penn
Liberty or license? This is the question of our day. When the rest of the world is finding new ways of practicing hedonism and self-indulgence (neither of which is a new thing) what prevents the church from impacting the same lost persons with the Good News?
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By Robert Flynn on
9/29/2009 7:13 AM
What a dreadful thing it is to have God against us and to know that He who controls the, very breath of our lives, and all the elements of destruction around us, is compelled by His very nature to deal contrary to us, and to consume us, even as fire must consume every combustible thing that it touches! God is compelled to be against sin, and while He pities the sinner He hates the sin; and while we are against God, His very presence must be to us a consuming fire, and even heaven would be hell to the sinful soul, and it would fly from the awful blaze of His holy glance as from a lightning flash and long to hide itself in hell. (A. B. Simpson)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/29/2009 6:42 AM
Love God and Do What You Please (Saint Augustine)
Some would say that this phrase would be a call to sin without restraint or that it would become a motto for loose living. However, the first part of the phrase is, "Love God." If we truly love God, then it would follow that the things we do that please us would please Him as well. This is true Christian Liberty! Is there any Scriptural basis for this?
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By Robert Flynn on
9/28/2009 8:37 AM
The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe on a half-Christ. We take Him for what He is—the anointed Savior and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of all lords! He would not be Who He is if He saved us and called us and chose us without the understanding that He can also guide and control our lives. (A. W. Tozer)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/24/2009 5:55 PM
Now he answers concerning the reprobate, or those whom God hates who are not yet born, and has appointed to destruction, without any respect of unworthiness. And first of all he proves this to be true, by alleging the testimony of God himself concerning Pharaoh, whom he stirred up to this purpose, that he might be glorified in Pharaoh's hardening and just punishing. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/23/2009 7:17 AM
A seminary professor once said to me, “Try to explain election, and you may lose your mind; but explain it away and you will lose your soul!” (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary.)
There is nothing believers could have done to attain their salvation. It would be a cruel trick if God made believers jump through hoops of righteousness in order to gain redemption. (Hughes, R. B., & Laney, J. C. (2001). Tyndale concise Bible commentary.)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/22/2009 7:25 AM
It is significant that Paul here offers no ‘logical’ explanation for the compatibility of God’s sovereignty with the equally biblical teaching that God is scrupulously fair and that human beings are justifiably blameworthy for their actions. We would do well to follow his approach: to affirm the truth of these great biblical doctrines without eliminating or weakening one or the other through an insistence on an exhaustive explanation. This is a point at which, with Paul (cf. 11:33–36), we should be prepared to recognize a mystery beyond our comprehension. (Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/18/2009 2:08 PM
Is there injustice with God - Is it unjust in God to give Jacob the blessing rather than Esau? or to accept believers, and them only. God forbid - In no wise. This is well consistent with justice; for he has a right to fix the terms on which he will show mercy, according to his declaration to Moses, petitioning for all the people, after they had committed idolatry with the golden calf. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy - According to the terms I myself have fixed. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion - Namely, on those only who submit to my terms, who accept of it in the way that I have appointed. (John Wesley)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/17/2009 7:33 AM
What was the fundamental mistake of the Jews? This may seem a curious question to ask in view of what we have just said. But, paradoxically, Paul holds that though the rejection of the Jews was the work of God, it need never have happened. He cannot get rid of the eternal paradox—nor does he desire to—that at one and the same time all is of God and man has free-will. The fundamental mistake of the Jews was that they tried to get into a right relationship with God through their own efforts. They tried to earn salvation; whereas the Gentiles simply accepted the offer of God in perfect trust. The Jews should have known that the only way to God was the way of faith and that human achievement led nowhere. Did not Isaiah say: "No one who believes in him will be put to shame"? (Isa 28:16; Rom 10:11.) Did not Joel say: "Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved"? (Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13.) True, no man can have faith until he hears the offer of God; but to the Jews that offer was made. They clung to the way of human achievement through obedience to the law; they staked everything on works, but they should have known that the way to God was the way of faith, for the prophets had told them so…. (William Barclay)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/16/2009 7:57 AM
The diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures would discover to us our past ignorance. (William Wilburforce)
He proves the casting away of Esau in that he was made servant to his brother: and proves the choosing of Jacob in that he was made lord of his brother, although his brother was the first begotten. And in order that no man might take what God had said, and refer it to external things, the apostle shows out of Malachi, who is a good interpreter of Moses, that the servitude of Esau was joined with the hatred of God, and the lordship of Jacob with the love of God. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/15/2009 3:38 PM
In election, God exercises His sovereign will to accomplish His perfect plan. Keep in mind that the election discussed in Romans 9–11 is national and not individual. To apply all the truths of these chapters to the salvation or security of the individual believer is to miss their message completely. In fact, Paul carefully points out that he is discussing the Jews and Gentiles as peoples, not individual sinners. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1997, c1992). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New Testament (391). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/14/2009 6:29 AM
Though of one father, a different destiny was divinely appointed for each of the twins. Hence only the divine disposal constitutes the true and valid succession, and not the bodily descent. (Vincent's Word Studies, Marvin R. Vincent, D.D.)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/11/2009 6:06 PM
Don't forget that Tomorrow, Saturday, September 12th, 2009 is a day of prayer and fasting for our military!
Click Here for Info
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By Robert Flynn on
9/9/2009 7:14 AM
At this time I will come, saith God, and exert my Divine power, and Sarah, though fourscore and ten years old, shall have a son; which shows that it is the sovereign will and act of God alone, which singles out and constitutes the peculiar seed that was to inherit the promise made to Abraham. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/4/2009 7:01 AM
Whence it appears that not the children who descend from Abraham’s loins, nor those who were circumcised as he was, nor even those whom he might expect and desire, are therefore the Church and people of God; but those who are made children by the good pleasure and promise of God, as Isaac was, are alone to be accounted for the seed with whom the covenant was established. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/3/2009 7:10 AM
Neither because they are lineally the seed of Abraham, will it follow that they are all children of God - This did not hold even in Abraham's own family; and much less in his remote descendants. But God then said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called - That is, Isaac, not Ishmael, shall be called thy seed; that seed to which the promise is made. (John Wesley)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/2/2009 6:58 AM
The Jew might reply, "Why, then, if Israel had such privileges, covenants and promises, is the nation rejected? Has God, if Jesus is really the Christ, made his word of none effect?" The apostle in the rest of the chapter answers this objection. The first point is that there is a wider, greater Israel than that of the flesh. Those of Israel are not all Israel. There is an Israel according to the promise as well as according to the flesh. (The People's New Testament (1891) by B. W. Johnson)
The word “entitlement” has become a part of the public discourse in America these days. Some people suggest that the United States is becoming a society of entitlement, where everything we need or want is owed to us. When we don’t get what we want we feel we have been treated unfairly. It’s a natural human trait, actually. It even seeps into our spiritual lives as well as our material. (Tom Fuller, Calvary Chapel)
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By Robert Flynn on
9/1/2009 6:15 AM
Here the apostle most distinctly points out the twofold nature of our Lord - his eternal Godhead and his humanity; and all the transpositions of particles, and alterations of points in the universe, will not explain away this doctrine. As this verse contains such an eminent proof of the deity of Christ, no wonder that the opposers of his divinity should strive with their utmost skill and cunning to destroy its force. (Dr. Adam Clarke)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/31/2009 8:48 AM
Here the reason is now more plainly given, why the destruction of that people caused him so much anguish, that he was prepared to redeem them by his own death, namely because they were Israelites; for the relative pronoun is put here instead of a causative adverb. In like manner this anxiety took hold on Moses, when he desired that he should be blotted out of the book of life, rather than that the holy and chosen race of Abraham should be reduced to nothing. (Exodus 32:32.) (John Calivin)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/29/2009 4:59 AM
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding? (Dr. Benjamin Franklin, LL. D.)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/27/2009 5:34 AM
Human words cannot fully describe the motions of souls that are full of God. As if he had said, I could wish to suffer in their stead; yea, to be an anathema from Christ in their place. In how high a sense he wished this, who can tell, unless himself had been asked and had resolved the question? Certainly he did not then consider himself at all, but only others and the glory of God. The thing could not be; yet the wish was pious and solid; though with a tacit condition, if it were right and possible. (John Wesley)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/26/2009 5:31 PM
In the Holy Scriptures we have a standard of right and wrong upon which we can always depend for the general principles at least which should direct our actions, and in the voice of the Holy Spirit we shall always have the special guidance which we need in particular circumstances. But there are certain conditions which we must ever observe. "The meek will He guide in judgment." The yielded and willing heart will find His way. The selfish will, the heart that chooses its way and then comes to God to have Him indorse it, will be very likely to go astray. (A. B. Simpson, Danger Lines in the Deeper Life)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/25/2009 6:48 AM
By declaring his sorrow for the unbelieving Jews, who excluded themselves from all the blessings he had enumerated, he shows that what he was now about to speak, he did not speak from any prejudice to them. (John Wesley)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/24/2009 8:36 AM
Paul tries to deal with one of the most bewildering problems that the Church has to solve--the problem of the Jews. They were God's chosen people; they had had a unique place in God's purposes; and yet when God's Son had come into the world they had rejected him and crucified him. How is this tragic paradox to be explained? (William Barclay)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/19/2009 4:33 PM
Which is in Christ, etc. That is, of which Christ is the bond; for he is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased. If, then, we are through him united to God, we may be assured of the immutable and unfailing kindness of God towards us. He now speaks here more distinctly than before, as he declares that the fountain of love is in the Father, and affirms that it flows to us from Christ. (John Calvin)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/16/2009 7:06 AM
He is now carried away into hyperbolic expressions, that he might confirm us more fully in those things which are to be experienced. (John Calvin)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/11/2009 7:55 AM
We not only overcome so great and many miseries and calamities, but are also more than conquerors in all of them. (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/6/2009 6:22 AM
This testimony adds no small weight to the subject; for he intimates, that the dread of death is so far from being a reason to us for falling away, that it has been almost ever the lot of God’s servants to have death as it were present before their eyes. It is indeed probable, that in that Psalm the miserable oppression of the people under the tyranny of Antiochus is described; for it is expressly said, that the worshippers of God were cruelly treated, for no other reason but through hatred to true religion. (John Calvin)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/4/2009 7:21 AM
Paul goes on with a poet's fervour and a lover's rapture to sing of how nothing can separate us from the love of God in our Risen Lord. No affliction, no hardship, no peril can separate us. The disasters of the world do not separate a man from Christ; they bring him closer yet. (William Barclay)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/3/2009 6:57 AM
“From the representations of the dead Christ the early believers shrank as from an impiety. To them He was the living, not the dead Christ — the triumphant, the glorified, the infinite, — not the agonized Christ in that one brief hour and power of darkness which was but the spasm of an eternal glorification” (Farrar, “Lives of the Fathers,” i., 14). As quoted in (Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word studies in the New Testament)
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By Robert Flynn on
8/2/2009 12:25 PM
With one tremendous leap of thought Paul has seen Christ, not as the Judge but as the lover of the souls of men. (William Barclay)
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By Robert Flynn on
7/30/2009 7:07 AM
He who has not spared his own son, etc. As it greatly concerns us to be so thoroughly persuaded of the paternal love of God, as to be able to retain our rejoicing on its account, Paul brings forward the price of our redemption in order to prove that God favors us: and doubtless it is a remarkable and clear evidence of inappreciable love, that the Father refused not to bestow his Son for our salvation. And so Paul draws an argument from the greater to the less, that as he had nothing dearer, or more precious, or more excellent than his Son, he will neglect nothing of what he foresees will be profitable to us. (John Calvin)
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By Robert Flynn on
7/29/2009 6:19 AM
The subject discussed having been sufficiently proved, he now breaks out into exclamations, by which he sets forth the magnanimity with which the faithful ought to be furnished when adversities urge them to despond. (John Calvin)
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By Robert Flynn on
7/28/2009 12:12 PM
…America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
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