My Best Friends

I have some of the most godly and wonderful friends 

in the world. They are very wise and I seriously consider 

everything they say to me. They have never led me 

astray, though sometimes they are over my head and 

I do not understand. But I find by listening carefully 

they will explain each other and they never disagree 

with each other, and never quarrel.

At the top of the list are some old friends called 

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Paul is wonderful and 

practical as is James. I am not sure of one of them, 

but I suspect it may be Paul in disquise. Peter will 

not be ignored, nor Jude.

Others are wonderful, but they speak in riddles, 

sometimes, for they wrote in dim light. Moses is 

Majestic, Sweet poetry and philosophy comes 

from Job, David, and Solomon. There are historians 

whose names nobody knows and many prophets 

among the circle.

Many years ago I found out that they all heard 

from One who has now gone to Heaven. That is 

why they are so wise, because they got their words 

from Him.

I have learned that it is very smart for me not to 

talk much when they speak. They are very mannerly 

and only speak when you want them to. I wonder 

how stupid it is for me to have other friends who 

don't know what they are talking about. I have 

learned a lot from others who have listened to them 

and meditated much about their words. This second 

circle of friends are people in the first rank like St. 

Augustine, John Calvin, Herman Witsius, Francis 

Turretin, Herman Bavinck, Casper Olevianus, 

Zacharias Ursinus, and others that I see once in a 

while. I have some new friends, but their greatest 

value is helping me see what the others were talking 

about.

There are some very old wise men I would like to 

meet, but I cannot speak their language and translators 

are hard to find. It is very hard to leave the presence 

of such, especially those of the first rank, to be with 

people like the Tonight Show or MSNBC or the blind 

like Plato.

There are people who make fun of them and of those 

who read them and call it "book larnin." I am sorry 

for them and wish they knew those of the first rank, 

who are the most friendly to those who would listen 

to them.

I write this for the few who read this that might desire 

to make some of these your friends. They are easy to 

find, especially now in the modern world and they are 

much cheaper than a college education that will cost 

you much and teach you little.

Replacing the Law of God

A New Morality

Have you noticed that a new code of ethics has replaced the Ten 
Commandments in our country? People who would never use a 
racial epithet think nothing of taking God’s name in vain. “O my 
G…” has become commonplace, but has no meaning.

A man who would shrink from disturbing a rodent is not 
uncomfortable with putting thousands of people out of work, 
stealing their livelihood.

People who would be embarrassed to make a Hindu uncomfortable 
do not mind ridiculing a Christian student in a public classroom.

People who mourn over injustice done to a whale do not shrink 
from lies and slander to deny a Supreme Court nomination for their 
political rival.

A man who would insist on a woman’s right to equality will not 
hesitate to cheat on his own wife, and leave her in poverty in order 
to marry a younger and snappier woman.

A woman living in poverty because of her husband's infidelity hates 
Christians who defend Biblical morality.

A woman who would not eat canned tuna to protest the dolphins 
that are caught in the tuna nets murders her own unborn child.

A person who insists that there are no certain moral principles is 
certain that Scriptural morals are wrong.

There is a certainty here: man cannot be without morals. If he 
abandons biblical ones, then he will substitute others for them. He 
will zealously pursue his revisionist morals, and persecute and 

defame those who disagree with him, all the while accusing 
Christians of hypocrisy when they defend theirs.

But the laws of morality and decency are as fixed as the order of 
the universe, because the Creator is the God of both:

Ps 119:142 "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and 
thy law is the truth."

Mt 15:9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the 
commandments of men."

A Soldier of the Cross

Heavenly Father. Some demons do not go out except by fasting and prayer.
We are spiritually ignorant and weak, O Father, and have not laid hold on
Thy strength.

Our repentance has not reached into our souls, O Father, and we imagine
that overcoming the world is a matter of simplicity and not the great labor
of faith. In our prosperity we imagine that we can never be moved, but our
enemies are in our own bosom and among our friends.

But we cry unto you, Our Father, for what profit is there in the destruction
of Thy church and the blood of Thy saints. We have sought our own
righteousness and have despised you and your holiness.

Forgive, O Lord, our trespasses, and turn our sorrow into rejoicing and our
tears to joy and gladness, so that our tongues may sing praise to thee, and
not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou
      hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at
      the remembrance of his holiness.
5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping
      may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalm 30

Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause
Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease?
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign
Increase my courage, Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.

Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
Shall conquer, though they die;
They view the triumph from afar,
And seize it with their eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.

Isaac Watts

The Death of Guilt

God's almighty wisdom and power turns evil for the good of His kingdom
and His people. But He does not make the evil good. Evil is so evil that it
took the blood of the Son of God to destroy it's power for those who believe.
Those who do not believe are consumed and destroyed in body and soul in
eternal death and misery.

The blood of Christ does not make disobedience into obedience and sin into
godliness. The blood removed the guilt, for Christ's sacrifice of His whole life
and his body on the cross, plunging Him into the depths of the wrath of God,
took away my guilt so that I could be a child of God. Then, having removed
my guilt and assuring me of eternal life, He sends the gift of the Holy Spirit
Who takes me by the hand to lead me to glory. "As many as are lead by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

Sin begins to be put to death in me by the power and love of the discipline of
God, and will finally be destroyed forever in me at the resurrection of believers
in the likeness of Christ. The unbeliever will be resurrected to eternal misery
and horror forever and ever.

It was the greatest evil committed by men in the history of the world: those
who with wicked hands and minds slew the Lord of Glory, the Lily of the
Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lamb of God, the Root and Branch
of David, the Beloved of God. And that evil will be punished in the Bottomless
Pit, in Hell, in the Lake of Fire forever and ever; for even the fires of hell
cannot perform the alchemy of changing evil into good.

Guilt is the power of sin and those who bear it must suffer His wrath forever
and ever, body and soul. Jesus said, "Do not fear him who can destroy the
body, but Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." "What does it
profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul."

The only way to escape this condemnation is through the Person and work
of Jesus of Nazareth, who is Lord and Christ. By the everlasting covenant
of Redemption, He was appointed of God to be the Last Adam, who in
Himself gathers together all things that were lost by the First Adam.

This is not the whole story, but it is a good place to start. "If thou shalt
confess [swear] with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Find yourself
a good church, where there is an ordained and knowledgeable ministry and
eldership, where you can be taught and prepared to receive the sacraments;
open your heart to the work of the Holy Spirit, who will lead the people of
God to the glory of Christ's kingdom and blessing. You are not alone, for the
Lord Jesus gathers His people into flocks and puts them under those He has
appointed to shepherd them. Amen and Amen.

Everyone begins as a baby, for only they enter the kingdom of God, as Jesus
said. Faith is born in you by the Spirit of God, and is the beginning of your
walk with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do not delay. Today is the day
to begin, if you hear His voice.

Hope is Not Enough

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness:
but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

Hope is not enough. Both the righteous and the wicked
have hopes and expectations. But the hopes of the wicked are
dead because they do not have the life of the promises of Scripture,
which are spirit and life.

True hope can only be built on the foundation of the promises of God
and the faith that is born of His word. Death will reveal the vanity of
the ungodly: Pr 11:7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall
perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.