Al's Devotional

Beloved, I am so pleased and blessed to have come across this precious Story of Grace, by Horatious Bonar.  Take a moment and read chapter 6.  It will stay with you a long time unto edification. ~Al The Story of Grace   CHAPTER VI.   W HERE T HE S TORY O F G RACE W AS F IRST T OLD   It was first told in Eden, in the very place where man had broken in upon the story of goodness. It was, indeed, afterwards to be told out of Eden: for man was to be driven forth and the gate closed against him. It was to be told over all the earth, "to every creature that is under heaven." But still it was first to be told in Eden. There man had sinned, and there he was to be forgiven; there he had provoked God, and there he was to learn how God could be gracious even to such a rebel. It was not till he had finished this story of grace that " he drove out the man ." This is striking , and full of meaning. It is not after the manner of men. No ...

Beloved, I came across this outline on the Way of Salvation.  It is brief, but accurate and edifying.  I added in the scripture references for your convenience.  Take a few minutes and breathe in the Majesty of our God's Grace. God Bless you, ~Al Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Tit 3:5-7                                                   T HE W AY O F S ALVATION I. Salvation is not effected by human agency. 1. Where there is no salvation, there are no works of righteousness . And GOD saw that the wickedness of man ...

Good morning.  These are sound words by preachers of the late 1800's concerning the love of the world. ~Al Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  1Jn 2:15 -17      Religion differs from morality in the value which it places on the affections. Morality requires that an act be done on principle. Religion goes deeper, and inquires into the state of the heart. I. The nature of the forbidden world. Now to define what worldliness is. Remark, first, that it is determined by the spirit of a life, not the objects with which the life is conversant. It is not the " flesh ," nor the " eye ," nor " life...

This sermon is excellent!  I will post the address so that you may listen to the sermon yourselves, but here are two excerpts that are worth pondering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8mJQ39zjw ~Al 1.  " If you saw  At Eternity's Gate , the movie—actually, if you did, you're in a very small group—but it's a movie that was made about Van Gogh most recently, called  At Eternity's Gate . And part of that involves his interaction with Gauguin, who ended his life in a miserable situation down in the Islands. And Gauguin, who was brought up as a Roman Catholic and catechized all through his life and painted and abused his circumstances in all kinds of ways, his largest painting is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. And he wrote on that painting—and he doesn't write on his paintings! And he wrote three questions up in the corner.: D'où Venons Nous? Que Sommes Nous? Où Allons Nous? "Where do we come from? What are we? And where are we ...

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.  Tit 2:11 -14     The grace of God   I. The original first moving cause of all the blessings we have from God is orate[1].   1. Survey all the blessings of the covenant, and from first to last you will see grace doth all. Election, vocation, justification, sanctification, glorification, all is from grace. 2. To limit the point. Though it is of grace, yet not to exclude...

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.  Tit 2:11 -14     The extensiveness of the gospel offers   That the message which Jesus was anointed to deliver emanated from the sovereign goodness and everlasting mercy of Jehovah, whereby before all worlds He had devised a plan for the restoration of ruined man, and contains a revelation of His will, is a truth at once most animating and important. It is a firm conviction of this mo...

Dear All, In 1866 Meyrick Goulburn was made Dean of Norwich, and in that office exercised a long and marked influence on church life. A strong Conservative and a churchman of traditional orthodoxy, he was a keen antagonist of higher criticism and of all forms of rationalism. This is a nice, brief description of Dispensations. ~Al Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.  1Jn 2:18    The dispensations   How could those days of primitive Christianity be called the last days, inasmuch as since those days eighteen hundred years have elapsed, and still the world's history has not reached its close? The answer is obvious. The whole period lying between the first advent and the present year of grace is but one oeconomy ; and it is destined to be the last oeconomy , under which man is to be tried. What is a dispensation —Οι ̓ ...

Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Gal. 1:3 The terms of grace and peace are common terms with Paul and are now pretty well understood. But since we are explaining this epistle, you will not mind if we repeat what we have so often explained elsewhere. The article of justification must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our heart. The greeting of the Apostle is refreshing. Grace remits sin, and peace quiets the conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever. Only Christians possess this victorious knowledge given from above. These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity. Grace involves the remission of sins, peace, and a happy conscience. Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. The Law reveals guilt, fills the co...