Sound Doctrine Church

Comparing Ourselves to Jesus

thomas — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:08:54 +0000

We shall never get beyond the need of using daily the Lord’s prayer. He has bound by the conjunction and the prayer for forgiveness with that for daily bread, as though to teach us that we shall need the one as long as we need the other. At the end of the best day that we ever spent, when we are not aware of having consciously sinned in act, or speech, or thought, we shall still have need of the precious blood. We may know nothing against ourselves, yet we shall not be thereby justified; because He that judges us is our holy Lord, and the standard by which we are judged is his own perfect character. A piece of cambric looks extremely fine to the eye, but how coarse to the microscope! Sheep look white against the dark ground of the early spring; but how dark if there should be a fall of snow! Our characters seem stainless, only because we compare ourselves with ourselves, or with others.

But, when our eyes are opened to see God, to behold the whiteness of the great white throne, and we stand in the searching light of heaven, we are as those who have just emerged from a ditch. I heard the other day of a woman being proud of having lived without sin for ten years! So we deceive ourselves. No, at the best we are sinful men and women, needing constant cleansing; even though we may be kept from known sin by the grace of Christ. It was at an advanced period in the life of the great Apostle, and when he lived nearest God, that he realized himself to be the chief of sinners.

—F.B. Meyer

Christians Forced Out of Village

jacob — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:49:38 +0000

February 9, at 3:00 pm, the deputy government leader of Ta-Oyl district, visited the field where the Laotian Christians are forced to live. The deputy, Mr. Khamnun, ordered them to cease building temporary shelters and directed them to sleep on the ground. They have so far refused to comply with the order. On January 10, 2010, around 10:00 am, a group of approximately 100 officials raided a Sunday morning worship service in the Katin village of Ta-Oyl district, Saravan, Laos. With guns drawn, officials forced the 48 Christians to a nearby open field. Officials seized all personal belongings of the Christians, and later destroyed 6 of their houses. The officials put guns to the Christian’s heads and stated that the Christians cannot return to the village until they admit they no longer believe in lies. Laotian officials have set up police at the entrance of village to keep out the Christians. Unable to return to their homes, all 48, including women and children, have been sleeping on the ground in the woods with no provided food or shelter.

Chinese Teenager Expelled from School

thomas — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:52:13 +0000

Second year high school student Chen Le has been expelled from school for his Christian faith. He had been found by the Bazhou Public Security Agency to have engaged in Christian gatherings, and the school was notified to educate him and persuade him to “mend his ways,” according to the Notice of Expulsion. Chen Le stated emphatically “I would rather be forced out of school than deny my faith,” prompting the school to advise him to transfer Notice of Expulsion document and refusing to renounce his faith, his expulsion has come at a great price for his future. The situation has effectively deprived him of his future education, as he has now been barred from taking the mandatory college entrance exam.

Pray that Chen would continue to serve God and not man. Pray that Chen will stand firm no matter what persecution comes.

Self-Denial and the End of Evil Appetites

thomas — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:45:04 +0000

My Child, you can never be perfectly free unless you completely renounce self, for all who seek their own interest and who love themselves are bound in fetters. They are unsettled by covetousness and curiosity, always searching for ease and not for the things of Christ, often devising and framing that which will not last, for anything that is not of God will fail completely.

Hold to this short and perfect advice, therefore: give up your desires and you will find rest. Think upon it in your heart, and when you have put it into practice you will understand all things.

My child, you should not turn away or be downcast when you hear the way of the perfect. Rather you ought to be spurred all the more toward their sublime heights, or at least be moved to seek perfection.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich . . . (Revelation 3:18)

Rich in heavenly wisdom which treads underfoot all that is low. Put aside earthly wisdom, all human self-complacency.

It’s been said: exchange what is precious and valued among men for that which is considered contemptible. For true heavenly wisdom; not to think highly of self and not to seek glory on earth does indeed seem mean and small and is well-nigh forgotten, as many men praise it with their mouths but shy far away from it in their lives. Yet this heavenly wisdom is a pearl of great price, which is hidden from many.

—Thomas A. Kempis

Somali Church Leader Murdered

thomas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:57:10 +0000

Islamic extremists shot the leader of an underground church to death outside the capital city of Somalia this month and have threatened to kill his wife, his tearful widow told Compass. Having learned that he had left Islam to become a Christian, Somali militants from the Islamic extremist al Shabaab murderd 41-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Ali. Ali’s wife Hassan said she received threatening calls from members of al Shabaab on Jan. 3 saying, “We know your home and that you are a follower of the Christians, and we are going to kill you the way we killed your husband.” Hassan fled for Kenya early the next morning by bus with her only child, 2-year-old son Abdi Asis Mohammed Ahmed, arriving at Nairobi on Jan. 20.

Pray for Hassan and her 2-year-old son, and for the underground church in Somalia.

The Coming of Crosses

thomas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:46:56 +0000

The more we fear crosses, the more we have to conclude that we need them. And the heavier our crosses are, the more we have to believe that God loves us. We ought to judge the seriousness of our illnesses by the strength of the treatment the spiritual Physician applies to them.

We must be very corrupt, and God must be very merciful, since he takes great pains to heal us—even though the process of healing may be difficult. So let us turn our crosses themselves into a source of love, comfort and faith, saying with Saint Paul, ‟For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison”.

Happy are those who go forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, for they will bring in an indescribably joyful harvest of eternal life!

—François Fenelon

The Attitude of Jesus

thomas — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:17:23 +0000

Philippians 2:5-8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

This wonderful description of Christ’s descent to our shame and sorrow is here cited by the Apostle, that it might be a living impulse and inspiration to ourselves, not to look upon our own things, not to hold them with a tight grasp, but to be willing to stoop for others to shame, sorrow, and spitting; fulfilling God’s purpose of mercy to the world, even as Jesus Christ, who became the instrument and organ through which God’s redemptive purpose wrought. ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.’ Think these thoughts. Never look exclusively upon your own interests, never count anything of your own worthy to stand in the way, but always be prepared to the last point to deny yourself, that the redemptive purpose of God may flow through the channel of your life to those that sorely need His blessed help. It is a wonderful thing that, day by day, in our poor measure, we may repeat the purpose and the work of Jesus Christ our Emmanuel.

—F.B. Meyer

Hindu Radicals Attack Church

jacob — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:10:23 +0000

International Christian Concern (ICC) learned has learned that on January 17, Hindu extremists attacked a Christian prayer meeting in Udaipur, Rajastha, leaving eleven Christians with serious injuries. ICC sources report that at about 11 PM local time, members of Rashtriya Swayamsavak Sangh (a Hindu extremist group) rushed into the Faith Calvary Church (FCC) prayer meeting armed with machetes, axes and sticks and proceeded to beat Pastor Surajth Bhagari and church members of the church. The Director and Founder of FCC, Dr. T.M. Omkar, told ICC that the Christians suffered broken legs, arms and injuries to their heads. The victims were taken to a nearby government hospital where they were partially treated. However, the administrators of the hospital refused to issue them a medical certificate. “We felt that the hospital administration was pressured by some group who are keen to create trouble for the Christians. We are taking the matter to the court,” said Dr. Omkar. The Christians filed a police complaint on the day of the attacks but no First Information Report (a report written by the police when they receive news of crime) was registered. The complaint was again lodged on January 19^th, and this time the First Information Report was registered by Gordhan Bilas Police Station. An officer from the police station told ICC that his office will protect the Christians from further attacks. Police arrested six Hindu extremists under the Indian Penal Code for rioting, being armed with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly in prosecution of common object, house trespass and punishment for voluntarily causing hurt. The attackers were released on bail the same day.

God’s Boundlessness

thomas — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:59:43 +0000

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it. If this is true of the book of Revelation, it is even truer of the Bible in general. God has opened a very large treasure for us, to supply our needs. We thank God for giving us so much. If we are too lazy to gather it, this means our thanksgiving is insincere. There is enough material in the Bible to keep us busy for a lifetime. Those who have learned the most realize how little they know. The subject is inexhaustible. As God is infinite, the science of divinity is full of unsearchable wonders. The Psalmist says, To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. There is enough in this divine science to employ the understandings of saints and angels to all eternity.

—Jonathan Edwards

Christian Hostages Are Alive

jacob — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:30:55 +0000

Six Christian hostages, among them three children, in Yemen are alive. More than six months ago a German Christian family of five and a British engineer were abducted in the North of the country. Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alaimi has confirmed reports that the German family of five and a British engineer are in the hands of Shiite Houthi rebels. The Germans were forced to care for wounded fighters, he said in the capital Sanaa. Johannes and Sabine Hentschel (both 37) and their children Lydia (5), Anna (3) and Simon (1) as well as a British engineer were kidnapped in mid-June during an outing near Saada. Yemen is one of the strictest Islamic countries. 99 percent of the 21 million inhabitants are Muslims. Small groups of Christians gather in secret.

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