Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

6 April, 2007   comments: (0) Wonderful Plan?   Martyrs Dreaded Heresy More Than Death    Quoting William Gurnall . . . Since it is more dangerous to part with God's truth than with our own lives, heretics and seducers are more to be feared than persecutors. It is far worse to have our souls damned by God than to have our bodies killed by man. If the martyrs had dreaded death more than heresy they could never have walked willingly into persecutors' flames. The sword of the spirit in another person's hand will not defend you. If you are to be lifted up into victory over this dangerous enemy you must give yourself completely to the leading of the Spirit in God's word. The outward expression of scripture is only the shell, and the meaning is the pearl that you must search for until you find it. "He that hath an ear, let him her what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Revelation 2:7). God spoke an imperative here, not a suggestion -- we must listen to what the Spirit says in the Word as we hear or read it, for the one who has an ear for the Spirit will not have an ear for the seducer. To help you seek and find meaning in the Word, look through these windows that follow. The only way you will know the mind of God in His Word is for the Spirit to reveal it to you. But the holy God will not take a filthy hand and lead you into understanding: "None of the wicked shall understand" (Daniel 12:10). The angel that took Lot's daughters into the house struck the Sodomites with blindness so that they would grope for the door but not find it -- and so are those who come to Scripture with unclean hearts. The wicked have the Word of God but only the holy have "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). Paul persuades Christians with these words: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). From:  The Christian in Complete Armour, (year 1665)   Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.644   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism