The Good Shepherd

It has been a true pleasure, as well as a blessing, watching this channel grow over the last couple years. Posting here has been, in its own way, an artistic release for me, and a source of welcomed obligation. After some consideration however, I’ve concluded it would be best for me to step away from telegram and focus my attention on all that the Lord has put before me in my day to day life. Being a loving husband to my wife, an attentive father to my children, an active brother in my church, and most of all, an obedient servant to Jesus Christ. I pray I’ve left enough material here that you would all be well served to visit it from time to time as you wish, and that it would inspire you to dig into the beautiful depths of God’s Word yourselves. Thank you all for being here, and for offering me, though you may not have been aware of it, great motivation to further my own studies/growth in my life in Christ. Good bless you all. “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” 1 Peter 4:19

“…no matter where you go, you will find that the presence of a few true Christians is a blessing.” - JC Ryle

Not knowing that Christ was exalted to give repentance, I despaired of ever attaining to it. My friend came to me; we sat on the bedside together, and he began to declare to me the gospel. He spoke of original sin, and the corruption of every man born into the world, whereby every one is a child of wrath. I perceived something like hope dawning in my heart. This doctrine set me more on a level with the rest of mankind, and made my condition appear less desperate. Next he insisted on the all-atoning efficacy of the blood of Jesus, and his righteousness, for our justification. While I heard this part of his discourse, and the scriptures on which he founded it, my heart began to burn within me; my soul was pierced with a sense of my bitter ingratitude to so merciful a Saviour; and those tears, which I thought impossible, burst forth freely. I saw clearly, that my case required such a remedy, and had not the least doubt within me, but that this was the gospel of salvation. - William Cowper, ‘Memoir of the Early Life of William Cowper’

I was now strongly tempted to use laudanum, not as a poison, but as an opiate, to compose my spirits; to stupefy my awakened and feeling mind; harassed with sleepless nights, and days of uninterrupted misery. But God forbad it, who would have nothing to interfere with the quickening work he had begun in me; and neither the want of rest, nor continued agony of mind, could bring me to the use of it: I hated and abhorred the very smell of it. - William Cowper, ‘Memoir of the Early Life of William Cowper’

Good morning, Jesus is Lord ☀️ ☕️ “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3

“For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27

Live in the world as a stranger and pilgrim, who hath no concern with its business or pleasures: and knowing that thou hast "here no continuing city," keep thy heart disengaged from earthly passions and pursuits, and lifted up to heaven in the patient "hope of a city that is to come, whose builder and maker is God." Thither let thy daily prayers, thy sighs, and tears, be directed; that after death thy spirit may be wafted to the Lord, and united to him for ever. Amen. - Thomas á Kempis, ‘Imitation of Christ’

The above video is a sermon from a very close friend of mine, Pastor Jim Haning. He recently planted a church and began his ministry there. His YouTube channel is in its early stages, and any love from you all that you could offer in the way of subscriptions etc. would be greatly appreciated! Keep Jim in your prayers as well, that the Lord would bless his work and keep him from the evil one. He and his wife are quite young, and the rural church he is pastoring is growing fast. He needs all the support of his brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus he can get. As we all do. God bless you all 🙏

Living for God | 1 Peter 4 Jim Haning | Mercy Church

Why is it that all are not saved, particularly all who hear the gospel? Do you still answer, Because the majority refuse to believe? Well, that is true, but it is only a part of the truth. It is the truth from the human side. But there is a divine side too, and this side of the truth needs to be stressed or God will be robbed of His glory. The unsaved are lost because they refuse to believe; the others are saved because they believe. But why do these others believe? What is it that causes them to put their trust in Christ? Is it because they are more intelligent than their fellows, and quicker to discern their need of salvation? Perish the thought —"Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou badst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 47). It is God Himself who maketh the difference between the elect and the non-elect, for of His own it is written, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and bath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true" (1 John 5:20). - Arthur Pink, ‘Sovereignty of God’

Saved by Grace | Ephesians 2 Alex Tunnicliff | Redemption Hill

To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellowmen are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity; is to say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied, and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated. We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is "trying His best" to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is almighty and God is no longer the Supreme Being. To declare that the Creator's original plan has been frustrated by sin, is to dethrone God. To suggest that God was taken by surprise in Eden and that He is now attempting to remedy an unforeseen calamity, is to degrade the Most High to the level of a finite, erring mortal. To argue that man is a free moral agent and the determiner of his own destiny, and that therefore he has the power to checkmate his Maker, is to strip God of the attribute of omnipotence. To say that the creature has burst the bounds assigned by his Creator, and that God is now practically a helpless Spectator before the sin and suffering entailed by Adam's fall, is to repudiate the express declaration of Holy Writ, namely, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain" (Psalm 76:10). In a word, to deny the sovereignty of God is to enter upon a path which, if followed to its logical terminus, is to arrive at blank atheism. - Arthur Pink, ‘Sovereignty of God’

Born Again Sunday December 8, 2024 “Honor in Dishonor” Links: I’ll Be Honest Christ Church United Pursuit Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 1 Peter 4:15-16 All Glory to God and Praise Jesus!

How wise and happy is the man, who continually endeavours to be as holy in the day of life, as he wishes to be found in the hour of death! - Thomas á Kempis, ‘Imitation of Christ’

Let us wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, looking to him to prepare our way through death, that river which separates this world from the eternal world. - Matthew Henry

The cup that was put to his lips was bitter: none of its bitterness was lost to him as he drank it: but he drank it; and he drank it as his own cup that it was his own will (because it was his Father's will) to drink. "The cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11) —it was in this spirit, not of unwilling subjection to unavoidable evil, but of voluntary endurance of unutterable anguish for adequate ends, that he passed into and through all his sufferings. His very passion was his own action. He had power to lay down his life; and it was by his own power that he laid down his life, and by his own power that he trod the whole pathway of suffering that led up to the formal act of his laying down his life. Nowhere is he the victim of circumstances or the helpless sufferer. Everywhere and always, it is he who possesses the mastery both of circumstances and of himself. - BB Warfield, ‘The Emotional Life of Our Lord’

God BB Warfield

“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:9

The emotion that we should naturally expect to find most frequently attributed to that Jesus whose whole life was a mission of mercy, and whose ministry was so marked by deeds of beneficence that it was summed up in the memory of his followers as a going through the land "doing good" (Acts 10:38 ), is no doubt "compassion." - BB Warfield, ‘The Emotional Life of Our Lord’

WRETCHED thou art, wherever thou art, and to whatever thou turnest, unless thou turnest to God. Why art thou troubled, because the events of life have not corresponded with thy own will and desire? Who is there, that enjoyeth all things according to his own will? Neither I, nor thou, nor any man upon earth. There is no human being, without some share of distress and anguish, not even kings and popes. Whose condition, therefore, is the best? His, surely, who is ready to suffer any affliction for the sake of God. - Thomas á Kempis, ‘Imitation of Christ’