Remember ye the law... which I have commanded

Malachi 4

4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments."

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

These are the last words of the LORD God to His covenant people, "for all Israel", before the divine light of the prophetic ministry was finally switched off for the next FOUR HUNDRED years, until the promised Elijah burst upon the prolonged darkness. The appearance of John the Baptist marked the beginning of the last days of the theocratic kingdom of Israel; it was finally abolished on the great and dreadful day of the LORD, in AD 70.

In those 400 years of prophetic silence and darkness, the LORD graciously reminded His people of the only light they have to guide them until the arrival of the promised Elijah.

R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R ye the law... Why? 

That they might observe the law the LORD had commanded them and conduct themselves as the LORD's people; they would be no more prophets will be around to remind them, to exhort them, to warn them, to admonish them, to rebuke them; that they might save themselves from the covenant curses of being wicked, i.e. of not serving the LORD they covenant God.

What's the final word of the Lord Jesus Christ to His redeemed people?

Mat 28:20

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

- Do you care whether you have learnt the things Christ had commanded the Apostles to deliver to His redeemed people? 

- Are you in possession of THE faith once delivered to the saints? Are you Taught ALL the things whatsoever Christ has commanded you to know?

- Have you learnt to OBSERVE whatsoever Christ has commanded you through His Apostles?

What's your guide through this dark perilous time until that great and glorious day when our blessed Lord Jesus Christ return for His redeemed?

John Gill santa claused!

I saw this meme on Dr John Gill being "santa claused."

Out of curiosity, I googled "John Gill and Christmas" and got this result.

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https://www.puritanboard.com/…/john-gill-on-christmas.81472/

"It directs to the observation of several fasts and festivals, which are no where enjoined in the word of God, and for which it provides collects, gospels and epistles to be read: the fasts are, Quadragesima or Lent, in imitation of Christ’s forty days fast in the wilderness, Ember weeks, Rogatian days, and all the Fridays in the year; in which men are commanded to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving. The festivals, besides, the principal ones, Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, are the several saints days throughout the year; which are all of popish invention, and are either moveable or fixed, as the popish festivals be; and being the relics of popery makes us still more uneasy and dissatisfied with them.

Source: The Dissenter’s Reasons for Separating from the Church of England, Occasioned By A Letter wrote by a Welch Clergyman on the Duty of Catechizing Children. Intended chiefly for the Dissenters of the Baptist Denomination in Wales.

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Just for your information.

John Gill stated in his writing documented above:

Christmas is "of POPISH INVENTION.... no where enjoined by the word of God."


Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Christmas:
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.my/2012/12/charles-h-spurgeon-on-christmas.html

“There is no reason upon earth beyond that of ecclesiastical custom why the 25th of December should be regarded as the birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ any more than any other day from the first of January to the last day of the year; and yet some persons regard Christmas with far deeper reverence than the Lord’s Day. You will often hear it asserted that “The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of the Protestants,” but it is not so. There are Protestants who have absorbed a great deal beside the Bible into their religion, and among other things they have accepted the authority of what they call “the church,” and by that door all sorts of superstitions have entered.

There is no authority whatever in the word of God for the keeping of Christmas at all, and no reason for keeping it just now except that the most superstitious section of Christendom has made a rule that December 25th shall be observed as the birthday of the Lord, and the church by law established in this land [England] has agreed to follow in the same track. You are under no bondage whatever to regard that regulation. 

We owe no allegiance to the ecclesiastical powers which have made a decree on this matter, for we belong to an old-fashioned church which does not dare to make laws, but is content to obey them. At the same time the day is no worse than another, and if you choose to observe it, and observe it unto the Lord, I doubt not he will accept your devotion: while if you do not observe it, but unto the Lord observe it not, for fear of encouraging superstition and will-worship, I doubt not but what you shall be as accepted in the non-observance as you could have been in the observance of it.”

Charles H. Spurgeon, introductory comments before preaching on the birth of Jesus Christ, December 24th, 1876

New Birth, Family of God, Kingdom of God

The Beige Imperialist and the Brown Imperiled

The new birth,

the family of God, and

the kingdom of God.

I read this quote in a Facebook post and it piqued my sleepy mind.

"Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This kingdom you've got to be born into. All right, watch this, there came a time when you were born into that kingdom. When the Lord is talking about being born into that kingdom, He is not talking to you about something that you must do. He is talking to you about something that is done to you. If you will tell me what you did to be born into the family of your parents, I'll tell you what I did to be born into the family of God. The answer in both cases is nothing." - Excerpt from the sermon titled Three Essentials by .......

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(I excluded the name of the author so that the readers' mind will not be distracted by denominational loyalty)

I left this comment:

That's quite misleading.

No one is born into the kingdom of God.

The new birth makes entering the kingdom of God possible. The kingdom of God is contrasted with the earthly theocratic kingdom of Israel.

The kingdom of God must be entered through conscious confession of Christ as the Messiah.

To be born into the family of God and to be born into the kingdom of God (if there is such a thing to begin with) are completely different theological concepts. There is obvious confusion between the two concepts.

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p/s

The Lord is NOT talking about being born into that kingdom; the Lord is talking about the absolute necessity of the new birth in order for a man to perceive, and enter the kingdom of God. Perceiving and entering the kingdom of God requires strenuous effort on the part of those already born again.

Discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not

Of the same flock of One Shepherd, there are BOTH sheep and goats;
Of the One Bridegroom, there are both wise and foolish waiting for him
Of the One Master, there are the faithful and unfaithful servants;
even so,
Of the one people of God, there are them that serve Him
and those that serve Him not.

Malachi 3:18

"Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

There are two groups in the Israel of God; which are you in?

Can you discern the two?

Here are the wicked

Malachi 3:

13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?

14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?

15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Here are the righteous

Malachi 3

16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

How does a man enter the kingdom of heaven?

I came across a Facebook post posing the question, "How does a man enter the kingdom of heaven?"

I left this brief comment.
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Hi Albertine, you have asked an interesting, and important question.

Let me answer your question this way:

1. Take note that there is a great distinction between the kingdom of heaven and heaven itself. Without making this biblical distinction, there will be inevitable confusion.

(I assume you understand the biblical concept of the kingdom of heaven. The phrase occurs 31 times in the NT, all in the Gospel of Matthew. It is used mainly to indicate the spiritual nature of the kingdom that Christ came to establish in distinction from the earthly theocratic kingdom of Israel. In other gospel accounts, the synonymous phrase "kingdom of God" is used.)

a. A man, in his native state of sin and death, is made fit for heaven SOLELY, WHOLLY and COMPLETELY be the free and sovereign and gracious activities of God, based on the finished work of Jesus Christ, through His Spirit.

b. A man is MADE FIT for heaven, without him doing anything, through God's free and sovereign activity of effectually calling him out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

c. To call a man out of his native state of sin and death, God justifies him by applying the righteousness of Christ to him and declares him not guilty but righteous, God regenerates him from spiritual deadness to spiritual life, God adopts him into the divine family and gives him the Spirit of adoption to dwell within him. All these distinct activities occur simultaneously at the effectual calling.

d. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The new birth that took place at effectual calling ENABLES a child of God to enter the kingdom of heaven.

2. Having been effectually called and made fit for eternal glory in heaven, such a child of God must exert himself actively IN ORDER to enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Mat 11:12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."
- There are many hindrances and hurdles that must be overcome in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Hindrances and hurdles within include repentance from falsehoods, superstitions, traditions, outward religion, etc., faith in Christ, and obedience to His words.

Mat 5:20 "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The Triune God alone QUALIFY and MAKES a man fit for heaven and eternal glory.

A child of God must strive to make himself fit to enter/be received into the kingdom of heaven.

I hope this helps.

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The purplish flowers are called Torenia fournieri. 

Torenia fournieri, the bluewings or wishbone flower, 

is an annual plant in the Linderniaceae, with blue, white, 

or pink flowers that have yellow markings. 

It is typically grown as a landscape annual, reaching 12-15 in. tall. 

They grow wild in my garden).