Every Thought Captive
2 Corinthians 10:5
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Landry Fields and Jeremy Lin’s new handshake: skimming through book, taking off glasses, then placing inside pocket protector.
Note: Landry Fields graduated from Stanford, Lin from Harvard. Way to set the bar super high for all Asian parents, Jeremy.
(Source: neaato)
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The Glory of Christ
THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS LOVE THE ASSUMPTION and discharge of the mediatory office by the Son of God is most eminently represented in Scripture.
2. The love of Christ was the sole impelling cause of His assumption of the office of Mediator (Gal. 2:20; I John 3:16; Rev. 1:5).
Herein is He glorious, in a way and manner incomprehensible; for in the glory of divine love the chief brightness of glory consists. There is nothing of dread or terror accompanying it, nothing but what is amiable and infinitely refreshing. Now, that we may take a view of the glory of Christ by faith, the nature of it must be inquired into.
a) The eternal disposing cause of the whole work wherein the Lord Christ was engaged, for the redemption and salvation of the Church, is the love of the Father. It is constantly ascribed to this in the Scripture. And this love of the Father acted itself in His eternal decrees, “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4); and afterward in the sending of His Son to render it effectual (John 3:16). Originally, it is His eternal election of a portion of mankind to be brought to the enjoyment of Himself, through the mystery of the blood of Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit (II Thess. 2:13,16; Eph. 1:4—9; I Peter 1:2).
This eternal act of the will of God the Father does not contain in it an actual approbation of, and complacency in, the state and condition of those that are elected; but only designs that on which they shall be accepted and approved. And it is called His love for several reasons.
(1) Because it is an act suited to that glorious excellency of His nature wherein He is love; for “God is love” (I John 4:8,9). And the first egress of the divine properties must, therefore, be in an act of communicative love. And since this election, being an eternal act of the will of God, can have no moving cause but what is in Himself, if we could look into all the treasures of the divine excellencies, we would find none it could be so properly ascribed as to love. Wherefore,
(2) It is styled love because it was free and undeserved, as to anything on our part; for whatever good is done to any altogether undeserved, if it be with a design of their profit and advantage, it is an act of love and can have no other cause. So is it with us in respect of eternal election. There was nothing in us, nothing foreseen, as that which, from ourselves, would be in us, that should any way move the will of God to this election; for whatever is good in the best of men is an effect of it (Eph. 1:4). Since it tends to our eternal good, the spring of it must be love.
(3) The fruits or effects of it are inconceivable acts of love. It is by multiplied acts of love that it is made effectual (John 3:16; Jer. 31:3; Eph. 1:3 — 5; I Joh 4:8, 9, l6).
b) This is the eternal spring which is derived to the Church through the mediation of Christ. Wherefore, that which put all the design of this eternal love of the Father into execution and wrought our the accomplishment of it was the love of the Son, which we inquire after; and light may be given to it in the ensuing observations.
(1) The whole number or society of the elect were creatures made in the image of God, and thereby in a state of love with Him. All that they were, had, or hoped for, were effects of divine goodness and love. And the life of their souls was love to God. And a blessed state it was, preparatory for the eternal life of love in heaven.
(2) From this state they fell by sin into a state of enmity with God; which is comprehensive of all miseries, temporal and eternal.
(3) Notwithstanding this woeful catastrophe of our first state, yet our nature, on many accounts, was recoverable to the enjoyment of God; as I have elsewhere declared.
(4) In this condition, the first act of love in Christ towards us was in pity and compassion. A creature made in the image of God and fallen into misery, yet capable of recovery, is the proper object of divine compassion. That which is so celebrated in the Scripture, as the bowels, the pity, the compassion of God, is the acting of divine love toward us on the consideration of our distress and misery. But all compassion ceases toward them whose condition is irrecoverable. Wherefore the Lord Christ pitied nor the angels that fell, because their nature was not to be relieved. Of this compassion in Christ, see Hebrews 2:14—16 and Isaiah 63:9.
(5) As then we lay under the eye of Christ in our misery, we were the objects of His pity and compassion; but as He looks on us as recoverable out of that state, His love works in and by delight. It was an inconceivable delight to Him to take a prospect of the deliverance of mankind to the glory of God; which is also an act of love. See this divinely expressed in Proverbs 8:30, 31, as that place has been elsewhere explained. [See Owens Christologia, or A Declaration of the Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ—God and Man, 1679, reprinted in Goold’s edition of the Works of John Owen, Edinburgh, 1850, I, p. 54.]
(6) If it be asked what is the cause of this compassion and delight in Him that He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency should so deeply concern Himself in our lost, forlorn condition, I say it did so merely from the infinite love and goodness of His own nature without the least procuring the inducement from us or anything in us (Titus 3:5).
(7)In this His readiness, willingness, and delight, springing from love and compassion, the counsel of God concerning the way of our recovery is, as it were, proposed to Him. Now, this was a way of great difficulties and perplexities to Himself, that is, to His person as it was to be constituted. To the divine nature nothing is grievous, nothing is difficult; but He was to have another nature, wherein He was to undergo the difficulties of this way and work. It was required of Him that He should pity us until He had none left to pity Himself when He stood in need of it; that He should pursue His delight to save us until His own soul was heavy and sorrowful unto death; that He should relieve us in our sufferings by suffering the same things that we should have done. But He was not in the least deterred by these from undertaking this work of love and mercy for us; yea, His love rose on this proposal like the waters of a mighty stream against opposition. For He says, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God”; it is My delight to do it (Heb. 10:5—7; Isa. 50:5—7).
(8) Being thus inclined, disposed, and ready, in the eternal love of His divine person, to undertake the office of mediation and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body or human nature, made His own, He was to make this love effectual in all its inclinations and actings. It was provided for Him to this end, and filled with all grace in a way unmeasurable, especially with fervent love to mankind. And hereby it became a meet instrument to actuate His eternal love in all the fruits of it.
(9) It is hence evident that this glorious love of Christ does not consist only of the eternal actings of His divine person, or the divine nature in His person. Such, indeed, is the love of the Father, His eternal purpose for the communication of grace and glory, with His acquiescency therein; but there is more in the love of Christ. For when He exercised this love He was man also, and not God only. And in none of those eternal acts of love could the human nature of Christ have any interest or concern; yet is the love of the Man Christ Jesus celebrated in the Scripture.
(10) Wherefore this love of Christ which we inquire after is the love of His person, that is, which He in His own person acts in and by His distinct natures, according to their distinct essential properties. And the acts of love in these distinct natures are infinitely distinct and different; yet are they all acts of one and the same person. So, then, whether that act of love in Christ which we would at any time consider be an eternal act of the divine nature in the person of the Son of God; or whether it be an act of the human, performed in time by the gracious faculties and powers of that nature, it is still the love of one and the selfsame person—Christ Jesus.
It was an act of inexpressible love in Him that He assumed our nature (Heb. 2:14,17). But it was an act in and of His divine nature only; for it was antecedent to the existence of His human nature, which could not, therefore, concur therein. His laying down His life for us was an act of inconceivable love (I John 3:16). Yet it was only an act of the human nature, wherein He offered Himself and died. But both were acts of His divine person; whence it is said that God laid down His life for us, and purchased the Church with His own blood.
This is that love of Christ wherein He is glorious, and wherein we are by faith to behold His glory. A great part of the blessedness of the saints in heaven, and their triumph therein, consists in their beholding this glory of Christ, in their thankful contemplation of the fruits of it. (See Rev. 5:9,10, etc.).
The illustrious brightness wherewith this glory shines in heaven, the all-satisfying sweetness which the view of it gives unto the souls of the saints there possessed of glory, cannot be conceived or expressed by us. Here, this love passes knowledge; there, we shall comprehend the dimensions of it. Yet even here, if we are not slothful and carnal, we may have a refreshing prospect of it; and where comprehension fails, let admiration take place.
My present business is to exhort others to the contemplation of it, though it be but a very little of it that I can conceive; and less than that very little that I can express. Yet may it be my duty to excite not only myself, but others also, to due inquiries after it; to which end I offer the things ensuing.
1. Labor that your minds may continually be prepared for such heavenly contemplations.If they are carnal and sensual, or filled with earthly things, a due sense of this love of Christ and its glory will not abide in them. Virtue and vice, in their highest degrees, are not more diametrically opposed and inconsistent in the same mind than are an habitual course of sensual, worldly thoughts and a due contemplation of the glory of the love of Christ. Yea, an earnestness of spirit, pregnant with a multitude of thoughts about the lawful occasions of life, is obstructive of all due communion with the Lord Jesus Christ herein.
Few there are whose minds are prepared in a due manner for this duty. The actions and communications of most persons evidence the inward frame of their souls. They rove up and down in their thoughts, which are continually led by their affections into the corners of the earth. It is in vain to call such persons to contemplations of the glory of Christ in His love. A holy composure of mind, by virtue of spiritual principles, an inclination to seek after refreshment in heavenly things and to bathe the soul in the fountain of them, with constant apprehensions of the excellency of this divine glory, are required.
2. Be not satisfied with general notions of the love of Christ which represent no glory to the mind, wherewith many deceive themselves.All who believe His divine person profess a valuation of His love, and think them not Christians who are otherwise minded; but they have only general notions, and not any distinct conceptions of it, and really know not what it is. To deliver us from this snare, peculiar meditations on its principal concerns are required of us. As,
a) Whose love it is—of the divine person of the Son of God. He is expressly called God, with respect to the exercise of this love, that we may always consider whose it is (I John 3:16), “Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us.”
b) By what ways and means this wonderful love of the Son of God acts—in the divine nature by eternal acts of wisdom, goodness, and grace proper to it; and in the human, by temporary acts of pity or compassion, with all the fruits of them in doing and suffering for us. (See Eph. 3:19; Heb. 2:14,15; Rev. 1:5.)
c) What is the freedom of it, as to any desert on our part (I John 4:10). It was hatred, not love, that we in ourselves deserved; which is a consideration suited to fill the soul with self-abasement, the best of frames in the contemplation of the glory of Christ.
d) What is the efficacy of it in its fruits and effects, with sundry other considerations of the like nature.
By a distinct prospect and admiration of these things, the soul may walk in this paradise of God, and gather here and there a heavenly flower, conveying to it a sweet savor of this love of Christ. (See Song of Sol. 2:2—4.)
Moreover, be not contented to have right notions of the love of Christ in your minds unless you can attain a gracious taste of it in your hearts; no more than you would be to see a feast or banquet richly prepared and not partake of it for your refreshment. It is of that nature that we may have a spiritual sensation of it in our minds; whence it is compared by the Spouse to apples and flagons of wine. We may taste that the Lord is gracious; and if we find nor a relish of it in our hearts, we shall not long retain the notion of it in our minds. Christ is the meat, the bread, the food of our souls. Nothing in Him is of a higher spiritual nourishment than His love, which we should always desire.
In this love He is glorious; for it is such as no creatures, angels or men, could have the least conception of, before its manifestation by its effects; and, after its manifestation, it is in this world absolutely incomprehensible.
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Thousands are deceived into supposing that they have “accepted Christ” as their “personal Saviour”, who have not first received Him as their LORD.A.W. Pink
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Growth in grace is growth downward. It is the forming of a lower estimate of ourselves. It is a deepening realization of our nothingness. It is a heartfelt recognition that we are not worthy of the least of God’s mercies.A.W. Pink
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A “god” whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.A.W. Pink
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“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). “Doctrine” means “teaching,” and it is by doctrine or teaching that the great realities of God and of our relation to Him—of Christ, the Spirit, salvation, grace, glory, are made known to us. It is by doctrine (through the power of the Spirit) that believers are nourished and edified, and where doctrine is neglected, growth in grace and effective witnessing for Christ necessarily cease. How sad then that doctrine is now decried as “unpractical” when, in fact, doctrine is the very base of the practical life. There is an inseparable connection between belief and practice—”As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Pro. 23:7). The relation between Divine truth and Christian character is that of cause to effect—”And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32)—free from ignorance, free from prejudice, free from error, free from the wiles of Satan, free from the power of evil; and if the truth is not “known” then such freedom will not be enjoyed. Observe the order of mention in the passage with which we have opened. All Scripture is profitable first for “doctrine”! The same order is observed throughout the Epistles, particularly in the great doctrinal treatises of the apostle Paul. Read the Epistle of “Romans” and it will be found that there is not a single admonition in the first five chapters. In the Epistle of “Ephesians” there are no exhortations till the fourth chapter is reached. The order is first doctrinal exposition and then admonition or exhortation for the regulation of the daily walk.
The substitution of so-called “practical” preaching for the doctrinal exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of many of the evil maladies which now afflict the church of God. The reason why there is so little depth, so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities of Christianity, is because so few believers have been established in the faith, through hearing expounded and through their own personal study of the doctrines of grace. While the soul is unestablished in the doctrine of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures—their full and verbal inspiration— there can be no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the soul is ignorant of the doctrine of Justification there can be no real and intelligent assurance of its acceptance in the Beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching of the Word upon Sanctification it is open to receive all the crudities and errors of the Perfectionists or “Holiness” people. While the soul knows not what Scripture has to say upon the doctrine of the New Birth there can be no proper grasp of the two natures in the believer, and ignorance here inevitably results in loss of peace and joy. And so we might go on right through the list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine that has rendered the professing church helpless to cope with the rising tide of infidelity. It is ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being captivated by the numerous fallacies of the day. It is because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches “will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:3) that they so readily receive false doctrines. Of course it is true that doctrine, like anything else in Scripture, may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint, and thus approached, doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave the heart untouched, and will naturally be “dry” and profitless. But, doctrine properly received, doctrine studied with an exercised heart, will ever lead into a deeper knowledge of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty then is no mere metaphysical dogma which is devoid of practical value, but is one that is calculated to produce a powerful effect upon Christian character and the daily walk. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty lies at the foundation of Christian theology, and in importance is perhaps second only to the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. It is the center of gravity in the system of Christian truth—the sun around which all the lesser orbs are grouped. It is the golden milestone to which every highway of knowledge leads and from which they all radiate. It is the cord upon which all other doctrines are strung like so many pearls, holding them in place and giving them unity. It is the plumb-line by which every creed needs to be measured, the balance in which every human dogma must be weighed. It is designed as the sheet-anchor for our souls amid the storms of life. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is a Divine cordial to refresh our spirits. It is designed and adapted to mould the affections of the heart and to give a right direction to conduct. It produces gratitude in prosperity and patience in adversity. It affords comfort for the present and a sense of security respecting the unknown future. It is, and it does all, and much more than we have just said, because it ascribes to God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the glory which is His due, and places the creature in his proper place before Him—in the dust.
From
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Chapter 12
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STL: (Disconnected), perspective corrected/ mind no longer blind to the prime directive/ eyes open wide yo I spy deception/ with a plumb line the bible is lie detection// as a believer I perceive the/ deceiver sowin’ seeds of deceit via the media/ peep the way they reach the/ receiver to tweak the truth of Jesus// g’s wanna teach ya to bust the heat puff/ the cheeba sleep with a freak and leave her/ with an STD it’s deep bruh/ even your peeps preach to seek for the leeks of Egypt// don’t be deceived what you sow you reap bruh/ the meek ones feast but they check the meat ‘cause/ the MCs’ll feed ya beef with Jesus/ and teach you eat but I beseech ya// to be the speaker for the priesthood/ esteem the meat unclean and teach the/ new believer to please the Redeemer/ push in your seat say peace and leave bruh// these are the procedures they need to/ see to be the believers they need to be ‘cause/ the media’s got the weak ones in a sleeper/ but we need the freaks to speak up//
Hook: (Disconnected) I’m in the world but I’ve been/ (Disconnected), I parted ways with old friends/(Disconnected) I’m separate, I’ll say it again/ (Disconnected) I’m (Disconnected) get //(Disconnected) I’m in the world but I’ve been/ (Disconnected), I parted ways with old friends/ (Disconnected) I’m separate, I’ll say it again/ (Disconnected) I’m (Disconnected) get…//
STL: (Disconnected) vexed, no longer impressed with/ the next kid tryin’ to flex in the Lexus/ or the next chick dressed for a chest inspection/ prep’ed to get sexed and disrespect// dudes wanna move with a crew of fools who maneuver/ the newer coupes and cruisers/ pursue the mula/ choose the jewels and the booze over the truth of Yeshua// brew abusers, spew their puke up/ in sewers, few shoot up with new drugs/ new club, new thugs lumped they dudes/ they came through and let loose slugs with Lugers// fuelin’ the feud with the blood to prove to the/ other crew what they do to losers/ the loser crew blew up the club to prove who could fill the most funeral pews up// this is the pursuit of manure/ fools tryin’ prove who’s crew is cooler/ you just viewed how the beef gets chewed up/ you lose as much as the other crew does/ ‘cause you can’t get to the new Jeru’ in a SCUBA/ suit or a supped up Subaru plus/ the jewels and the stuff you lust, turns to doodoo/ when God say’s “I never know you”//
Hook
shai : Disconnected, eternally blessed, elected/ 30 A.D.- see the best rejected/ Wrath in His soul and His flesh injected/ Three days later- He’s resurrected// He’s straight major, Mediator, Creator/ You have to behold and check His record/ Immaculate scroll replays data/ His acts from of old- they have to be told//
He fashioned the globe, crafted black holes/ that N.A.S.A. can’t probe- better yet detect it/ My deejay’s fader sets the method/ But we convey what the text suggested// The task and the goal- to capture the souls/
of cats in the hole- they’re after the gold/ A freeway straight to disastrous roads/ They need a Savior- let’s inspect it:// ‘Nuff drugs, tough thugs love clubs-/ shrug as they bust slugs cause sins depths are hectic/
Even the ‘burbs got pervs and the nerds and the herbs / slurring words- more or less expected// Who’s next to flex with His majestic freshness/ expressed in the blessed message of hesed/ Jesus gave us remade natures/ so we stay prayed up and disconnected// -
Just Like You
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S.O. - Sure Thing w. lyrics.
Chorus:
At times my faith get low in my face it just shows/though this statement’s bold Ima say it because I know/I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
Though some nights get bleak there are days that get cold/I will rest in the wings of the Saviour coz I know/ I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
Verse 1:
I’ve got a sure assurance while the others stay exploring/like dora, read the torah and you’ll see who calls the orders/second to none important/secular some distort Him/but Christ be surest I’m banking all my insurance on Him/nobody else nobody felt what He did up on the Cross/and surely nobody will/bearing sin up in body/truly Jesus died for the Body/so that you and I can be the righteousness of God Himself/that’s that truth promulgated/on your playlist let me say it/its the latest/what I’m stating/He came down what is the basis/of debasing/washing feet with a basin/baby I’m painting/a picture so you see that His grace is truly amazing (ahhh)/never changing there’s so much more in store/so when my faith get low I be focusing on the Lord, on Cross, all He did man, bringing peace 2 my heart/so my eyes on Him but I’m saying this in the dark/
Chorus:
At times my faith get low in my face it just shows/though this statement’s bold Ima say it because I know/I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
Though some nights get bleak there are days that get cold/I will rest in the wings of the Saviour coz I know/ I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
Verse 2:
Now let me tell you this beloved/nothing’s separating us/from the love He has for those who are His when said and done/nothing known upon the earth can end what His begun/transformed by the Spirit 2 live it in deeper slums/GP made the beats and its speaking loads/surest thing is the deepest shown/keep it low, no we speak it bold/trust in Him when its bleak and cold/hating sin ever since He rose/major win did you see the stones/they were rolled now I put my faith Him and not a secret code/coz men are liars and bias tell em coz now you know/wont trust in my emotion but motion to see Messiah close/embracing what is spoken and quoting the text that I would know/that Christ be the surest man how I wish I was 5 years old/and knew these facts/now I do aint looking back/looking forward to the day of His return now look at that/its a wrap, still intact/stay in prayer aint moving slack/being strengthened by the Spirit, the same 1 who moved in Acts/
Chorus:
At times my faith get low in my face it just shows/though this statement’s bold Ima say it because I know/I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
Though some nights get bleak there are days that get cold/I will rest in the wings of the Saviour coz I know/ I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, I got a sure thing in Christ, plus He promise eternal life
