"Feeding on Christ" The Role of The Lord's Supper in the Church By Shane C. Montgomery

“Feeding on Christ”

The Role of The Lord's Supper in the Church

The primary nature of revelation is God's speaking His Word, which culminates in the word becoming flesh. When the Bible speaks of “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14) like wise, the practice of Word and Sacrament, meaning, the preaching of God's Word followed by the faithful observance of the Lord's Supper in a worship service, leads to the believer hearing God's Word and then that same Word, which is Christ, (John 1:1) becomes flesh in the form of Communion and dwells among the believers, where they then “Eat the body of Christ and drink the blood of Christ.” (John 6:53-5) Thus, a worship service with the preaching of His Word but lacking the observance of the Lord's Supper is then only half of a worship service. Worship is “Word and Sacrament” the preaching of the Word is mandatory and the Sacrament, in this case, “the Sacraments of Sacraments” the Lord's Supper must also be observed and always after the preaching of His Word.

By neglecting to feast on Christ we rob the sheep of their complete nourishment for the week. If we observe this sacrament monthly, or even bi-weekly, we are wasting the worship in between. Each week that Communion is not faithfully observed then becomes a mere practice of worship, a dress rehearsal if you will, an incomplete offering to God, a wasted effort that is only realized as authentic and edifying on the day of the Sacrament.

This practice realizes the Scriptures meaning in hearing the Word (Christ) and then making the Word (Christ) a reality by consuming the Word (Christ) in flesh and blood, so now Christ dwells inside the believer. This gives new meaning to the phrase “You are what you eat,” by feeding on Christ, we do not become Christ, but rather we inherit His divine grace, His blessings and His righteousness, giving us the means to resist temptation and remain Christ-like in spirit, heart and mind. This feeding, is meant to get us through the week, from Lord's Day to Lord's Day unscathed by the world. To enter the week without the spiritual nourishment of the Word (preaching) and the spiritual nourishment of Christ's body (Lord's Supper), a means of grace, we will surely struggle throughout the week. This being said, “Word and Sacrament” is more than a saying in the Reformed Church, it is more than a catch phrase battered about, it is a practice that must be lived out weekly in the Church, in order that the offering up to God is complete and the believer and the entire congregation as a whole can make it through the week, armed sufficiently to endure to the next Lord's Day and the next visit to the Lord's Table to feed upon Christ once again. We would not attempt to enter the week without consuming physical food to sustain our bodies, no one ever claims of eating three square meals a day, and the idea of making it through the week without the nourishment from food would be foolish and unthinkable, so why do we think we can make it without Spiritual nourishment”

“He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” John 6:56

I ask that you do not confuse what I am saying with the Roman Catholic view known as “Transubstantiation.” The Reformed view is unique and the idea of which may of course differ between believers, most see this Sacrament as merely a “sign or symbol” and not a true means of grace. If the Lord allows, I would like to go a bit further in detail on this at a later date, picking up at John 6:60 where many of His disciples say, “this is a hard saying, who can hear it?” and of course the disciples on the road from Emmaus who do not recognize the risen Savior until they break bread with Him. This should be a hint for us on the importance of this Sacrament.

Be Holy!

Shane C. Montgomery

"Dr. Joel Beeke on Experimental Preaching"

What is Reformed Experimental Preaching? by Joel R. Beeke

Dr. Joel Beeke

‘And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.‘ 2 Kings 22:10-11

‘So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.‘ Nehemiah 8:8

You probably know that, historically, Reformed and Puritan preaching was ‘experimental’ preaching. But do you understand what is meant by the term experimental or experiential? The term comes from the Latin word ‘experimentum’, derived from a verb which means to ‘try, test, prove, or put to the test’. The same verb can also mean ‘to find or know by experience’, and so gives rise to the word ‘experientia’, meaning ‘trial, experiment’ and ‘the knowledge gained by experiment’.

Christian experience Calvin used experiential (experientia) and experimental (experimentum) interchangeably, since, from the perspective of biblical preaching, both words indicate the need for examining or testing experienced knowledge by the touchstone of Scripture (Isaiah 8:20). Experimental preaching stresses the need to know by experience the truths of the Word of God. It seeks to explain in terms of biblical truth, how matters ought to go, and how they do go, in the Christian life. It aims to apply divine truth to the whole range of the believer’s experience: in his walk with God as well as his relationship with family, the church, and the world around him. We can learn much from the Puritans about this type of preaching. As Paul Helm writes: ‘The situation calls for preaching that will cover the full range of Christian experience, and a developed experimental theology. The preaching must give guidance and instruction to Christians in terms of their actual experience. It must not deal in unrealities or treat congregations as if they lived in a different century or in wholly different circumstances. This involves taking the full measure of our modern situation and entering with full sympathy into the actual experiences, the hopes and fears, of Christian people’.

Preaching Christ, The experimental preaching of the Reformers and Puritans focused on preaching Christ. As Scripture clearly shows, evangelism must bear witness to the record God has given of his only begotten Son (Acts 2:3; 5:42; 8:35; Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 3:1). The Puritans thus taught that any preaching in which Christ does not have the pre-eminence is not valid experiential preaching. William Perkins said that the heart of all preaching was to ‘preach [only] one Christ by Christ to the praise of Christ’. According to Thomas Adams, ‘Christ is the sum of the whole Bible, prophesied, typified, prefigured, exhibited, demonstrated, to be found in every leaf, almost in every line, the Scriptures being but as it were the swaddling bands of the child Jesus’. ‘Think of Christ as the very substance, marrow, soul, and scope of the whole Scriptures’, advised Isaac Ambrose. In this Christ-centred context, Reformed and Puritan evangelism was marked by a discriminating application of truth to experience.

Marks of grace Discriminatory preaching defines the difference between the non-Christian and the Christian. Discriminatory preaching pronounces the wrath of God and eternal condemnation upon the unbelieving and impenitent. But it offers the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who, by true faith, embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Such preaching teaches that if our religion is not experiential, we will perish not because experience itself saves, but because Christ who saves sinners must be experienced personally as the rock on whom our eternal hope is built (Matthew 7:22-27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2). The Reformers and Puritans were very aware of the deceitfulness of the human heart. Puritan evangelists in particular took great pains to identify the marks of grace that distinguish the church from the world, true believers from merely professing believers, and saving faith from temporary faith. Thomas Shepard in The Ten Virgins, Matthew Mead in The Almost Christian Discovered, Jonathan Edwards in Religious Affections, and other Puritans wrote dozens of works to differentiate imposters from true believers. That kind of discriminatory preaching is scarce today. Even in conservative Evangelical churches, head knowledge of scriptural truth is often a substitute for heart experience, or (what is equally unscriptural) heart experience is substituted for head knowledge. Experimental preaching calls for both head knowledge and heart experience; its goal, according to John Murray, is ‘intelligent piety’.

Brought home Experimental preaching is ‘Christianity brought home to men’s business and bosoms’, said Robert Burns. ‘The principle on which experimental religion rests is simply this, that Christianity should not only be known, and understood, and believed, but also felt, and enjoyed, and practically applied’. How different this is from most contemporary preaching! The Word of God is often preached today in a way that wiII never transform anyone because it never discriminates and never applies. Preaching is reduced to a lecture, a catering to the wishes and needs of people, or a form of experientialism removed from the foundation of Scripture. Such preaching fails to expound from Scripture what the Puritans called ‘vital religion’: how a sinner is stripped of all his own righteousness; driven to Christ alone for salvation; finds joy in obedience and reliance upon Christ; encounters the plague of indwelling sin; battles against backsliding; and gains the victory through Christ.

Our great need When God’s Word is preached experimentally, the Holy Spirit uses it to transform men, women, and nations. Such preaching transforms because it corresponds to the vital experience of the children of God (Romans 5: 1-11); clearly explains the marks of saving grace in the believer (Matthew 5:3-12; Galatians 5:22-23); proclaims the high calling of believers as the servants of God in the world (Matthew 5:13-16); and shows the eternal destination of believers and unbelievers (Revelation 21:1-9), We desperately need a return to faithful, Reformed experimental preaching today

"Treason Against the Soul" by Richard Baxter

Remember that flesh-pleasing is a great contempt and treachery against the soul. It is a great contempt of an immortal soul, to prefer its corruptible flesh before it, and to make its servant to become its master, and to ride on horseback, while it goes, as it were, on foot. Is the flesh worthy of so much time, and cost, and care, and so much ado as is made for it in the world, and is not a never-dying soul worth more? Nay, it is a betraying of the soul: you set up its enemy before it; and put its safety into an enemy's hands; and you cast away all its joys and hopes for the gratifying of the flesh. Might it not complain of your cruelty, and say, Must my endless happiness be sold to purchase so short a pleasure for your flesh? Must I be undone for ever, and lie in hell, that it may be satisfied for a little time? But why do I speak of the soul's complaint? Alas! it is of itself that it must complain! For it is its own doing! It hath its choice: the flesh can but tempt it, and not constrain it: God hath put the chief power and government into its hands, if it has determined to sell its own eternal hopes to pamper worm's meat, it will act accordingly. You would not think very honourably of that man's intelligence or honesty, who would sell the patrimony of all his children, and all his friends that trusted him therewith, and later sell their persons into slavery, and all this to purchase for himself a delicious feast, with sports and entertainment for a day! And is he wiser or better that selleth (in effect) the inheritance of his soul, and betrayeth it to hell and devils for ever, and all just to purchase the fleshly pleasure of so short a life?

"The Minister & His Greek Testament" By J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

The widening breach between the minister and his Greek Testament may be traced to two principal causes. The modern minister objects to his Greek New Testament or is indifferent to it, first, because he is becoming less interested in his Greek, and second, because he is becoming less interested in his New Testament.


The former objection is merely one manifestation of the well known tendency in modern education to reject the "humanities" in favor of studies that are more, obviously useful, a tendency which is fully as pronounced in the universities as it is in the theological seminaries. In many colleges, the study of Greek is almost abandoned; there is little wonder, therefore, that the graduates are not prepared to use their Greek Testament. Plato and Homer are being neglected as much as Paul. A refutation of the arguments by which this tendency is justified would exceed the limits of the present article. This much, however, may be said—the refutation must recognize the opposing principles that are involved. The advocate of the study of Greek and Latin should never attempt to plead his cause merely before the bar of "efficiency." Something, no doubt, might be said even there; it might possibly be contended that an acquaintance with Greek and Latin is really necessary to acquaintance with the mother tongue, which is obviously so important for getting on in the world. But why not go straight to the root of the matter? The real trouble with the modern exaltation of "practical" studies at the expense of the humanities is that it is based upon a vicious conception of the whole purpose of education. The modern conception of the purpose of education is that education is merely intended to enable a man to live, but not to give him those things in life that make life worth living.
  In the second place, the modern minister is neglecting his Greek New Testament because he is becoming less interested in his New Testament in general—less interested in his Bible. The Bible used to be regarded as providing the very sum and substance of preaching; a preacher was true to his calling only as he succeeded in reproducing and applying the message of the Word of God. Very different is the modern attitude. The Bible is not discarded, to be sure, but it is treated only as one of the sources, even though it be still the chief source, of the preacher's inspiration. Moreover, a host of duties other than preaching and other than interpretation of the Word of God are required of the modern pastor. He must organize clubs and social activities of a dozen different kinds; he must assume a prominent part in movements for civic reform. In short, the minister has ceased to be a specialist. The change appears, for example, in the attitude of theological students, even of a devout and reverent type. One outstanding difficulty in theological education today is that the students persist in regarding themselves, not as specialists, but as laymen. Critical questions about the Bible they regard as the property of men who are training themselves for theological professorships or the like, while the ordinary minister, in their judgment, may content himself with the most superficial layman's acquaintance with the problems involved. The minister is thus no longer a specialist in the Bible, but has become merely a sort of general manager of the affairs of a congregation.
  The bearing of this modern attitude toward the study of the Bible upon the study of the Greek Testament is sufficiently obvious. If the time allotted to strictly biblical studies must be diminished, obviously the most laborious part of those studies, the part least productive of immediate results, will be the first to go. And that part, for students insufficiently prepared, is the study of Greek and Hebrew. If, on the other band, the minister is a specialist—if the one thing that he owes his congregation above all others is a thorough acquaintance, scientific as well as experimental, with the Bible—then the importance of Greek requires no elaborate argument. In the first place, almost all the most important books about the New Testament presuppose a knowledge of Greek: the student who is without at least a smattering of Greek is obliged to use for the most part works that are written, figuratively speaking, in words of one syllable. In the second place, such a student cannot deal with all the problems at first hand, but in a thousand important questions is at the mercy of the judgment of others. In the third place, our student without Greek cannot acquaint himself with the form as well as the content of the New Testament books. The New Testament, as well as all other literature, loses something in translation. But why argue the, question? Every scientific student of the New Testament without exception knows that Greek is really necessary to his work: the real question is only as to whether our ministry should be manned by scientific students.
  That question is merely one phase of the most important question that is now facing the Church—the question of Christianity and culture. The modern world is dominated by a type of thought that is either contradictory to Christianity or else out of vital connection with Christianity. This type of thought applied directly to the Bible has resulted in the naturalistic view of the biblical history-the view that rejects the supernatural not merely in the Old Testament narratives, but also in the-Gospel account of the life of Jesus. According to such a view the Bible is valuable because it teaches certain ideas about God and His relations to the world, because it teaches by symbols and example, as well as by formal presentation, certain great principles that have always been true. According to the supernaturalistic view, on the other hand, the Bible contains not merely a presentation of something that was always true, but also a record of something that happened—namely, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. If this latter view be correct, then the Bible is unique; it is not merely one of the sources of the preacher's inspiration, but the very sum and substance of what he has to say. But, if so, then whatever else the preacher need not know, be must know the Bible; he must know it at first hand, and be able to interpret and defend it. Especially while doubt remains in the world as to the great central question, who more properly than the ministers should engage in the work of resolving such doubt—by intellectual instruction even more than by argument? The work cannot be turned over to a few professors whose work is of interest only to themselves, but must be undertaken energetically by spiritually minded men throughout the Church. But obviously, this work can be undertaken to best advantage only by those who have an important prerequisite for the study in a knowledge of the original languages upon which a large part of the discussion is based. 
  If, however, it is important for the minister to use his Greek Testament, what is to be done about it? Suppose early opportunities were neglected, or what was once required has been lost in the busy rush of ministerial life. Here we may come forward boldly with a message of hope. The Greek of the New Testament is by no means a difficult language; a very fair knowledge of it may be acquired by any minister of average intelligence. And to that end two homely directions may be given. In the first place, the Greek should be read aloud. A language cannot easily be learned by the eye alone. The sound as well as the sense of familiar passages should be impressed upon the mind, until sound and sense are connected without the medium of translation. Let this result not be hastened; it will come of itself if the simple direction be followed. In the second place, the Greek Testament should be read every day without fail, Sabbaths included. Ten minutes a day is of vastly more value than seventy minutes once a week. If the student keeps a "morning watch," the Greek Testament ought to be given a place in it; at any rate, the Greek Testament should be read devotionally. The Greek Testament is a sacred book, and should be treated as such. If it is treated so, the reading of it will soon become a source of joy and power.


This essay was originally printed in The Presbyterian (February, 1918). This article is now in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed.

 

 

" Letter to a new convert" by Jonathan Edwards, 1741

My dear young friend,

As you desired me to send you, in writing, some directions how to conduct yourself in your Christian course, I would now answer your request. The sweet remembrance of the great things I have lately seen at your church, inclines me to do anything in my power, to contribute to the spiritual joy and prosperity of God’s people there.

1. I would advise you to keep up as great a earnestness in religion, as if you knew yourself to be in a state of nature, and were seeking conversion. We advise people under conviction, to be earnest and violent for the kingdom of heaven; but when they have attained to conversion, they ought not to be the less watchful, laborious, and earnest, in the whole work of religion, but the more so; for they are under infinitely greater obligations. For lack of this, many people, in a few months after their conversion, have begun to lose their sweet and lively sense of spiritual things, and to grow cold and dark, and have "pierced themselves through with many sorrows;’ whereas, if they had done as the apostle did, (Phil. 3:12-14.) their path would have been "as the shining light, which shines more and more unto the perfect day."

2. Do not leave off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted people to strive for, and a degree of which you have had already in conversion. Pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight, that you may know yourself, and be brought to God’s footstool; and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, and may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. Those who have most of these things, have need still to pray for them; for there is so much blindness and hardness, pride and death remaining, that they still need to have that work of God wrought upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them, that shall be bringing them out of darkness into God’s marvelous light, and be a kind of new conversion and resurrection from the dead. There are very few requests that are proper for an impenitent man, that are not also, in some sense, proper for the godly.

"But I Don't Have The Gift Of Evangelism!" By Ray Kane

Saying you don't have the gift of evangelism as a way of avoiding responsibility for sharing your faith is equivalent to saying:

1. I don't have the gift of caring about the souls of other people.
2. I don't have the gift of appreciation for what my Savior did for me.
3. I don't have the gift of obedience to Christ's commands to preach the gospel and make disciples.
4. I don't have the gift of getting out of my comfort zone to tell people that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
5. I don't have the gift of storing treasure in Heaven.
6. I don't have the gift of doing what all true believers should want to do.
7. I can't share a gospel that I don't appreciate because I don't possess it myself.
8. I won't share a gospel that I don't see the dire need for, since the salvation I have is not real.
9. I won't point people to Christ or warn them about hell because I am more concerned about what people will think of me than about what God thinks of me.
10. I think evangelism is only for pastors and professional evangelists, and I am neither of those two classes of people and I love having that excuse because I am really a false convert who has no allegiance to the Lamb Of God.


Thanks to Ray Kane at www.comingintheclouds.org
A very good evangelism and witnessing web site.

"God Blesses the Well Planned Ministry" By Shane C. Montgomery

Scripture Reading: Romans 15:14-33

  We are drawing to a close in our study of this great epistle to the Romans, and the apostle ends it just as he began it, with a word from Paul about himself, and about the church in Rome. What we will be looking at today is a picture of what the Roman church looked like, a mature, disciple making church, but more importantly, we will see what Paul's ministry looked like, a well planned ministry, and we will see just all the planning that went into Paul's ministry. We will see from our text today that just as Paul had to plan out and follow this plan in order to have a effective ministry, so we must do today in our ministry here at Covenant Reformed Church.

There are Two Themes in the closing section of Chapter 15 -- one is the church at Rome, and the other is the ministry of Paul. If you would, follow with me in your Bibles, for this is a very long section of text, and it would be easy to let our minds wonder off. Paul begins in (Verse 14):

I. Step One In Paul's Well Planned Ministry.....Vs. 14-22

“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: 21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. 22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.”

In this chapter of Romans, Paul gives us a little further insight into this church, and tells us certain things that were true of it. Here, in Verse 14, there are three things that he says about this church, three great qualities that they possessed.

"The First National Church and Trust"

  I wonder if we in the modern day church is truly doing the right thing with our ministry.  Somewhere along the way our plans might have gotten a bit off track.  Remember when the local church was a place to come together as the Body of Christ to worship God and a place where saints came to learn and be edified, to grow in grace. The church is a place where God is glorified and souls are saved but also it is a place where saints are encouraged and made into disciples, at least that was the whole idea behind the local church and for many churches this is still the plan, but to those folks outside of the church, those not yet regenerated or those who will never be regenerated and will continue to live in sin, a slave if you will, well these folks are more and more mistaken as to what a local church is.

  To receive a phone call requiring about worship times is a very rare thing indeed, most of the time the phone rings it is, I would say at least 50% of the time, someone trying to sell you something, be it a new set of pew Bibles or the next great and awesome Sunday School course or the ever increasing bombardment of DVD sets to make your small group sessions more relevant!

  I could go on and on and mention all the VBS supplies but I do want to move onto the other 50% of phone calls, and this remaining half, the majority of phone calls are people outside of the church, those who do not attend any church anywhere at anytime, who call and ask for money and you would be surprised if you knew most do not ask very nicely, they more or less demand you deliver money to them where ever they may be, when you try to explain to them that they have the wrong idea of what a church does they often get very irate and begin to tell you what a church "is suppose to be like" and what a church "is suppose to do" and I must admit, even in all my training, study and prayer and time in the ministry, I must be missing something,  when did things change?  When did the church shift over to simply a charity that will give to anyone who asks? Or I should say, feel entitled to the little bit you have.

   The last few calls I received were people demanding money, one gentleman thought I should pay his electric bill for him and when I told him I could not do that he began to curse me, and the last call was from a young couple who were stranded at a friends house, they went there to party and now they do not have the gas to get back home on and that since I am a Christian I should drive them out some money, I think they wanted $57 to buy gas with.  No, I do not know who these people are, just ordinary people who believe the local church exist to bail out people when they get low in funds.  I want to say that I, at one time, did earnestly try to help everyone that showed up at my door or who called on the phone, my family often went without due to bailing people out, but I quickly began to realize that even though you give these people the last dollar you have, they still will not visit the church, in fact, you will never see them again, they have the money and they are off, on their way, onto the next adventure.   After helping so many people who needed way more than money, in fact, of course, money was the least of their problems, but you cannot tell them that, they get irate when you try to share the Gospel with them, more often you will hear "just give me the money already, I don't care about Jesus!"   So, needless to say, I stopped giving money to people who are outside of the church.   It is just not worth it, I was not helping them anyway, only enabling them to be even more self-centered and more immature.

   I can't help but wonder what we did wrong as a church, well, I know what I did wrong, I thought if I helped others they would listen to the Gospel or at the least visit the church, or "a church" out of thankfulness and then maybe, just maybe, be regenerated and live lives devoted to Christ.  But that is where I goofed up, but no more, yet they still call, still insist the church is a bank, ready to give and give and give, regardless of the size of the church.   This misconception of what the church is all about is getting worse every year and I do not know the way out of this mess, other than if we spend more time preaching Christ and Him crucified and less time being seeker sensitive, then maybe we will get this silly notion out of those peoples heads that the church is a place full of money who is there to bail folks out and give them their best life now.

   Most local churches are truly trying to make disciples, they are busy about the things of the Lord, wanting earnestly to be faithful in their New Testament Church calling, but there are so many, mostly large churches who are making things hard for the smaller churches, by putting up billboards and TV commercials, etc. telling the unchurched they are should visit their church for fun and games and food and music, whatever, everything but making disciples that is.  

  Until we get serious about worship then these problems will continue.  Until we get back to glorifying God and stop glorifying the Sinner, no one outside of the church will ever know or understand just what a local church is all about.

Be Holy!

"The Amazing Gospel Tract"

  So many professing Christians have an aversion to handing out evangelistic Christian literature... those small leaflets known as Gospel Tracts.  And yet those small silent witnesses are such a powerful tool for letting lost sinners know about the God of the Bible and His magnificent salvation plan.  Tracts are perhaps the most amazing little tools ever designed for sharing information about the most important issue of life.  A tract can be passed around, shared, read and re-read.  It can be used to provide a person with follow-up contact information.  It doesn't raise its voice, lose its temper, or argue with you.  And it can even go to places that you may not be able to go.  While it can be mocked and ridiculed, it can't be arrested, beaten or killed.  And it can present a message more clearly and concisely than your average believer.  It doesn't stutter or forget what to say.  It is the Amazing Gospel Tract.

"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [Matthew 25:14-20]

Taken From www.comingintheclouds.org

"Questions Most Pastors Don't Want You To Ask Them"

Questions most pastors don't want you to ask them:

What is Arminianism and why is it unbiblical? Where in the Bible did Jesus tell people they got saved by reading a pamphlet called "four spiritual laws" or saying a "sinner's prayer" or walking forward at a Crusade or Altar Call? Why do pastors tell people to close their eyes and bow their heads when sinners are being told to seek the Lord? Did Jesus tell his followers to make sure they didn't embarrass people who needed salvation? Why do people meet on Sundays in large special purpose buildings when the early church met in homes on a much smaller scale and in a much more interactive and intimate setting? If the Apostle Paul was self-employed (as a tent maker) and tried so hard to avoid being a financial burden to the churches he was involved in, why do most pastors today get a salary and expect one?  And if it is because being a pastor is their full time job, then why don't they delegate some of their responsibilities to others?

"Those Who Will Suffer the Eternal Torments of Hell" by Richard Baxter

THE MISERY OF THOSE WHO, BESIDES LOSING THE SAINTS' REST, LOSE THE ENJOYMENTS OF TIME, AND SUFFER THE TORMENTS OF HELL.

1.The enjoyments of time which the damned lose: 1. Their presumptuous belief of their interest in God and Christ: 2. All their hopes; 3. All their peace of conscience; 4. All their carnal mirth; 5. All their sensual delights. II. The torments of the damned are exceedingly great: 1. The principal Author of them is God himself. 2. The place or state of torment. 3. These torments are the effects of divine vengeance. 4. God will take pleasure in executing them. 5. Satan and sinners themselves will be God's executioners. 6. These torments will be universal; 7. Without any mitigation; 8. And eternal. The obstinate sinner convinced of his folly in venturing on these torments; and entreated to fly for safety to Christ.

As "godliness hath a promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come;" and if we "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," then all meaner "things shall be added unto us;" so also are the ungodly threatened with the loss both of spiritual and temporal blessings; and because they sought not first God's kingdom and righteousness, therefore shall they lose both it and that which they did seek, and there "shall be taken from them that little which they have." If they could but have kept their present enjoyments, they would not have much cared for the loss of heaven. If they had "lost and forsaken all for Christ," they would have found all again in him; for he would have been all in all to them. But, now they have forsaken Christ for other things, they shall lose Christ, and that also for which they forsook him, even the enjoyments of time, besides suffering the torments of hell.

1. They shall lose their presumptuous belief of their interest in the favor of God and the merits of Christ. This false belief now supports their spirits, and defends them from the terrors that would otherwise seize upon them. But what will ease their trouble when they can believe no longer, nor rejoice any longer? If a man be near to the greatest mischief, and yet strongly conceit that he is in safety, he may be as cheerful as if all were well. If there were no more to make a man happy but to believe that he is so, or shall be so, happiness would be far more common than it is like to be. As true faith is the leading grace in the regenerate, so is false faith the leading vice in the unregenerate. Why do such multitudes sit still when they might have pardon, but that they verily think they are pardoned already? If you could ask thousands in hell, what madness brought them thither? they would most of them answer, "We thought we were sure of being saved till we found ourselves damned. We would have been more earnest seekers of regeneration and the power of godliness, but we verily thought we were Christians already. We have flattered ourselves into these torments, and now there is no remedy." Reader, I must in faithfulness tell thee that the confident belief of their good state, which the careless, unholy, unhumbled multitude so commonly boast of; will prove in the end but a soul-damning delusion. There is none of this believing in hell. It was Satan's stratagem, that being blindfold, they might follow him the more boldly; but then he will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where they are.

"The Sower" By Thomas Chalmers Oct. 1841

When my Saviour speaks let me ever be attentive to hear Him - Save me, O God, from the withdrawing process.and give me fully to share in the advancing process which obtains under the economy of grace. Let me give earnest heed to the things that are spoken—that, having this, more may be granted to me, and so as that I may increase in the knowledge of God, and be more and more instructed in the mysteries of His kingdom. Enable me, O God, so as to apply as to find my own place in the parable of the sower, and read there what my infirmities and wants are. How often then have I reason to fear that I occupy a stage even behind the first class of hearers—reading so mechanically, or hearing so listlessly that the word does not light upon me at all, or become the object of recognition so much as for an instant. But even when it does, how often is it on the understanding only, whence it slips from the memory, in a moment dispossessed or taken away. Or when it does make an impression on the heart or conscience, how marvellously soon is that impression dissipated among the vanities of the world, and the sympathies of social life with those before whom I deny Christ by my silence— because the shame of a godly profession operates upon me with all the influence which persecution had in former ages.

But the place to which I most gravitate, and against which I most need to guard myself, is that of the third class of hearers—in whom the word is choked by weeds and thorns; because there is a depth of soil in me for the abiding and the practical—for a fixed ruling passion which might supplant every other, or at least subordinate every other. But that soil is pre-occupied with thorns, so as to stint the room and growth of a principle of grace in me. If not a love for the riches of this world, it is at least the care of this world in some one of its varieties—sometimes a diseased and anxious feeling of insecurity for my property—sometimes a brooding sense of irritation at the injustice which I either feel or fancy— sometimes a taste for occupations distinct from those which subserve the furtherance of the spiritual life, and at all times a general overhanging and overweening carnality. These are the several vexations of the vain show in which I walk, and which would cheat me of my eternity.

"How Shall I Go To God" By Horatius Bonar

"How Shall I Go to God?" It is with our sins that we go to God—for we have nothing else to go with that we can call our own. This is one of the lessons that we are so slow to learn; yet without learning this—we cannot take one right step in that which we call a Christian life.

To look up some good thing in our past life, or to get some good thing now, if we find that our past does not contain any such thing—is our first thought when we begin to inquire after God, that we may get the great question settled between Him and us, as to the forgiveness of our sins.

"In His favor is life"; and to be without this favor is to be unhappy here, and to be shut out from joy hereafter. There is no life worthy of the name of life except that which flows from His assured friendship. Without that friendship, our life here is a burden and a weariness; but with that friendship we fear no evil, and all sorrow is turned into joy.

"How shall I be happy?" was the question of a weary soul who had tried a hundred different ways of happiness, and had always failed.

"Secure the favor of God," was the prompt answer, by one who had himself tasted that the "Lord is gracious."

"Is there no other way of being happy?"

"None, none," was the quick and decided reply. "Man has been trying other ways for six thousand years, and has utterly failed—and are you likely to succeed?"

"No, not likely; and I don't want to go on trying. But this favor of God seems such a shadowy thing, and God Himself so far off—that I know not which way to turn."

Are You A Good Person?

"The Great Commission Given" From "The Fourfold Gospel" by J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton

8-9. THE GREAT COMMISSION GIVEN.
(Time and place same as last section.)
^a MATT. 28:18-20; ^b MARK 16:15-18; ^c LUKE 24:46, 47.

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      ^a 18 And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

  ^b 15 And he said unto them, Go ye ^a therefore, ^b into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. ^a and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

  20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you:

  ^b 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

^c Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;

  47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [The verses from Luke are taken from a later conversation, which will be handled in our next section. They are inserted here because they are an indicative statement of the commission which Matthew and Mark give in the imperative, and a section professing to embrace the commission would be imperfect without them. The first word of the commission is significant, and should be remembered. We have no right to wait for sinners to come and hear the gospel; we must carry it to them. The "therefore" with which it opens shows that Jesus rests this command nor the word "authority" adequately translated Christ's word. It means all the right of absolute authority, and all the force of absolute power. It is a most transcendent claim which Jesus utters here. All authority in heaven! Paul's qualification of these words, or their counterpart in ICorxv 1:1 Psalms 8:6 (ICor. xv. 27, 28) Psalms 27,28 , magnifies instead of detracting from their wonderful import, for he deems its necessary to state that the Father himself is not subject to the Son. Surely in connection with this marvelous celestial power, his dominion over out tiny earth would not need to be mentioned if it were not that we, its inhabitants, are very limited in our conception of things, and require exceedingly plain statements. The command calls for the Christianizing of all nations. If we realized better that authority with which Christ prefaces his commission, the conquest of the nations in his name would seem to us a small matter indeed, and we should set about it expecting to witness its speedy accomplishment. The structure of the sentence in the original Greek shows that it is the disciples and not the nations who are to be baptized; according to the commission, therefore, one must be made a disciple before he can be baptized. Baptism brings us into divine relation to God. Being a part of the process of adoption, it is called a birth ( John 3:5 ). The baptized Christian bears the name into which he is baptized (Romans 2:24 ; James 2:7 ). Luke sums up the whole commission by recording the words of Christ, wherein he states that he suffered that it might be preached to all nations that if men would repent, God could now forgive ( Romans 3:26 ). From Luke's record we also learn that the preaching of these glad tidings was to begin at Jerusalem.]

  ^b 17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues;

  18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. [The Book of Acts gives examples of each one of these except the fourth, and though we have no there is little doubt that in the many persecutions such cases did occur.] ^a and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. [This is a promise not of bare companionship, but of full sympathy and support ( Isaiah 43:2 ; Exodus 33:15 ; Joshua 1:5 ). The duration of this promise shows that it is intended for all disciples.]

Written in 1914 and published by Standard Publishing Company in Cincinnati, Oh (my neck of the woods) this book is a complete chronology of the life of Christ, divided into titled sections and sub-divisions, with comments injected in the text.  Well worth the read if you can find it in book form, if not here is a site you can read it online.  Be Blessed Brothers and Sisters, Be Blessed!   http://www.ccel.org/m/mcgarvey/ffg/FFG000A.HTM

The Fourfold Gospel in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.

"What is a Covenant?" By Meredith G. Kline

Because the subject of biblical covenants and ancient treaties has been under intensive investigation and lively dispute, some introductory observations are in order here about the nature of those biblical arrangements we call "covenants." Our chief interest in these comments is in those covenantal arrangements in which God was one party.

Of the biblical words usually rendered "covenant" the primary one in the Old Testament is the Hebrew berith, for which the Greek diathekewas the translation choice of the New Testament writers. What is it that constitutes the peculiar berith-character of that which is so denominated?

Repeatedly we read of a berith being "made." The berith-making is accomplished through a solemn process of ratification. Characteristically this transaction centers in the swearing of an oath, with its sanctioning curse. Clearly a berith is a legal kind of arrangement, a formal disposition of a binding nature. At the heart of a berith is an act of commitment and the customary oath-form of this commitment reveals the religious nature of the transaction. The berith arrangement is no mere secular contract but rather belongs to the sacred sphere of divine witness and enforcement.

"Calvinism in America" By Loraine Boettner

Chapter Seven: Calvinism in America, Taken From "Calvinism in History"

When we come to study the influence of Calvinism as a political force in the history of the United States we come to one of the brightest pages of all Calvinistic history. Calvinism came to America in the Mayflower, and Bancroft, the greatest of American historians, pronounces the Pilgrim Fathers "Calvinists in their faith according to the straightest system."¹ John Endicott, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Winthrop, the second governor of that Colony; Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut; John Davenport, the founder of the New Haven Colony; and Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode Island Colony, were all Calvinists. William Penn was a disciple of the Huguenots. It is estimated that of the 3,000,000 Americans at the time of the American Revolution, 900,000 were of Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin, 600,000 were Puritan English, and 400,000 were German or Dutch Reformed. In addition to this the Episcopalians had a Calvinistic confession in their Thirty-nine Articles; and many French Huguenots also had come to this western world. Thus we see that about two-thirds of the colonial population had been trained in the school of Calvin. Never in the world's history had a nation been founded by such people as these. Furthermore these people came to America not primarily for commercial gain or advantage, but because of deep religious convictions. It seems that the religious persecutions in various European countries had been providentially used to select out the most progressive and enlightened people for the colonization of America. At any rate it is quite generally admitted that the English, Scotch, Germans, and Dutch have been the most masterful people of Europe. Let it be especially remembered that the Puritans, who formed the great bulk of the settlers in New England, brought with them a Calvinistic Protestantism, that they were truly devoted to the doctrines of the great Reformers, that they had an aversion for formalism and oppression whether in the Church or in the State, and that in New England Calvinism remained the ruling theology throughout the entire Colonial period.

"ENDURING PERSECUTION FOR CHRIST" By John Calvin

"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach." Hebrews xiii., 13. 

All the exhortations which can be given us to suffer patiently for the name of Jesus Christ, and in defense of the gospel, will have no effect if we do not feel assured of the cause for which we fight. For when we are called to part with life, it is absolutely necessary to know on what grounds. The firmness necessary we can not possess, unless it be founded on certainty of faith. 

It is true that persons may be found who will foolishly expose themselves to death in maintaining some absurd opinions and dreams conceived by their own brain, but such impetuosity is more to be regarded as frenzy than as Christian zeal; and, in fact, there is neither firmness nor sound sense in those who thus, at a kind of haphazard, cast themselves away. But, however this may be, it is in a good cause only that God can acknowledge us as His martyrs. Death is common to all, and the children of God are condemned to ignominy and tortures as criminals are; but God makes the distinction between them, inasmuch as He can not deny His truth. On our part, then, it is requisite that we have sure and infallible evidence of the doctrine which we maintain; and hence, as I have said, we can not be rationally imprest by any exhortations which we receive to suffer persecution for the gospel, if no true certainty of faith has been imprinted in our hearts. For to hazard our life upon a peradventure is not natural, and tho we were to do it, it would only be rashness, not Christian courage. In a word, nothing that we do will be approved of God if we are not thoroughly persuaded that it is for Him and His cause we suffer persecution, and the world is our enemy. 

"Exhortation to Prayer" by William Cowper

What various hindrances we meet 

In coming to a mercy-seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of pray'r,
But wishes to be often there?

Pray'r makes the dark'ned cloud withdraw,
Pray'r climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings ev'ry blessing from above.

Restraining pray'r, we cease to fight;
Pray'r makes the Christian's armour bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel's side;
But when thro' weariness they fail'd,
That moment Amalek prevail'd.

Have you no words! Ah, think again,
Words flow apace when you complain;
And fill your fellow-creature's ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To heav'n in supplication sent;
Your cheerful song would oft'ner be,
"Hear what the LORD has done for me!"

Cry Out America Prayer Rally!

"All Kinds of Strange Teachings" By J.C. Ryle

 "Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings! It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them." Hebrews 13:9

      The text which heads this paper is an apostolic caution against false doctrine. It forms part of a warning which Paul addressed to Hebrew Christians. It is a caution just as much needed now--as it was eighteen hundred years ago. Never, I think, was it so important for Christian ministers to cry aloud continually, "Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings!"

      That old enemy of mankind, the devil, has no more subtle instrument for ruining souls, than that of spreading false doctrine. "A murderer and a liar from the beginning!" "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour!"

      Outside the Church, he is ever persuading men to maintain sinful lives, and destructive superstitions. Human sacrifice to idols, gross revolting, cruel, worship of disgusting and abominable false deities, persecution, slavery, cannibalism, child murder, devastating religious wars--all these are a part of Satan's handiwork, and the fruit of his suggestions! Like a pirate, his object is to "sink, burn, and destroy!"

      Inside the Church he is ever laboring to sow heresies, to propagate errors, to foster departures from the faith. If he cannot prevent the waters flowing from the Fountain of Life, he tries hard to poison them. If he cannot destroy the remedy of the Gospel, he strives to adulterate and corrupt it. No wonder that he is called "Apollyon, the destroyer."

"The god of Arminianism" By Augustus Toplady- 1740-1778

I dare say, that, in such an auditory as this, a number of Arminians are present. I fear that all our public assemblies have too many of them. Perhaps, however, even these people, idolaters as they are, may be apt to blame, and, indeed, with justice, the absurdity of those who worship idols of silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. But let me ask: If it be so very absurd, to worship the work of other men’s hands what must it be, to worship the works of our own hands? Perhaps, you may say, "God forbid that I should do so.". Nevertheless, let me tell you, that trust, confidence, reliance, and dependence, for salvation, are all acts and very solemn ones too, of divine worship: and upon whatsoever you depend, whether in whole or in part, for your acceptance with God, and for your justification in his sight, whatsoever, you rely upon, and trust in, for the attainment of grace or glory; if it be any thing short of God in Christ, you are an idolater for all intents and purposes.

Very different is the idea which Scripture gives us, of the ever-blessed God, from that of those false gods worshipped by the heathens; and from that degrading representation of the true God, which Arminianism would palm upon mankind. Our God (says this Psalm, verse the third) is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he pleased. This is not the Arminian idea of God: for our free-willers and our chance-mongers tell us, that God does not do whatsoever he pleases; that there are a great number of things, which God wishes to do, and rags and strives to do, and yet cannot bring to pass . . . Is their god the Bible God? Certainly not. Their god "submits" to difficulties which he "cannot help" himself out of, and endeavors to make himself "easy" under millions and millions of inextricable embarrassments, uncomfortable disappointments, and mortifying defeats. . . .This said scheme ascends, on the ladder of blasphemy, to the mountain top of atheism; and then hurls itself from that precipice, into the gulf of blind, adamantine necessity, in order to prove mankind free agents!

. . .One great contest, between the religion of Arminianism, and the religion of Christ, is, who shall stand entitled to the praise and glory of a sinner’s salvation? Conversion decides this point at once; for I think that, without any imputation of uncharitableness, I may venture to say, that every truly awakened person, at least when he is under the shine of God’s countenance upon his soul, will fall down upon his knees, with this hymn of praise ascending from his heart, ‘Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but to thy name, give the glory’: I am saved not for my righteousness, but for thy mercy and thy truth’s sake.

"For Who Did Christ Die?" By John Owen

The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent

punishment for, either:

1. All the sins of all men.
2. All the sins of some men, or
3. Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

1. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so,
none are saved.

2. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all
the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.

3. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the
punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, "Because of unbelief."

I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ
suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did,
why must that hinder them more than their other sins for
which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their
sins!"