Are You A Part of the Church? (Trailer)

"And I have to say that we can talk all we want about the church, and we need to do that, and make sure that everybody has a definition of the church that is biblical, but eventually where we’re going to end up is you need to be faithful to be a part of the corporate assembly of the unity of the saints in the body of Christ gathered in a local place. You need to identify fully with other believers." -John MacArthur

Watch, listen, read or download the full message: The Vitality of Church Membership by John MacArthur here.

Glory Revealed

“The glory of the Lord shall be revealed” (Isaiah 40:5).

The whole concept of the glory of the Lord surrounds the Christmas scene. At the birth of Christ, the angels shouted, “Glory to God in the highest.” And Luke 2:9 says, “The glory of the Lord shone round about them.” The word of Isaiah 40:5 is the Christmas message. The birth of Christ was the revelation of the glory of the Lord, just as Isaiah had promised. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” What does that mean?

To begin with, “the glory of the Lord” is the expression of God’s person. It is any manifestation of God’s character or attributes. In other words, glory is to God what brightness is to the sun. Glory is to God what wet is to water. Anytime God discloses Himself, He manifests His glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). The beast of the field gives Him glory. Everything He ever made shows His glory in some way or another. God also revealed His glory in a very particular way through the shekinah. This was a physical manifestation of divine glory that appeared to the Israelites of Moses’ day as a pillar of light by night and a pillar of cloud by day (Exodus 13:21).

But He also spoke through His Word, given to the prophets and recorded in Scripture (2 Peter 1:21). He thus disclosed His glory in a way that communicated truth and gave instruction to His people. This was the highest and most enduring manifestation of divine glory Old Testament saints had access to. You see, God only whispers in His creation. He revealed a shadow of His glory in the shekinah. But He speaks with absolute clarity in His Word. “God … spake” (Hebrews 1:1)—and not in a whisper but in full voice.

Still, there was an incompleteness in it all until “[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). Now, that is God shouting! You can’t mistake it. Christ is God, and you see every attribute of God manifest in Him: His judgment, His justice, His love, His wisdom, His power, His omniscience. It’s all there in person as we see Him walk through the world, working His work, living His life. The fullness of God may be seen as it was never seen before in Jesus Christ.

The writer of Hebrews continues in verse 3: “being the brightness of His glory.” Who is Jesus Christ? He is the glory of the Lord. That is what he’s saying here. Jesus is the “express image” of God (v. 3). He is the personal embodiment of the brightness of God’s glory. That’s why it says in John 1:14, “The Word was made 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.”

The message of Christmas is that God came into the world in all His glory, and what was only a whisper became a shout. And someday in the future, as we read in the book of Revelation, He will come back in His blazing glory, which Jesus called “great glory” (Matthew 24:30). When He comes back in second coming glory, the Bible says the shout will be even louder so that every voice in the universe will cry and shout and sing His praises (Philippians 2:9-11; Revelation 5:12,13).

padding: 6px 0px;"> —Condensed from “The Glory of the Lord” by John MacArthur.

The Scriptures, Sufficient and Self Authenticating

Watch, listen or download the full message by Jeffery Smith here.

Why Most People Celebrating Thanksgiving Are Going To Hell

Watch, listen or download the full message: "Did You Forget" by Liam Goligher here.

Cheap Grace and Ravaged Repentance (trailer)

Watch, listen or download the full message by Mike Abendroth here.

What is Man's Greatest Problem?

Watch, listen or download the full message: The Doctrines of Grace Part 1: Man's Miserable Problem by Bart Carlson here.

Why Did Jesus Come Into The World?

Watch, listen or download the full message: Fruits of Repentance by Ray Russ here.

Trick or Treat?

Halloween is the time for "trick or treat." But did you know that every day you are being offered a trick far worse than a prank and a treat far better than candy?

Don't Be Tricked!

Satan can trick you. Satan tricked Eve into thinking that eating the forbidden fruit would be good for her. "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:13). He still tricks people today into thinking that doing bad things is fine—that disobeying God is all right. But Eve found out that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

Your heart can trick you. Many people today believe that you should "follow your heart." In other words, "It doesn't matter what you believe, just so you believe something." They think that having a "religious experience" or a "good feeling" tells their heart that what they believe is right. That may sound nice, but it's a trick! The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things" (Jeremiah 17:9). If you are trusting someone other than Jesus, you have been tricked! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6).

Money can trick you. Everywhere you look it seems that people are doing anything they can to get more and more money. They have been tricked into thinking that money can give them happiness. It's sad to see people spend their whole lives trying to get rich, only to find out in the end that money cannot satisfy their need for happiness and peace. The Bible talks a lot about "the deceitfulness of riches" (Mark 4:19), and says "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19,20).

Sin can trick you. Maybe sometimes it seems that the people who are doing the most bad things are the ones having the most fun. Don't be tricked by such thoughts. Sin is like a fishing lure—it may look great on the outside, but there's a hook on the inside! Sin will hook you and lead you further and further away from God until your heart has become "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13).

Other people can trick you. There are lots of people speaking empty words today. They have come up with their own ideas about spiritual things which are not true. That's why God tells us "Let no man deceive you with vain [empty] words" (Ephesians 5:6). Remember, if it's not in the Bible, it's probably a trick, and will lead you down the wrong road!

You can even trick yourself. The Bible tells us what is right, but don't think that hearing or knowing the truth is good enough! God says, "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). You must believe what God says for yourself and act on it.

Here's The Truth!

God will never trick you. Unlike all the other things we have looked at, we know that "God … cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). Instead of telling us a lie, God's Word points out that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). You see, our sin makes us dirty like a pair of shoes that have walked through the mud. And just like we can't walk through our own house with muddy shoes, we can't get into Heaven, which is God's house, with our sin.

God loves you. In fact, not only does He love you, but "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16). No one could ever love you as much as God does. And even though you've done bad things, He still loves you. That's why He has done the only thing that could ever wash your sins away. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who had never done even one thing wrong, to go to the Cross to suffer and die for your sins. God showed that Jesus had fully paid sin's debt by bringing Him back to life three days later. Now you can have your sins washed away by receiving what He has done for you.

God calls you. Salvation from sin is a free gift. Like any other gift, you must receive God's offer of salvation. All you need to do is tell God that you know you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died for you on the Cross, and trust Him to be your Saviour and Lord. God will hear you no matter where you are or what words you use. Then you will have the best treat of all—forgiveness of all your sins and eternal life with Him in heaven! "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36).

Source: mwtb.org

Are You Sick of Your Prayers?

Watch, listen or download the full message by Rich VanHeukelum here.

Are You Spiritually Unaware?

A Warning not to Stray from the Gospel (Trailer)

Listen or download the full message by Paul Washer here.

Repentance: The Way of Deliverance

Watch or download the full message by Richard Caldwell here.

Turn to Christ, Not Amusement

Watch, listen or download the full message by Greg Thurston here.

The Seed That Grows in Secret (Trailer)

Watch, listen or download the full message by David Chanski here.

Is it Possible for a True Believer to Lose Their Salvation?

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Wagner here.

The infernal dungeon of Hell! (John Bunyan)

"Depart from Me, you who are cursed — into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" Matthew 25:41

Those in the infernal dungeon of Hell, will undergo a VARIETY of torments. Those who are most afflicted upon earth, have seldom any more than one malady at a time. But should they have the plague, the gout, the stone, and fever all at one time — how miserable would they think themselves! Yet all that is but like the biting of a flea — compared to those intolerable, pungent pains which those in Hell endure! There, they have all the loathed variety of Hell to grapple with:
the unquenchable fire to burn them;
a lake of burning brimstone ever choking them;
eternal chains to bind them;
utter darkness to affright them, and
a worm of conscience which gnaws upon them eternally!
Any one of these is worse to bear — than all the torments which mankind ever felt on earth!

But the torments in Hell are also UNIVERSAL, afflicting each part of the body and soul — which renders what they suffer, most insufferable! In those illnesses which men are seized with on earth, though some parts are afflicted — other parts are free. But in Hell, each member of the soul and body is continually tormented: The eye is tormented with the sight of the devils, who appear in all the horrid and black shapes which sin can give them! The ear is tormented with the loud yellings and continual outcries of the damned. The nostrils are smothered with sulphurous flames.

The tongue is covered with burning blisters.

The the whole body is rolled in flames of liquid fire! The imagination is tormented with the thoughts of what a Heaven has been lost.

The memory is tormented with reflecting on those opportunities they had of being saved. The mind is tormented with considering how vainly precious time has been wasted. The understanding is tormented with the thoughts of of present pains, and future sorrows — which are to last forever! The conscience is tormented with a continual gnawing worm.

Another thing which makes the misery of Hell so dreadful, is the EXTREMITY of the torments. The fire which burns is so violent that all the water in the sea can never quench it! The pains suffered are so extreme, that it is impossible they should be known by any, but those who feel them!

Another part of Hell's misery is the CEASELESSNESS of the torments. As various, as universal, and as extremely violent as they are — they are continual, also. Nor have they the least rest from them. If there were any relaxation — it might be some allay. But what makes this condition so deplorable — is that there is no easing of the torments! "They will go away into eternal punishment!" Matthew 25:46

The COMPANY they have there, is another element of their misery. Tormenting devils and tormented souls are all the company! Dreadful shrieks and howlings, under the fierceness of pain, and fearful blasphemies, is all the conversation!

The PLACE in which they suffer is another thing which increases the sufferings. Hell is the epitome of all misery —
a prison,
a dungeon,
a bottomless pit,
a lake of fire and brimstone,
a furnace of fire which burns to eternity,
the blackness of darkness forever!

The cruelty of our TORMENTORS is another thing which adds to the torments. The tormentors are devils, in whom there is no pity. Being tormented themselves, they take pleasure in tormenting others.

But that which makes these sufferings most grievous — is that they shall ALWAYS be so — these most intolerable sufferings shall last to all eternity. 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire!" will perpetually sound in the ears of the damned! The miserable situation they are in, shall be forever!

Source: www.gracegems.org

Final Words of Famous Men

Famous men have lived and impressed the world with their achievements in various realms of life. Famous men have also died, and by their final words, with life ebbing away and the shades of death approaching, have expressed the impact eternal realities had made upon their souls. Some conveyed perplexing thoughts of doubt, despair and doom. Others proclaimed with unmistakable clarity their serenity of soul in faith, hope and love.

George Washington—First President of the United States. He composed his limbs, closed his eyes, and folding his arms upon his chest expired, saying, “Father of Mercies, take me to Thyself.” What hope!

C. H. Spurgeon—Preacher. Nearing the end of life, he said, “Tranquil and happy, though very weak. My theology is very simple. I can express it in few words and they are enough to die by.” After a pause, he slowly said, “Jesus died for me.” What simplicity!

Michael Faraday—Chemical Scientist. When on his deathbed he was asked, “What are your speculations now?” “Speculations?” exclaimed Faraday, “I have none! No speculations now. I KNOW whom I have believed. My soul rests on certainties.” What assurance!

Charles Dickens—Author. “I commit my soul to the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I exhort my dear children to humbly try to guide themselves by the teaching of the New Testament.” What composure!

Richard Baxter—Author. “I have pain, for there is no arguing against one’s senses. But I have peace; I have peace.” What peace!

Albert the Good—Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. He constantly repeated “Rock of Ages” upon his deathbed. “For,” said he, “If in this hour I had only my worldly honors and dignities to depend on, I should be poor indeed.” What wealth!

Aristotle—A Great Philosopher. In the face of death he proclaimed, “I was born in sin. I have lived unhappily. I die in doubt. Cause of causes pity me.” What doubt!

Rudolph Valentino—Movie Actor. His last words were: “Doctor, do you know the greatest thing I am looking forward to?” “What is it?” asked the doctor. “It is the fishing review next month,” said he and lapsed into unconsciousness from which he never recovered. What emptiness!

Jay Gould—Millionaire. When dying he is reported to have said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.” What misery!

Beaconsfield—Politician. “Youth is a mistake, manhood a struggle, old age a regret.” What regret!

Thomas Paine—Author and Philosopher. “I would give worlds, if I had them, that the Age of Reason had never been published.” In answer to Dr. Manley’s question, “Do you then believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ?” Paine’s reply and last utterance was, “I have no wish to believe on that subject.” What rebellion!

Voltaire—Infidel of the most pronounced type. Alternately praying and blaspheming, this wretched man died crying, “O Christ! O Jesus Christ!” What blasphemy!

What is the source of the faith, hope and certainty on the lips of those who died in peace? What caused the unrest, doubt and despair of those who died in misery?

Those who died in peace knew the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. “Jesus died for me,” Spurgeon said. This is the confession of one who had accepted the work done by Jesus on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty his sins demanded. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The work of Christ makes us safe; the Word of Christ makes us sure! “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

Those who died in misery did so because of unbelief. Their riches, achievements and fame did not help them as death drew nigh. They had refused the Son of God, and therefore they had no Savior. They did not believe the revelation of the Holy Scriptures, and therefore had no hope. Sadly, it must be said of them what the Lord Jesus said, “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Paine cried, “I have no wish to believe on that subject,” and indeed his own desire to have nothing to do with Christ while salvation was offered was the sealing of his doom in an eternal hell! —D.T.J.

Dear reader, face the issues involved, and right now:

Turn and believe this very hour, Trust in the Savior’s love and power; Then shall your final answer be, “Saved!” through a long eternity.

Source: http://www.mwtb.org

A dirty job, but someone has to do it

by Pastor Ron Bridge of Rehoboth Baptist Church

The first century Roman playwright, Seneca, described his native city as “the cesspool of iniquity.” This from a man who was a pagan. The immorality of Rome was almost beyond description, homosexuality, bisexuality and even bestiality was accepted and even celebrated. Abortion was commonplace. Unwanted babies were killed, or left on doorsteps to be taken, or left in a field to be eaten by dogs. Although the Colosseum was not yet built, gladiators fought to the death in smaller venues and it would not be long before people would be fed to wild beasts. Men and women who married and remained faithful to each other were considered an oddity, prudish, narrow and unsophisticated. When, some years earlier, Pilate had responded to the Lord's claim to be speaking the truth with the infamous “what is truth?” He was only reflecting the prevailing Roman culture in which anything was acceptable. It was to Christians living in a culture that was so hostile to the gospel and to biblical holiness, that Paul wrote his most famous letter.

No doubt, the Christians living in Rome would concur with Paul's description of godless people in Romans 1:18-32 – they saw such things every day and recoiled from them. But, Paul followed his description of godlessness with the reminder that they were once like that, and it was only by the grace of God that they had been delivered from their own wickedness. God, says Paul, justifies the ungodly, not when by their own effort they become godly, but in order to make them so (Romans 4:5-8, 5:8-10). In spite of terrible persecution and the death of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of Christians, the church in Rome grew and eventually overcame – “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” (Tertullian). The Roman Christians resisted the tidal wave of corruption and many shed their blood in so doing.

Now, while not every aspect of Roman life is mirrored in modern American life, we are well along the way to creating our own cesspool of iniquity. So, when the Holy Spirit guided Paul's letter to the Christian's in Rome, He was also writing to the American church in 2013. Like our Christian brethren in Rome, we are facing a culture that is becoming more hostile to biblical standards as it careens into the abyss of depravity. Like them, we are called upon to demonstrate godliness in an ungodly world. Like them we will be ridiculed, opposed, persecuted – and killed? Jesus suffered at the hands of the ungodly, His apostles likewise, those that followed also. We should not be surprised if our turn is soon to come. As Peter wrote: “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter. 4:12,13).

One more thing to consider. The Church in Rome did not grow by Christians hunkering down and avoiding conflict. It grew because they were not ashamed of the gospel (Rom. 1:16). It grew because they were in contact with the ungodly, with the depraved and with the enemies of Christ – and they had “compassion on them – pulling them out of the flames, hating even the garments defiled by the flesh” (Jude 22,23). Sometimes evangelism is a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Jesus did it. Christians throughout the ages have done it. Someone did it for us. Who will do it for the ungodly of our day?

A Test to Know that You Know

Watch, listen or download the full message by John H Innabnit here.

Ten Mistakes of Modern Evangelism

When I was conducting my research on the Great and second Great Awakenings, I was shocked by the vast dissimilarity of the preaching in those days compared with the preaching of our day. I read the sermons of Jonathan Edwards and his contemporaries of the 18th century and then I studied the sermons of Asahel Nettleton and his contemporaries of the 19th century and I noticed that God seemed to be pleased to bless the messages that were preached in those centuries with tremendous outpourings of his grace and revival and spiritual awakening and I look around today and all I see is deadness everywhere in the churches and it’s tied directly to our preaching of our day.

There’s been a sad declension in the great doctrines of the Bible and evangelism in our day. We want to see God move in revival like he’s done in former times but the problem is, we aren’t willing to preach the same messages that former men of revival preached. Part of this may be due to the fact that we’re living in a day of great spiritual declension that knows little about vital Christianity. These are the days of the lukewarm church and, unfortunately, much of the preaching is lukewarm as well. It’s neither hot nor cold, it’s just room temperature because the pastor doesn’t want to turn the temperature up in the room and upset any of his hearers. We invite a lot of people to walk an aisle and repeat a prayer but there is little evidence of true conversion in the churches in our day.

The problem with much of the evangelism is that we present a Jesus to people who aren’t interested in him because they feel they just don’t need him. Everyone needs Christ but their eyes are blinded and they are dead in sin. Old time preachers knew how to use the Word of God to awaken sinners to their lost estate and ruined condition. After a sinner was awakened and convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, then the remedy for sin was applied in the person of Jesus Christ. But today we offer the remedy to people who just don’t realize they are sick and in need of it. We must realize that a sinner needs to be awakened before he can be converted.

But sadly, much of the preaching done today is shallow and shallow preaching leads to shallow conversions and shallow conversions lead to shallow congregations and shallow congregations leave the devil alone, leave the lost astray and lead the nation into moral bankruptcy so the end result of shallow preaching is a long line of people going straight to hell.

I don’t blame the White House for the problems of our hour. I don’t blame the courthouse for the problems of our day. Rather, I place the blame on the pulpits of our land that have conformed to the pagan society that they were meant to reach and instead of preaching to the lost a pure Gospel of the Son of God, the pulpits water down the Gospel so it can be more easily swallowed and we have swallowed this diluted Gospel which lacks true spiritual nourishment and we are sunk.

This message is a call for the pulpits of the land to return to the old paths of preaching the great doctrines of the Bible whereby men are awakened to their sins and alarmed about their lost and ruined condition before a just and holy God. My message today is entitled “Ten Mistakes of Modern Evangelism.” I will first list them and then elaborate upon each of them as we proceed.

1. Modern evangelism has shrunken God down to our size.
2. We have taken salvation out of the hands of God and placed it in the hands of men.
3. We fail to preach the Gospel in its purity and proper order in preaching the doctrines of ruin and redemption and repentance and regeneration.
4. There is a failure to show man his duty of repentance.
5. Modern evangelism has failed to preach the utter strictness and severity of the law of God.
6. We have failed to proclaim that man first has to be lost before he can be saved; a man needs to be awakened to see his need of Christ before the remedy can be applied.
7. Modern evangelism makes false converts by mistaking a physical act like walking an aisle and repeating a prayer as true conversion.
8. We have failed to warn sinners to flee from hell and describe hell and its terrors.
9. We have failed to preach up the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
10. Modern evangelism has miserably failed in its portrayal of what the Christian life is to a new believer; we paint it as all red roses and honey blossoms and neglect to inform our hearers about the demands of discipleship in following a crucified Savior.

Each of these ten mentioned items is of immense importance to the salvation of a soul.

Read the full message by E.A. Johnston here or listen below.

If I Don't Feel Saved, I Must Not Be Saved?

Watch, listen or download the full message by Colin Mercer here.

America's Greatest Need

Watch, listen or download the full message by Russ Sukhia here.

Beware of Deception

Watch, listen or download the full message by Richard Caldwell here.

Recognizing the Real Jesus

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Innabnit here.

Filthy Rags

So, you can see here Isaiah, directed by the Spirit of God, writing some very sorrowful things pertaining to the people and pertaining to the state of their sin for which God brought Israel into judgment, took them away into a foreign land. I believe this is prophetic historically looking forward to that time when Babylon would come and devastate the land and that the Temple would be destroyed of which he spoke there in verse 11. It’s spoken as if it had already taken place, although Isaiah wrote this several hundred years before it was accomplished. But it’s given here for one reason and this is the reason: to show any of us that are reading this our own desperate need before the Lord as sinners. We can read this just purely from an historic perspective and walk out of here just as dead as what we walked in.

I’m not here to give us a history lesson, although this is rooted in history but prayerfully for each of us here reading this portion together, to consider our own state before the Lord and to see that it is no better than even the best that men would consider the best. You can see here in verse 6, it doesn’t say in all our sins are as filthy rags, does it? Take the best righteousnesses, plural, and put them all in a heap before the Lord. You hear people talking about standing before the Lord one day and presenting their good works to him and hopefully, as they think and say, the good will outweigh the bad. Well, you’re already in trouble because the Scriptures declare that the best that men could consider before God is nothing but filthy rags.

But Bob read it for us in Romans 3, in the reading just before I came up here to speak, that “there is none righteous, no not one.” Until the Lord is pleased to show us that in our lost depraved mind, we’re going to continue to think that there is something in us that can commend us to God. And so, that is my prayer that if that is your thought, even now, that the Lord by his Spirit would cause you to see that there is nothing good in you, nothing good in me and that even my best righteousnesses are but filthy rags.

Watch, listen, read or download the full message by Ken Wimer here.

What Should Be A Christian's Attitude Toward Culture?

A Silent Church Amidst A Sinful Nation

by E.A. Johnston

I have a video of Martin Lloyd Jones as he is touring England and visiting the sights where George Whitfield labored. While standing at the site of the Bell Inn where Whitfield was born, Lloyd Jones describes the moral climate of London in the days of Whitfield. He said that morality was at an all-time low, spirituality in the churches was almost nonexistent and that in London every fifth house was a gin-house, that it seemed the city itself was in a drunken debauchery and spiritual stupor. And Lloyd Jones glares into the camera and comments, “And where was the church in all of this?”

Today in America, our situation is far more grim than in the days of Whitfield and Wesley. Our national sins more multiplied. Evil increases at a rapid rate and our society slides into a sinkhole of perversion and debauchery. Our civic leaders call evil good and good evil. God has been legislated out of our once great country. The spirit of antichrist grows in the land and I ask the same question, “Where is the church in all of this? Where is the church? She is shamefully silent amidst a sinful nation.”

Listen below or read the full transcript here.

The Formation of Faith (Trailer)

Watch, listen or download the full message by Peter Masters here.

Repentance: Belief in Action

Watch, listen or download the full message by Michael Karns here.

Has God Withdrawn From The Church Today?

Watch, listen or download the full message: "God Withdrawing from His People" by Colin Mercer here.

Are You Bringing Up A Generation that Knows Not God?

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Greer here.

Are You With Christ?

Watch, listen or download the full message: "What It Means To Be For Christ" by Richard Caldwell here.

What is the Reality of God in Your Life?

The Blood of Jesus

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Wagner here.

Nothing Except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified

Watch, listen or download the full message: "The Greatest Event in History" by Peter Masters here.

The Double Cure of the Gospel

Watch, listen or download the full message: "Grace Regenerates" by Harry Reeder here.

Do you believe in the Son of God?

Watch, listen or download the full message: "How does the Seed of Faith Grow?" by Joel Beeke here.

God's Unbelievable Immeasurable Mercy

Watch, listen or download the full message on Psalm 25 by Mike Reid here.

The Word of God Not Only Informs, It Transforms!

Watch, listen or download the full message: "The Subversive Word" by Liam Goligher here.

The Secret of Knowing God

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Greer here.

Do You Have Temporary Faith or Saving Faith?

Watch, listen or download the full message by Ian Goligher here.

Good Enough To Get Into Heaven? Are You Sure?

Watch, listen or download the full message (16 min) "The Truth About Eternal Life" by Travis Alltop here.

Why Don't We Pray?

Watch, listen or download the full message by Tom Pennington given at the 2013 Shepherds' Conference here.

Life's Most Important Question

Watch, listen or download the full message by Richard Caldwell here.

"I Want to Be Saved!" Then Come, Don't Wait!

by Tim Conway


When God sets forth salvation, He doesn’t say, “Wait till I come do something.” He says, “Here it is, it is a free gift.” Do you know what you are supposed to hear in “free gift?” I mean come on! If I pull a little child aside, just a three or four year old, one of the little children in the church, and I said, “It’s a free gift.” That little child can look and say, “That means if I go over and get it it’s mine.” You say, “It can’t possibly be that easy.”

Brethren. It is that simple, and yet to men and women who are just absolutely bent on saving themselves, it’s impossible! To the man or the woman who wants to offer something to God that he has done. When a man comes along and says, “I will not be saved that easily. If you told me to walk on my knees until they were bloody, I could do that, but that’s…” And you know what, you say, “That’s ridiculous, that sounds absurd.” The sad fact is most men, would rather try to earn their salvation and go to hell. Men are so proud and so bent on offering God something, some performance. Something that they can do, that most men would rather perish, than simply say, “I have nothing to offer God.” You see, to walk over and take a free gift, means you don’t have anything to offer. You gotta have it free, or you’re without hope.

OH! It’s the best news in the world! For the person who realizes, “I have tried, and every attempt has just be failure. Lord, if You don’t save me, I can’t be saved.” To the person who gets to that point, and they realize, “I gotta have it totally aside from anything I do.” God says, “Here it is, for free. My Son, by His obedience,” (We are going to see that next week) “My Son, by His obedience earned the righteousness you don’t have. That’s the basis for Me, able to give you this salvation, I’ll count His righteousness to you. I sent My Son to the cross to suffer in your place for your sins. He’s done everything that needs to be done for you to be excepted into everlasting paradise. Here it is, just come take it for free. It’s a free gift.” May God give you ears to hear, IT’S FREE! You say, “Yeah but I have to wait till God…” It’s a free gift, come take it, receive it. That’s the word, that’s the word in vs 17. Receive! You’ve got to receive it. “To as many as received Him.” That’s what it says in John Chapter 1, “to as many as received Him.” He gives the full honors, to become a son of the Most High, “to as many as receive,” take it! It’s a free gift.

You say, “Is it that easy, can I come and can I take it, and I’ll have it, and I’ll have all that you just talked about?” If you want to be saved from your sins, absolutely! Here it is! You take it, not in my hands, in His. You say, “But I see you but I don’t see Him.” It says, “Call upon the name of the Lord.” You won’t be ashamed, He turns none away, He says, everyone who comes to Me, He does not turn them away, He does not cast them out. You say, “How can I come to Him?” He’s right here, He’s in our midst. He’s Almighty God, He knows no bounds. He’s near to all of us. If you call, He hears you. You can say it inside. You can cry out to Him without making audible noises with your mouths, He hears, He knows the thoughts. Many have cried out to Him on the inside, He’s heard and come and rescued them immediately. You call upon Him. It’s that free, and it’s to be received by whoever is thirsty. If you’re thirsty, you go to Him and drink. Well may God give us all ears to hear.

Source: http://illbehonest.com - Download MP3

The Sufficiency of Scripture

Watch, listen or download the full message by Stephen Gambill here.

What is True Conversion?

Watch, listen or download the full message by Daniel Walton here.

The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Scripture

Watch, listen or download the full message by John Innabnit here.

The Most Fundamental Truth of Salvation

Watch, listen or download the full message by John MacArthur given at the 2013 Shepherd's Conference here.

Regeneration - The Sinner's Greatest Need (Trailer)

Watch, listen or download the full message by Colin Mercer here.

Dead in Trespasses and Sins

For men to be saved there is only one way and that is for one man like Ezekiel to step out in the midst of that valley and preach the only message God has promised to bless and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ

Watch, listen, read or download the full message: Regeneration vs Decisionism by Paul Washer here.

False Conversion: Man Centered Salvation

There are many in our churches that came to Christ for what they could get out of it. They do not really want Jesus, they just want His blessing. If all we have done is add Jesus to our life, we need to examine ourselves and see if we are truly saved.

Watch, listen or download the full message by Daniel Walton here.

Can You Say, “Father”?

That famous example of prayer we often call “The Lord’s Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13) begins with “Our Father which art in Heaven.” Everything that follows: conversing with Him, praising Him, petitioning Him—these things all start by knowing Him as “Father.”

Is God your Father? Put another way: Are you a child of God? Some people think we are all God’s children, but Jesus taught otherwise. He told those who opposed Him that they were children of the devil (John 8:44). The Bible goes on to teach that all who have not answered God’s call to repent and put their trust in Jesus are “children of disobedience” upon whom the “wrath of God” will one day fall (Colossians 3:6).

This raises some interesting questions with regard to prayer. Does God hear the prayers of those who are not His children? How can your prayers be heard by God?

Prayers of the Unsaved

Because God is omniscient, He sees and hears everything; however, He does not promise to listen to or answer the prayers of the unsaved. Notice who it is that God takes notice of and listens to: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry” (Psalm 34:15).

Most prayers offered up by people who are not God’s children rise no higher than the ceiling. On the other hand, there is one prayer of the unsaved that God always hears and answers. He has promised that “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). When a sinner realizes his lost condition, turns to God, and cries out for help, He answers that prayer every time!

Becoming a Child of God

To come into God’s family requires a spiritual birth—Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). By nature, all people are “dead in trespasses and sins,” and our only relationship with God is one of being “strangers” who are “far off” (Ephesians 2:1,12,13). But God’s Son, Jesus Christ, opened the way for us to be brought into a relationship with God when He willingly laid down His life as the sacrifice and payment for our sin.

How can you be washed clean and made new in God’s sight? Read this carefully: “By grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). God, in His grace, rescues us when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift—bought and paid for by Jesus—which God gives to all who see their need of it and look to Him in faith.  

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee” (Jeremiah 33:3).

“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

“Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus…. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 3:26; 4:6).

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“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Source: http://www.mwtb.org

The New "Missional" Church

Beware of the new "missional" church whose agenda has changed from that of preaching the Gospel and saving lost souls.
Watch, listen or download the full message: "Truth & The Emergent Church" by Phil Schlamp here.

Which Church Saves?

Two people were having a discussion on religion one day. This is how it went:

“Do I have to become a Protestant to be saved?”

“Not at all! I wouldn’t waste my time trying to convert you to Protestantism.”

“But you don’t believe that the Catholic Church can save, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, I am a Roman Catholic and my friends are members of the Greek Orthodox Church. You say that neither one can save, and you are a Protestant. Don’t you want us to turn Protestant also?”

“No, I don’t. I have never asked any Catholic to become a Protestant.”

“You haven’t! I don’t understand. Don’t you believe that Protestantism can save?”

“No, I don’t.”

“You don’t! What then—? How can one be saved?”

“Neither the Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, or the Protestant Church can save your soul. No church can save, but the LORD JESUS CHRIST can.”

“JESUS!”

“That’s right: one is not saved by a Church, either Catholic or Protestant, but through a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.”

“Can it be possible? I’ve never heard this before!”

“You see, it would do you no good to become a Protestant, for there are thousands of Protestants who are not saved; there are thousands who have embraced Christianity, but have never accepted the Christ of Christianity personally as Saviour.”

“Is that why we have not found peace? Is there no peace in Catholicism?”

“No, there’s not—and none in Protestantism either. Peace is only found in Jesus. Religion cannot save; Christ alone can.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Don’t just take my word for it. God says very plainly that salvation is only through Jesus: ‘Nor is there salvation in any other [Protestant, Catholic, or other], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).”

“Is that the only Scripture that says this?”

“No, turn to Matthew 1:21: ‘You shall call His name JESUS, for He [not the Catholic priest nor the Protestant minister, but He—Jesus Christ] will save His people from their sins.’”

“I’ve been trusting the wrong things! What should I do?”

“‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved’—‘as many as received HIM, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name’ (Acts 16:31; John 1:12).”

“But are you sure that He will receive me?”

“Jesus Himself said, ‘The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out’ (John 6:37). He loves you so much that He died for you. He bore your sins as He hung on Calvary, facing God’s judgment in your place. Now accept Him, trust His finished work as all the payment necessary for your salvation. God says that salvation is a “free gift” that is simply accepted “through faith … not of works” (Romans 5:15; Ephesians 2:8,9). Trust Him—and only Him—now as your Saviour and Lord, for He will have mercy and abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).”

“Thank God!”

“When you do this, you will not only be saved, but you will be a member of the only Church the Bible knows—the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13), of which Christ alone is the Head (Colossians 1:18). The Lord Himself adds to this Church daily those who are saved (Acts 2:47).”

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Source: http://www.mwtb.org

Is This Your Last Day?

On the day of your death, do you think you will wake up knowing that it is your last day? No matter how much we try to extend our lives with regular exercise, a nutritious diet, and the best medical care,  our “last day” will still come, and often without warning. How many people, minutes before a fatal crash, can even imagine what the moments ahead will contain? And of those who stare death in the face for a second or two before it comes, how many do you suppose have time to turn their thoughts to God for salvation? Are they not rather in extreme terror, or suffering, frantically seeking a way out of calamity, desperately trying to escape destruction?

Tragedy most often strikes unexpectedly, without warning. It comes as a shock, abruptly cutting off pleasure and comfort, and shatters the normal course of life. “Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). Tragedy “comes suddenly, in an instant” (Isaiah 30:13).

God in His mercy has not left us without warning concerning our eternal destiny, and pleads for sinners to repent. “Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you” (Proverbs 1:23). “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).

You only live today. The past is gone, and the future is unknown, making the present the only time you are sure to have. If you are ever to turn to God from your sin it will not be tomorrow, for tomorrow never comes. Now is the only time you have! “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

Do you imagine that one day you will wake up and say, “Today is the day I die. I will now get right with God”? No, you wake up each day going about your normal affairs, never considering the end of life. It is a dangerous thing to put off the question of your responsibility for your sins. There is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27,28). You will stand before God!

God has patiently given you time, but He is calling you to repentance now. Will you put Him off? There is a time when it will be too late, for God has said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” (Genesis 6:3). “Once the Master of the house has … shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you’ ” (Luke 13:25).

Dear reader, this may be the last day that you have to accept God’s free, loving offer of forgiveness and salvation. Repent of your sins to Jesus Christ who died for you and is risen again. Trust Him to save your soul. Do it now, before it is too late! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
(John 3:16-18). —Ron Melick

Source: http://www.mwtb.org

Why Pray?

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

When we stop to weigh the meaning of these words, the child of God is driven to say, “I must pray, pray, pray. I must put all my energy and all my heart into prayer. Whatever else I do, I must pray.” Why is constant, persistent, sleepless, overcoming prayer so needful?

1. There is a devil. He is cunning, he is mighty, he never rests, and he is always plotting the downfall of the child of God. If the believer relaxes in prayer, the devil will succeed in ensnaring him. This is the thought in the context of Ephesians 6, which describes our spiritual battle and the need for the Christian to take up the armor of God. Paul tells us that to all else we must add prayer—constant, persistent, untiring, sleepless prayer in the Holy Spirit, or all else will go for nothing.

2. Prayer is God’s appointed way for obtaining things, and the great secret of all lack in our Christian experience is neglect of prayer. James brings this out very forcibly: “Ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2). Many Christians are asking, “Why is it I make so little progress in my Christian life?” Ministers and Sunday school teachers are asking, “Why is it I see so little fruit from my labors?” God answers us all: “Neglect of prayer. You have not because you ask not.”

3. The apostles regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives. When the multiplying responsibilities of the early church crowded in upon them, they recruited helpers so they could “give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). Paul, in what he wrote to churches and individuals about praying for them, made it evident that much of his time and strength were given to prayer.

4. Prayer occupied a very prominent place in the earthly life of our Lord. He was not unfamiliar with “rising up a great while before day” (Mark 1:35), or spending “all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). The words pray and prayer are used at least twenty-five times in connection with our Lord in the brief record of His life in the four Gospels, and His praying is mentioned in other places where these words are not used. A man or woman who does not spend much time in prayer cannot properly be called a follower of Jesus Christ.

5. Praying is the most important part of the present ministry of our risen Lord. Christ’s ministry did not close with His death. After Christ accomplished His atoning work, He rose and ascended to the right hand of the Father, where “He ever liveth to make intercession for [believers]” (Hebrews 7:25). “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34). The ministry of intercession (praying for others) is a glorious and mighty ministry, and we can all have a part in it.

Nothing has so impressed me with a sense of the importance of prayer as the thought that it is the principal occupation of my risen Lord. I want to have fellowship with Him, and to that end I have asked the Father to make me an intercessor, to make me a man who knows how to pray, and who spends much time in prayer.

—Adapted from How to Pray by R. A. Torrey.

Source: http://www.mwtb.org

God's love-letter - Thomas Brooks (1662)

What is wrong with the pulpits?

Shane Idleman on Jeremiah 23

Today, the truth is often neglected, watered-down, or avoided altogether in the hope of not offending members and building a large audience. Judgment is never mentioned; repentance is never sought; and sin is often excused. We want to build a church rather than break a heart; be politically correct rather than biblically correct; coddle and comfort rather than stir and convict. We need power in the pulpit like never before!

The Gospel is All About Jesus

Watch, listen or download the full message: "The Gospel and the Church" by Stephen Gambill here.

The Death of the Church

Watch, listen or download the full message: "Staying Focused on the Cross" by Alan Benson here.

God's Way of Salvation (John 3:16)

John 3:16 is often called "The Gospel Text," for here we have the whole gospel briefly stated. We see the source of salvation—the love of God; the channel through which salvation comes—His only begotten Son; and the way by which we receive it—faith in His Son.

Perhaps you will say, "Oh, I have read that verse a thousand times." Even if you have, have you ever really believed it—that is, by faith made yourself one of the "whosoevers" by trusting in Christ, and thereby received everlasting life?

A Christian friend told me how he was converted through this verse. He took it, read it word by word, believing as he read, applied it to himself, trusted the Son, and received everlasting life. Multitudes of other searching souls have done the same. Have you? If not, may the Lord help you to do so now.

Just let us look at this wonderful verse, a word or two at a time, always remembering that this is God's Word, and God means what He says.

GOD

That is the first word. Salvation begins with God. Here is man's first mistake. Man begins with himself. Man asks, "What must I do?" God says, "See what I have done." Friend, turn from yourself to God. Hear what He says, and see what He has done.

LOVED THE WORLD

Love—salvation springs from the love of God. God loved what? The world, a world of sinners. Wondrous, undeserved love! But remember, we must accept that love, or else it will do us no good.

But I have omitted a word, have I not? It is such a little word, but very big with meaning.

SO

Oh that "So"! It tells of the great, boundless nature of God's love, love which can only be measured by the action that it produced.

HE GAVE

Salvation is a gift. "The gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). Friend, are you trying to buy it? It is "without price" (Isaiah 55:1). God cannot sell it, and you cannot buy it—it is far too valuable. But God offers it freely as a gift. Will you accept it?

HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

What a tremendous sacrifice! What love that offered it! Salvation is through God's Son. "God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:11,12). Eternal life is not in us, but in Jesus alone. Therefore take Him as your Saviour, and you will have eternal life!

We have now seen what God has done—"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Now, in the rest of the verse, we will see why He did it—"That whosoever believeth [trusts] in Him, should [will] not perish, but have everlasting life."

WHOSOEVER

Perhaps you say, "How may I know that salvation is offered to me?" Well, what does God say? "Whosoever," which extends the offer of salvation to every man, woman, and child on the earth. That includes you, my friend, does it not?

BELIEVETH or TRUSTS

Here it is as important to see what God does not say as what He does say.

God does not say, "Whosoever is moral, respectable, honest, well spoken of, and an office-holder or member of the church will be saved." This is man's first false way of salvation—character. It was the Pharisee's way—"God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men." And so he "trusted in himself." (See Luke 18:9,11.) Was he "justified," cleansed of His sins? No (verse 14). Why not? Because he was only righteous in his own sight, and in the sight of those around him. In God's sight he was a sinner, for "all have sinned." When it comes to man's character, there "is no difference" (Romans 3:22,23). In God's sight, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), and God is the Judge.

God also does not say, "Whosoever does good works will be saved." This is man's second false way of salvation—works. Did it ever strike you—what good works can a sinner do? As is the tree, so is its fruit; as is the man, so are his works. If you are a sinner, your works are sinful and of no merit for salvation. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Thus, you see, a sinner can't do any works that please God. Even more than that, my unsaved friend, in God's sight you are a sinner and therefore "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). Now, what can dead people do? Nothing! It is life you need, and it is life God offers you.

Does God ask you as a sinner to work for salvation? No, His Word declares that salvation is "not of works" (Ephesians 2:9). Galatians 2:16 tells us three times that salvation is not by works, and three times that it is by faith. Read that verse—it leaves no doubt!

Finally, God does not say "Whosoever has a certain feeling is saved." This is man's third false way of salvation—feelings. This is a common mistake with anxious souls. "Oh," says one, "if only I could feel some new feeling within me, I think I would be all right." You think so, but does God say so? Never. He does not ask you to feel, but to believe His Word and trust His Son.

I know what you want. You want to feel "the joy of salvation." But how can you feel the joy of salvation, until you first have salvation? A drowning man can't feel the joy of being saved until first he is saved, and neither can you. Likewise, just as feeling can't save him, neither can it save you. Salvation is a fact, not a feeling, and rests on these three great facts—Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He has risen again (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

We've noticed that God does not say, Whosoever is, or does, or feels. He does say,"Whosoever believeth." To believe means to trust yourself completely to the one in whom you believe. Who is that?

IN HIM

The Son of God. Not in yourself, or in yourself and Jesus together, but in Jesus—Jesus only. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

SHOULD NOT PERISH

Perish you will, if you do not trust in Christ. The soul without Christ is in great danger. Did you ever think of that? Friend, if you are still an unbelieving sinner, you are in a terrible state, and on the way to a terrible doom! "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). Escape to Christ, trust in Him, and then you will not perish.

BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE

No matter what kind of person you are, and no matter what kinds of things you have done, if you will right now trust in Jesus, believing who He is—the Son of God—and what He has done—died on the cross and risen again for you, you will right now have eternal life. When you believe God's Word, you will have the assurance of your salvation, too, for it says of those who trust in Jesus, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:28).

Source: http://www.mwtb.org