Al's Devotional

Beloved, When great men of God from the past spoke, we should listen.  When great men of God from the past recommend reading something that has enhanced their faith, we should listen even more.  William Wilberforce recommended the reading of John McLauren's sermon on  Glorying in the Cross of Christ .  It is rather long, and written in the style of old English.  What that means is that it was written with the intent that it should be read out loud, so there is much more punctuation than a regular manuscript might have. I present to you an excerpt from McLauren's sermon.  If anyone would care to receive the entire sermon, drop me a line and I will send it to you. In Him, ~Al But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.  Gal 6:14    There are not two things more opposite, than glory a...

Good Morning, In Ephesians it states, By Grace ye are saved .  I am amazed how few people I talk with understand what grace means.  This is by far one of the best definitions I have read. ~Al Grace   Christianity first made grace a leading term in the vocabulary of religion. The prominence and emphasis of its use are due to St. Paul, in whose Epp. the word figures twice as often as in all the NT besides. 'Grace' is the first word of greeting and the last of farewell in St. Paul's letters; for him it includes the sum of all blessing that comes from God through Christ: 'grace' the source, 'peace' the stream. In the Gospels, the Johannine Prologue (vv. 14–17: contrasted with 'law,' and co-extensive with 'truth') supplies the only example of 'grace' used with the Pauline fulness of meaning. This passage, and the Lukan examples in Acts (Act 6:3; Act 11:23; Act 13:43; Act 14:8; Act 15:11...

Good Morning, The topic today is regeneration, infusing life into the lifeless.  Much to thing about, here. ~Al Regeneration   And you hath he quickened [1] , who were dead in trespasses and sins; Eph 2:1 ( KJV )   And you hath he revived , who were dead in trespasses and sins; Eph 2:1 ( Webster )     [In the Bible, "quick" means, 1. Primarily, alive; living; opposed to dead or unanimated; as quick flesh. Lev 13.   The Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead . 2 Tim 4. ( Webster )]   The quickening power of the gospel   This the peculiar characteristic of the preaching of Christianity in the first age. It came into a world preoccupied by other systems of religion, Jewish and Gentile, and succeeded where they had failed. The secret of its success is the same today—vital power. ...

Beloved, This is a marvelous definition of the faith of Abraham. ~Al And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness . Gen 15:1-6     And he counted it to him for righteousness. –   First . From this confessedly weighty sentence we learn, implicitly, that Abram had no righteousness . And if he had not, no man had. We have seen enough of Abram to know this on other grounds. And here the universal fact of man's depravity comes out into incidental notice , as a thing usually taken for granted, in the words of God. Second . Righteousness is here imputed to Abram. Hence, mercy and grace are extended to him; mercy taking effect in the pardon of his sin , and grace in bestowing the rewards of righteousness . Third . That in him which is counted for righteousness is faith in Yahweh promising mercy. In the absence of righteousness, this is the only th...

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.  Exo 1:12    Prosperity under persecutions Whatever has been done by enemies in rage or in recklessness, God has always met it calmly and quietly. He has shown Himself ready for every emergency. And He has not only baffled and utterly defeated all the inventions of wicked men, but He has turned their strange devices to good account, for the development of His own sovereign purposes. I. In the case of Israel, it did seem to be a deep-laid plot, very politic and crafty indeed, that as the kings of Egypt, themselves of an alien race, had subdued the Egyptians, they should prevent the other alien race, the Israelites, from conquering them. Instead of murdering them wholesale, it did seem a wise though a cruel thing to make them slaves; to divide them up and down the country; to appoint them t...

Good morning, There is much to be gleaned from the persecution of Israel in Egypt.  This is one aspect that speaks to our times. ~Al But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel . Exo 1:12    Oppression and growth I. There are three aspects in which the oppression of Israel in Egypt may be viewed. It was the fulfilment of God's own word; it was education; it was a type. 1. The covenant with Abraham had included the prediction of four hundred years of oppression in a strange land. The fulfilment is reached through the fears and cruel policy of Pharaoh. The Bible decisively upholds the view that not in Israel alone, but everywhere, the movements of nations, as the incidents of individual lives, are directed by God. To it the most important thing about Egypt and the mighty Rameses was that he and it were the i...