IF WE CONFESS
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Without the assurance of this verse, it would be practically impossible to go on in the Christian life. As we grow in grace, we have a deepening awareness of our utter sinfulness. We must have some provision for instant cleansing for sins, otherwise we are doomed to perpetual guilt and defeat.

John tells us that, for believers, provision is made through confession. The unbeliever receives judicial forgiveness from the penalty of sins through faith in the Lord Jesus. The believer receives parental forgiveness from the defilement of sins through confession.

Sin breaks fellowship in the life of the child of God, and that fellowship remains broken till the sin is confessed and forsaken. When we confess, God is faithful to His Word; He has promised to forgive. He is just in forgiving because the work of Christ at the Cross has provided a righteous basis on which He may do so.

What this verse means, then, is that when we confess our sins, we can know that the record is clear, that we have been completely cleansed, that the happy family spirit has been restored. As soon as we are conscious of sin in our lives, we can go into the presence of God, call that sin by its name, repudiate it, and know with certainty that it has been put away.

But how do we know for certain? Do we feel forgiven? It is not at all a question of feelings. We know that we have been forgiven because God says so in His Word. Feelings are undependable at best. God’’s Word is sure.

But suppose someone says, “I know that God has forgiven me but I can’’t forgive myself”? This might sound very pious but actually it is dishonoring to God. If God has forgiven me, then He wants me to appropriate that forgiveness by faith, to rejoice in it, and to go out and serve Him as a cleansed vessel.–William MacDonald

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

HUMILITY

“Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble”– 1 Peter 5:6b

In our day the call is to esteem yourself, believe in yourself, promote yourself and reward yourself. But God’s word calls us to humility.

God hates pride and has always resisted the proud. He brought devastation to the land of Egypt after Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?’ He put king Nebuchadnezzar down on his all fours to eat grass like an animal after he boasted of his accomplishments. And Herod was eaten up with worms when he failed to give glory to God.

As you search your own heart to see if there is pride that needs to be rooted out, consider that humility is an acknowledgement of unworthiness. Jacob declared that he was unworthy of the least of God’s mercies. The publican cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Humility is submission to God.You may not understand some of the providences unfolding in your life, but you bow in submission and know God is working His will and accomplishing His purposes. It means believing what God says, accepting what is in His Word and making no attempt to explain it away.

Humility recognizes the need for grace.The humble have a great sense of their own weakness and know they must come to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. They know they need grace to pray, grace to overcome the world and grace to minister to others.

How is it with you? Are you clothed with humility? – Baptist Bible Hour

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

LOVE’S CONCERN
“Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”– 1 Cor. 8:13

It is not enough to know that a certain course is not wrong, that we have a right to do certain things.

If there were no other people in the world but ourselves, none to be considered in deciding what we might do or may not do, it would be easy to settle on our duty. But there are other people everywhere, and we have got to think of them in deciding what we have a right to do.

A man has a right to have a big, bawling talking–machine in his house, and to have it going every night till midnight. It is nobody’s matter but his own. But suppose there is a sick man living next door, and that the noise of the machine disturbs him at night, what is the duty of the man with the talking–machine?

Love comes in then, and tells him he must give up his “right” and sacrifice his pleasure for the sake of another. Love is a most exacting master. It makes us give up our rights and our pride and our ease – nothing can stand before it.– J. R. Miller

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

SOWING AND REAPING
” But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” – Numbers 32:23

Sin is like the boomerang of the savage, it comes back on the hand that has launched it forth. The brethren accused Joseph of being a spy, and cast him into the pit; and on the same charge they were cast into prison. King David committed adultery and murder; so Absalom requited him. The Jews crucified the blessed Lord; and they were impaled around Jerusalem till room and wood for their crosses failed.

There is a Divine order in society. God has so constituted the world, that as man deals with his neighbor, so he is dealt with. The consequence does not always follow immediately. There is often a long interval between the lightning flash and the thunder-peal. The sentence against an evil work is not executed suddenly. But though God’s mills grind slowly, they do grind, and to powder. It is impossible to deceive God; for it is His immutable law, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal 6:7-8).

When sin comes to find you out, like a sleuth-hound on the track of the criminal, be sure that it finds you in Jesus. “That I may be found in Him.” Nothing will avail to intercept the awful execution of sin’s vengeance, except the blood and righteousness of Jesus. Put Him between you and your sins, between you and your past, between you and the penalty of a broken law. Be sure that only when the blood of Jesus speaks for you through earth and heaven, there can be a cutting off of sin’s terrible entail.– F. B. Meyer
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

JOY IN THE LORD
“And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” – Mark 2:19    

This was our Lord’s answer to those who thought His religion was too sunny and joyous — that it had not fast-days enough in it. They thought that religion was genuine only when it made people sad, and that its quality was just in proportion to its gloom. But Christ’s reply showed that mournful faces are no essential indicators of heart-piety. Should His disciples be mournful and sad when He was with men, filling their lives with the gladness of His presence? Should Christians profess to be heavy-hearted, wearing the symbols of grief, when they are really filled with joy, and when there is no occasion for sorrow? Why should one who has been saved by the Lord Jesus, and who is rejoicing in full assurance to hope, go about in sackcloth and ashes? Is there any piety in a sad face? Does God love to see his children always in mourning? Is human joy displeasing to our Father?

All these questions are answered here in our Lord’s words. He does not wish His disciples to go mourning and fasting when they have no occasion for such exercises. His words are a defence of Christian joyfulness. Christ wants His friends to be glad. There is an utter incongruity in a sad and mournful Christian life. By its very nature true religion is joyous. Our sins are forgiven. We are adopted into God’s family. We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The covenant of love arches its shelter over us all the while. All things in this world work together for our good, and then glory waits for us beyond death’s gate. With all this blessed heritage, why should we be mournful and sad? While we enjoy the smile of Christ, the consciousness of his love, the assurance of his forgiveness, and the hope of heaven and eternal life, what should make us sad? We should have radiant faces.- Author unknown

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346