Archives for

Article

Lying in the arms of God or in the jaws of the devil — Which??

And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, 1 John 5:19.

The whole world is truly referred to in this text. It refers first of all to the people of God. And we know that we are of God. It then refers to the rest of the world in the remainder of the verse. And the whole world lieth in wickedness. That is all this world consists of — those who are in Christ and those who are not; those who are of God and those who are of the devil.

Let me first of all say a word to Christians.

I. HERE IS A DELIGHTFUL ASSERTION.

This verse speaks of two truths concerning the child Of God.

1. We are of God. What does that mean?

a). It means, first of all, that we are born of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him , verse 1. Wherever you find faith in Christ, victorious opposition to the world and holiness (for these three go together and are inseparable) there you have one born of God. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, 1 John 5:4. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not , 1 John 5:18. How glorious it is to be a partaker of the divine nature; to be part of the family of God! The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God, Romans 8:16.

Read more…

Men make groundless guesses but the Lord reliably reveals

The following headline, one of many of the same ilk, appeared in ‘The Daily Telegraph’ earlier this month: “Scientists witness what the end of the Earth could look like”. These ‘educated ejits’ (to quote the late W P Nicholson) state that “In five billion years it will likely be engulfed by our own Sun”.

Like so many blind and bumptious declarations by ungodly men, this baseless prediction, that the earth will be swallowed up by the sun in 5 billion years, is utter nonsense. They who cannot tell with any degree of accuracy what tomorrow’s weather will be like, rise up on their hind legs to pompously forecast what will happen 5 billion years from now!

These men utterly and blindly reject the record in the rocks of the earth and what is infinitely more clearly recorded in the Word of God, about what happened some 6000 years ago when the earth was brought forth ‘ex nihilo’, out of nothing, And in a further display of their blindness they would dare to pontificate regarding, as far as man is concerned, the utterly unknowable future!

The Bible tells us about all of our ‘tomorrows’, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil,” James 4:13-16.

Tomorrow is utterly hidden from the eyes of men and they have no means of predicting what GOD WILL DO WITH HIS CREATION! For that information we must utilise God’s own revelation on that matter.

I read today what God has to say about the future existence of the earth, “ . . . the earth which he hath established for ever,” Psalm 78:69. The word ‘established’ literally means ‘to found, fix, establish, lay foundation’.

What these foolish self-opinionated men say of the earth’s future is revealed as most foolish and flies in the face of what its CREATOR says of His own divine handiwork.

Let us consider just what the Lord tells us in His Word of His unalterable purpose for the earth. (more…)

How can popery hold up its head?

Tom Wall, a 74-year-old County Limerick victim of child sex abuse by Christian Brothers has accused the congregation of having been engaged in the “slave trade”.

The follow BBC news report, one of hundreds such reports over recent years, makes one exclaim in distress of heart:

HOW CAN POPERY HOLD UP ITS HEAD AND WHY DO ITS ADHERENTS CONTINUE IN THEIR SUPPORT AND HOW CAN OTHER CHURCHES, THE MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES CONTINUE TO TREAT THIS ABOMINABLE SYSTEM OF THE DEVIL WITH SUCH SUBSERVIENT REGARD?

The report reminds me of what I read in Bible on the Lord’s Day morning past.

“The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty,” Psalm 74:20.

But Rome’s blatant and brazen hypocrisy reminds me of the words of those against whom the Psalmist David prayed:

“They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him,” Psalm 12:2-5.

I take comfort in the truth that God has set a day when He will judge Popery and all her evil minions for the corruption and cruelty with which she has inflicted millions.

Pray Christian for your Roman Catholic neighbours that in these latter times there may yet be an awakening of them to the true character of the hateful system which lords it over them.

The purpose for which the Lord Jesus saved Paul and sent him forth to preach the gospel, is one that we might make the basis of our prayerful pleadings for our neighbours.

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me,” Acts 26:18.

 

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster

Christian Brothers accused of engaging in ‘slave trade’

BBC News

A 74-year-old County Limerick victim of child sex abuse by Christian Brothers has accused the congregation of having been engaged in the “slave trade”.

Tom Wall was just three when he was sent by court order to an industrial school in the village of Glin after his unmarried mother left a mother-and-baby home in nearby Newcastle West.

Industrial schools were established in the mid-19th Century and often run by religious orders to care for neglected, orphaned or abandoned children.

The Christian Brothers opened their first school in 1802 to provide education and help the poor.

In 2009, they issued an apology, following a damning public inquiry into child abuse in Catholic-run institutions in the Republic of Ireland. (more…)