The White Stone Zone

I have had a bit of writer's block, so I thought I would let Charles Spurgeon inspire us with great news! According to this gracious covenant, the Lord treats His people as if they had never sinned. Practically, He forgets all their trespasses. Sins of all kinds He treats as if they had never been; as if they were erased from His memory. Oh, miracle of grace! God here does that which in certain aspects is impossible to him. His mercy works miracles which far transcends all other miracles. Our God ignores our sin now that the sacrifice of Jesus has ratified the covenant. We may rejoice in Him without without fear that He will be provoked to anger against us because of our iniquities. See! He puts us among the children; He accepts us as righteous! He takes delight in us as if we were perfectly holy. He even puts us in places of trust; makes us guardians of His honor, trustees of the crown jewels, stewards of the gospel. He counts us worthy and gives us a ministry; this is the highest...

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the Holy Spirit, but the controversy can be easily eliminated if we let the Scriptures define the work of the Holy Spirit. Two passages come to mind, and in the days to come, we will examine more. 26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me." The Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus Christ. In other words, when someone is in communion with the Spirit of God, they are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will fix the believers eyes on Jesus Christ. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.[ g ] And by him we cry, "Abba,[ h ] Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.. Likewise, the Holy Spirit's ...

3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—(Col. 1) It is evident in Paul's writings that he gets very excited when he hears about people actually placing their trust in Jesus Christ in order to get around to the businesss of loving one another. There are several passages similar to this one where Paul gets excited when he hears reports that the churches are full of faith and love. Nowhere does he ever seem concerned about the size of the church, the amount of money, or even the number of souls 'won for Jesus'. (The truth is Jesus alreay won and none will be lost) Paul is concerned about faith in Christ Jesus. This is foundational, and nothing works without faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus asked if he would find faith on the earth when He returned. Notice, He wants to see faith, not works, numbers or religion. All of the polls out ther...

John 18 ....Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?" 5"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. There is a scene in the movie "Remember the Titans" where assistant football coach Bill Yost tells head coach Herman Boone to run up the score..."Leave no doubt," he bellows. I believe this is the reason why Jesus had the encounter with the soldiers in the grove. They came with weapons, but they drew back and fell to the ground at the sound of his voice. This was an example of our Sovereign God leaving no doubt as to who was in charge, who was winning, and who would have the fi...

"Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. " (1 Corinthinans 1:24) It amazes me how much Christians want to hang on to Old Testament theology in their relationship to God. John tells us without reservation that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." We are not to fear God, but teachers insist that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"*, and that we should have a healthy, reverent fear of God." I say this is faulty teaching. It confuses young believers who are used to being motivated by fear, so they naturally transfer that conditioning to their relationship with God. Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but not the end of wisdom. When we fear God, we know we need a Savior, when we receive salvation, God's perfect love is to relieve our fears. We are no longer motivated by fear. Christ is now the W...

When we think of the armor of God, we often think that we have to put it on to go into the world where the devil reigns; however, Paul’s exhortation to put on the full armor of God is right after his instructions on relationships—particularly family relationships. The end of chapter 5 instructs wives to submit to their husbands, for husbands to love their wives, and Chapter 6 instructs children to obey their parents, fathers to encourage their kids, and for employees and bosses to treat one another with respect. It is in this context that Paul tells us to put on the armor of God. The armor of God is nothing less than Jesus Christ. In other words, it is through the power and provision of Christ that husbands are going to love their wives, wives are going to submit to their husbands, and children are going to respect their parents. There are, however, several practical applications to the family regarding the armor of God. First, it is to defeat the devil’s schemes. The devil s...